Southern Europe restricts drinking water access
Governments from Portugal to Italy are calling on citizens to limit water use to a bare minimum due to severe drought and scarce rainfall.
The situation is most dramatic in northern Italy where unusually low levels of River Po – the country’s largest river, are transforming Italy’s largest fertile region, affecting crop production and threatening the densely populated region with a serious drinking shortage.1
Similar conditions are affecting River Dora Baltea. Together with River Po, Dora Balta feeds one of the most important agricultural regions in entire Europe.
Rivers and streams in the Po district are at critical levels due to scarce winter precipitation, both snow and rain, causing severe to extremely severe drought conditions not seen in the region in 70 years, Po River Basin Authority said.
More than 100 cities have been called on to limit water consumption as much as possible.
On Monday, July 4, the Italian government declared a state of emergency for five regions until the end of the year. It plans to provide €36 million ($37 million) in the short term to combat the water crisis.2
By the end of May, a severe drought was affecting 97% of Portugal, where the government restricted the use of hydroelectric power plants to 2 hours per week in an effort to guarantee the country’s drinking water supply for at least 2 years.
The association for agricultural irrigation in the towns of Silves, Lagoa, and Portimao in southern Portugal has activated an emergency plan under which 1 800 farms have to halve the irrigation of some crops.
Spain is also extremely dry, with two-thirds of its total land area at risk of desertification. Once fertile soils are increasingly turning to sand, especially after the second driest winter since 1961, according to Spain’s meteorological bureau.
References:
1 Po River at record-low levels, densely populated large fertile region of Italy suffering worst drought in 70 years, Italy – The Watchers – June 20, 2022
2 Water scarcity: EU countries forced to restrict drinking water access – DW – July 7, 2022
Featured image: River Po near Cornale, northern Italy on July 5, 2022. Credit: Copernicus EU/Sentinel-2, EO Browser, The Watchers
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there are many countries where fresh water supplies just won’t be there. This is largely because governments have not spent to the economy to make it available. I always thought that is why we need government for massive overview projects such as this but they seem to think that are more in the pin up star category and chide each other for their sexual proclivities. Pathetic really. All the good work is left undone because there is no profit in it. That is what government is for ? no?
Yet one MORE thing, to KILL Populations. If they REALLY wanted to ‘end drought’, they would ‘make it rain’ (Geo-Engineering). But they are DOING the OPPOSITE…….(Geo-Engineered) DROUGHT!
(sfx: spooky theremin music)
You probably need to buy more tinfoil, DawnieR
I despair of humanity that are so dumb they cannot even see. Must be the lithium.