The Po River is at historically low levels. Government ministers say a state of emergency will have to be declared if it doesn't rain soon.
If it doesn't rain in Italy within the next few days, authorities may declare a state of emergency in anticipation of summer power cuts and agricultural devastation. The Po River, which runs through the mainly agricultural Po River Valley, is at historically low levels, and weather experts are predicting more hot and dry conditions to come.
The Italian farm industry lobby, Confagricoltura, has already called the situation in the region a "state of emergency." A spokesperson told the Associated Press that the river is running below 2006 levels, with little spring melt-off expected from the mountains because snow levels are one-third of last year's.
Agriculture Minister Paolo De Castro echoed these concerns in remarks to the Italian news agency ANSA: "It there isn't rain in the coming days in the north, we must take into consideration the possibility of a state of emergency and creation of an emergency response team like in 2003." Environment Minister Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio also said earlier this week he would ask the government to declare a state of emergency.
During the "annus horribilis" -- as the 2003 summer is known in Italy -- record heat caused electricity blackouts, huge losses for farmers, and an appalling death count across Europe, with thousands dead in Italy alone. Climate experts are predicting that temperatures in Italy this summer will be about one degree higher than average, which will likely create similar -- if not hotter -- conditions to 2003.
The Coldiretti farmer's association told AP that one-third of the country's agricultural exports rely on resources from the Po River. Livestock like pigs and cows, and crops such as tomatoes, sugar and rice, all need large quantities of water.
Electricity supplies are also threatened, as hydro-electric plants struggle to cope with lower water levels. Experts fear that the country may be hit by power outages, as happened during the summer of 2003.
To address the problem, an interministerial task force convened recently at the Ministry for Economic Development to create a four-point crisis response plan, Corriere Della Sera reports. Water-use reduction for businesses and farmers, coordinated action between the ministries, possible temporary electricity suspension for businesses, and attempts to acquire electricity from abroad -- in addition to pressuring citizens to conserve -- are all part of the plan to avert disaster, the paper reports.
A significant part of Italy's water woes, though, has nothing to do with climate. Environment Minister Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio has admitted infrastructure needs repair. "Apart from the state of emergency, we also need to improve infrastructure: our aqueducts are like sieves; every year they lose 2,200,000 cubic meters of water at a cost of two and a half billion euros," he told Corriere Della Sera.
Ermete Realacci, chairman of the Italian parliamentary Environment, Territory and Public Works Committee agreed. "The climate is changing due to global warming, and we can't find ourselves forced to deal with a crisis year after year," he told the newspaper. "The real crisis is the lack of policy for the water sector."
People are also feeling the heat elsewhere in Europe. This year's April has been the driest in the last 100 years in Germany, according to the German Weather Service -- just one liter of rain has fallen, a tiny fraction of the average rainfall of 50 liters. Rivers have been drying up and crops are suffering from the lack of rain. Meteorologists are predicting unseasonably hot temperatures of up to 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) over the next few days.
kla/ap
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