The Po river risks running dry or seriously low this summer unless there is ample rainfall this winter and spring, according to University of Florence Professor Giampiero Maracchi.
"Summer rains do not meet water needs because they evaporate quickly. The real reserves are in the water tables which are replenished by winter and spring rains," Maracchi told the Tuscany regional council's committee for the environment.
Maracchi, who is also director of the National Research Council biometeorology institute Ibitmet, added that "at present we have had 50% less rain than average and in the Po Valley as much as 60% less. If the situation does not change, not only will the Po risk running dry but also other Italian rivers".
A report issued last week confirmed that Italy was experiencing an unusually dry winter with rain and snowfall in December down 86% from the same month in 2005.
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.
