Premier Mario Draghi's government on
Monday declared a state of emergency for drought in five
northern Italian regions - Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont,
Friuli Venezia Giulia and Veneto.
The government has set aside 36 million euros for these regions
and is set to appoint a special commissioner with extraordinary
powers to tackle the crisis and address issues regarding Italy's
water infrastructure.
Water levels in the River Po are three quarters down in the
worst drought in 70 years and the emergency is causing massive
problems for agriculture, with farmers groups saying output is
set to fall by about a third.
The drought emergency is spreading from the north to central
Italy, the water observatory ANBI said Thursday, with the levels
of the Arno, Aniene and Tiber more than half down.
The current heat wave has exacerbated the nation's drought
crisis that comes after months of low rainfall and an extremely
dry winter.
Italy's civil protection department has failed to rule out water
rationing during the day because of the drought.
Restrictions on the use of water have already been imposed in
some areas and many towns are having to have water brought in by
trucks.
In some, water is being closed off completely at night.
More frequent and intense heat waves are among the consequences
of human-caused climate change, scientists say.
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