Volume of major Italian lakes July 2022
The largest lakes of Northern Italy shrunk alarmingly during summer 2022. The amount of water contained in Lake Maggiore declined to a mere 11.3 percent of its maximum capacity by the end of July 2022, while the water volume of Lakes Como, Iseo and Idro plummeted to less than 10 percent of the total reservoir size.
Italian water reservoirs depletion was caused by the worst drought that the country has faced in 70 years, resulting from the combination of minimal precipitation events and above-average temperatures. This unprecedented situation affected agricultural production, domestic water supply, and hydroelectric power generation in the Po River basin (the longest Italian river), normally one of the most fertile regions of the country.
Italian water reservoirs depletion was caused by the worst drought that the country has faced in 70 years, resulting from the combination of minimal precipitation events and above-average temperatures. This unprecedented situation affected agricultural production, domestic water supply, and hydroelectric power generation in the Po River basin (the longest Italian river), normally one of the most fertile regions of the country.
