Italy declares state of emergency on impact from drought

Bloomberg

Italy declared a state of emergency in five northern and central regions devastated by a recent drought, as a severe heat wave takes its toll on agriculture and threatens power supplies.
High temperatures and exceptionally dry conditions have brought water levels in the Po, the country’s largest river, to its lowest in 70 years.
Even amid a historically arid summer across Europe, the situation in the Po valley stands out. Months without rain and an earlier-than-usual halt in flows from melting snow in the Alps have made large swaths of the river bed visible — so much so that a German military vehicle from World War II resurfaced recently.
Hydroelectric power, which usually supplies 15% of the country’s needs, is down 50% so far this year, while waters from the Adriatic sea have made record encroachments into the Po delta, threatening farming and drinking water supplies. Northern Italian towns are already rationing water.
Torrid heat and exceptionally dry conditions have hurt corn and sunflower production and forced rice farmers to cut plantings, according to the EU’s Monitoring Agricultural Resources unit. Yields of durum wheat, the staple grain used to make pasta, will fall below the five-year average, it said in a June report.
The extreme conditions have led to an estimated 30% decline in seasonal harvests, including barley, grain and rice in the region, according to agricultural group Coldiretti, which estimates the overall toll from the drought to agriculture at 3 billion euros ($3.1 billion).