Italy is experiencing an unusually dry winter with rain and snowfall in December down 86% from the same month in 2005, sector sources reported on Monday.
The sharpest drops were said to have been in the northern mountain regions of Piedmont, Trentino Alto Adige and Veneto, which feed Italy's leading rivers.
In December, the average rainfall for the month was only 8.4mm, compared to 57.1mm in December 2005 and 90.9mm in 2002.
"This situation is particularly alarming because we do not have sufficient reservoirs in the north to hold what little water has fallen," observed Massimo Garganio, head of the Italian agency of reservoirs and irrigation ANBI The December drought has continued into January, experts warned, and was preceded by a dry November, when 66.5mm of rain or snow fell compared to 100.9mm for the same month in 2005 and 120.3mm in 2002.
The lack of rain has drastically reduced the flow of water in several key rivers including the Adige which is currently recording a flow of 50 cubic meters a second compared to a seasonal average of between 70 and 80 cubic meters.
Aside from the north, the situation is also critical in Tuscany, Marche and Calabria.
