According to research promoted by Italy for Climate, the availability of water in the country has dropped by 20 % in recent years potentially escalating to 40% due to ongoing global warming, with southern regions facing peaks of up to 90%.
Climate change is disrupting traditional weather patterns, leading to a ‘permanent climatic abnormality’ that increases extreme weather events and threatens water resources globally, especially in Mediterranean countries like Italy.
Italy, ranking third in Europe with 130 billion cubic meters of water annually, faces the highest water stress in Europe, surpassing France and Germany in water withdrawal. In 2022, a severe drought in northern Italy highlighted the escalating impact of extreme weather events amid the climate crisis.
Focusing on the upper Po Valley of Lodi, the project explores a rich but overlooked territory where water has been a crucial element in the ecosystem for centuries, shaping the landscape and sustaining agri- culture and livestock. Despite industrial development and agricultural transformation, Lodi’s area remains unique, with water and agriculture playing pivotal roles in the national production system driven by both sustenance and profit.
For thousands of years, the upper Po Valley of Lodi, located at the extreme border of Mediterranean civilization and deeply roo- ted in Greek mythology, has been shaped by human efforts. The unique canal system, stretching over 2,500 kilometers, has made the lands fertile and established a resilient social and cultural model. However, the scars from industrial development and agricultural transformation in the last thirty years have left a poignant mark on the once-intact landscape, revealing the challenges posed by modernization in this historically rich territory.
Nowadays, the water issue largely stems from agricultural use. According to OECD data, updated to 2021, it is agriculture that uses the most water (69 per cent of total water withdrawals worldwide, 41 per cent in Italy, second in Europe after Spain), for irrigation purposes, for breeding and aqua- culture.
Despite the severity of global water-related problems, unfortunately, there is still a notable lack of discourse and political awareness, necessitating a recognition of the global nature of the water crisis for prompt action.