Drought alarm, there is 53% less snow in the Alps.What happens and what can happen in summer

Mild temperatures and low rainfall have reduced the Po level by 61%

Just six months after the end ofdriest summer in the last 500 years, the drought alarm is once again deafening our country, and Northern Italy in particular.It's only February but lakes and rivers are "in great pain, almost dry like last summer, while in the mountains there is little accumulated snow" he warns Legambiente which speaks of "a drought emergency that never ends".The cause is the lack of rainfall, combined with the mild temperatures of this winter which did not allow as much snow to settle in the mountains as would be needed to easily face the summer season.In fact, in the Alps there is 53% less snow than the thirty-year average.The Po is always under special observation:in its reservoir, water has dropped by 61%.These conditions have already aroused the concern of farmers, who prepare the fields for sowing at this time of year.

The remedies

This does not mean that there are no solutions capable of addressing the severity of the problem.There are some actions that Legambiente considers priorities.For example, the controlled recharge of the aquifer, which can be achieved by slowing the descent of the water towards the sea so that it has more time to be absorbed.The association also suggests the recovery of rainwater, both in domestic and agricultural environments, and in cities, which are too often almost completely impervious to rain.Then there is the reduction of network losses, the reuse of purified waste water, and the conversion of the agricultural sector towards less water-demanding crops.Reductions must also be made in the construction sector.