Rome, Aug. 13 (BNA): Italy’s worst drought in decades has reduced Lake Garda, the country’s largest lake, to nearly an all-time low, exposing swaths of previously underwater rock and warming the water to nearing temperatures. From the Mediterranean in the Caribbean.
Tourists who flocked to the famous North Lake on Friday to start their long summer weekend in Italy found a very different sight than in years past. A stretch of bleached rock extends away from the natural shoreline, with the southern Sirmione peninsula shrouded in a yellow halo among the green hues of the water and trees on the beach, according to the Associated Press.
“We came last year, we loved it, and we’re back this year,” said tourist Beatrice Macy, sitting on the rocks. “We found that the landscape had changed a lot. We were a bit shocked when we arrived because we were walking normally, and there was no water.”
Northern Italy hasn’t seen rain in months, and this year snowfall has fallen by 70%, drying up important rivers like the Po River, which flows through Italy’s agricultural and industrial heartland. Several European countries, including Spain, Germany, Portugal, France, the Netherlands and Britain, are experiencing drought this summer that has hit farmers and shippers and encouraged authorities to restrict water use.
The drought in the Po River, Italy’s longest river, has caused billions of euros in losses to farmers who usually depend on it to irrigate fields and paddy fields.
To compensate, the authorities allowed more water to flow from Lake Garda into local rivers—70 cubic meters (2,472 cubic feet) of water per second. But in late July, they cut the amount allotted to protect the lake and the associated tourism and financial significance.
With 45 cubic meters (1,589 cubic feet) of water diverted per second to rivers, the lake on Friday was 32 centimeters (12.6 inches) above water level, near record lows in 2003 and 2007.
Garda’s mayor, David Bednelly, said he had to protect farmers and the tourism industry. He insisted that the summer tourist season was going better than expected, despite the cancellations, mostly German tourists, during the recent heat wave in Italy in late July.
“The drought is a fact that we have to deal with this year, but the tourist season is not in danger,” Bendinelli wrote in a Facebook post on July 20.
He confirmed that the lake was losing two centimeters (.78 inches) of water per day.
Meanwhile, the lake’s temperature has been above average for August, according to seatemperature.org. On Friday, the Garda waters were around 26°C (78°F), several degrees warmer than the August average temperature of 22°C (71.6°F) and approaching the average Caribbean temperature of about 27°C ( 80 Fahrenheit).
For Mario Triccani, who owns a lakefront concession of beach chairs and umbrellas, the lake’s extended shoreline means fewer people rent his chairs because there are plenty of rocks on which to sunbathe.
“The lake is usually higher than a meter or more than a meter,” he said of the rocks.
Pointing to a small wall that usually blocks the water from beach chairs, he noted that on windy days, waves from the lake might sometimes splash on tourists.
Not anymore.
“It’s a little sad. Before, you could hear the noise of the waves breaking here. Now, you don’t hear anything,” he said.
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