Several waterways in northern Italy are in a "critical state" due to drought, and the weather forecast bodes ill for the coming days, the Po River Authority (ADBPO) said Friday.
"The grip of drought continues to tighten on northern Italy," the institution monitoring Italy's longest river said in a statement.
Light rainfall brought a drop in temperatures on Wednesday and Thursday but the authority said that if there was no more rain measures such as limiting irrigation would be needed.
The body said that Lake Maggiore at the foot of the Alps was losing four centimetres (1.6 inches) per day and was now only 48 percent full.
In Piedmont, "the waterways are suffering, and difficulties are being recorded in the agricultural sector, which is forced to make choices about which crops to bring to production", the ADBPO said.
