This is a question for people currently in Italy or for those who have recently completed a trip there. How is the drought situation affecting your travel experience? Are the water levels in the rivers (Po, Arno, Tiber, etc.) as low as they appear to be in the news? How is scenery in Tuscany affected? Are fountains in Rome still working? Any other observations that you have would be welcomed.
Posted by
Italy
3812 posts
For now the drought has affected northern Italy, not Rome. It's only a matter of time if it doesn't start raining. I doubt they'll ever close the Trevi fountain, but in the north lots of fountains have been turned off.
Human consumption is based on endless groundwater , not rivers', so the drought has mostly ruined the lives of farmers and their families. Meanwhile city-dwellers are just whining and baking to death while packing for the summer holidays.
I don't know about the Arno, but south of Turin the Po river has almost turned into a stream. The water level is so low that in some areas one can walk from one bank to another.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16167 posts
In Tuscany there is also a drought and river water levels are lower than average. The countryside looks more Californian than in the past, meaning that fields are more yellowish than usual, rather than green. I was in Maremma for a few days and if it weren’t for the signs in Italian one could have thought that it was Sonoma County. The fountains in Rome were working, and they were still pouring water in the Trevi fountain, although I think tourists had to pay a water usage fee for the pleasure of seeing water in the fountain, because a lot of people were constantly throwing money inside. It must have been a new water fee collection system similar to a turnpike toll where you throw coins in the basket.