Severe Drought Impacts Northern Italy Water Resources and Agriculture

Northern Italy is facing a severe water crisis characterized by drying rivers and significant agricultural losses. In Cremona, the Po river has reached critically low levels due to heatwaves and drought. The crisis is particularly acute in the agricultural sectors of Piemonte and Lombardy. In the Lomellina region of Lombardy, some farmers have been forced to abandon corn fields to save other crops as water rotations proved insufficient to maintain plant health.

In Piemonte, the annual water deficit is estimated at over 3 billion cubic meters. A dossier by Igor Boni, a former president of Ipla and member of the Academy of Agriculture, indicates that the total requirement for surface water is approximately 8 billion cubic meters, with 95 percent of that demand coming from irrigation. Agriculture is the primary consumer of water in the region, with rice cultivation requiring about 3.5 billion cubic meters annually and corn requiring over 0.7 billion cubic meters. Over the last decade, corn cultivation areas have decreased by more than 30 percent due to water shortages.

Proposed solutions for Piemonte include a shift toward precision irrigation, water reuse, and the adoption of drought resistant crops. Boni argues that relying solely on reservoirs is insufficient, as the 56 large basins in Piemonte have a combined capacity of 440 million cubic meters, which is far below the irrigation demand. He suggests that drip irrigation could reduce consumption by 30 to 60 percent compared to surface flow.