ROME - Not only the Po, with a flow almost halved and well below the average for the period (-45%) since the beginning of the month, but large areas of Abruzzo and Molise are at risk of extreme drought.
This was revealed by the weekly report of the Anbi Observatory on Water Resources (National Association of Consortia for the Management and Protection of the Territory and Irrigation Waters) which in a note confirms the trend indicated by the European Drought Observatory, the European Observatory for Drought.
The largest decreases in rainfall - explains Anbi - are the coastal areas (in particular the territories in the provinces of Pescara and Chieti) which, after the water suffering of 2020, continue to register drops, which reach 70% on a monthly basis.
This figure is in line with what is recorded on the rest of the Adriatic ridge starting from Romagna.
All in decline - he continues - and largely below the flow rates of the period are the other Emilian rivers (source: ARPAE) with the Enza, which touches an all-time low of 2.4 cubic meters per second.
"The data confirm the accentuation of the torrential regime of the main watercourses, which must be responded to, creating new basins to retain rainwater and a network capable of transferring water between territories" affirms Francesco Vincenzi, President of Anbi.
The Anbi Observatory also records a decrease in inflows to the large northern lakes (the lakes of Iseo and Como are below average with the latter at 10.6% of fill), and a fluctuating trend of the Piedmontese rivers with Tanaro, Pesio and Sesia on the rise, while Maira, Stura di Lanzo and Dora Baltea decline.
And if the flow of the Adda river collapses in Lombardy, the watercourses in Veneto remain on average and the main Tuscan rivers are all below average with the Arno and Ombrone at less than 30% of the flows of a year ago (source: Centro Funzionale Tuscany region).
The rivers of the Marche, on the other hand, remain stable, as do the Tiber, Liri-Garigliano and Sacco in Lazio where, on the other hand, after months the level of Lake Bracciano drops (source: Bracciano Smart Lake).
As for the South, Anbi notes new decreases in the hydrometric levels of the rivers in Campania;
The levels of the Basilicata reservoirs continue to grow (+ 135.87 million cubic meters on 2020);
water availability in the Apulia basins remain stable, but comforting (+ Mmc. 295.19 on 2020).