1. Overview of Venice’s Drought Conditions
Venice is facing significant drought issues affecting its iconic canals, limiting boat access and tourist experiences.
2. Causes of the Crisis
The drying up of the canals is attributed to a high-pressure weather system, lack of rain, and specific tidal conditions.
3. Implications for Tourism and Emergency Services
The lack of navigable waters is impacting both tourism and essential emergency services in the city.
Visitors heading to Venice may not see as many of the city’s picturesque canals or potentially enjoy a gondola ride, as the waterways have dried up due to a high-pressure weather system sitting over Italy.
The dry weather has led to a stretch of ebb tides— or a receding current— that has left several of the city’s smaller canals dry and unable to support boat traffic, The Associated Press reported. Consequently, tourists can’t explore many of the beautiful secondary waterways by gondola, which serve as Venice’s streets in the car-less city. Even ambulance boats have had trouble reaching their destinations.
The weather problems are multifaceted, blamed on a combination of lack of rain, a high-pressure system, a full moon, and sea currents, Reuters reported.
“We are in a water deficit situation that has been building up since the winter of 2020-2021,” climate expert Massimiliano Pasqui from Italian scientific research institute CNR said, according to Reuters. “We need to recover 500 millimetres in the north-western regions: we need 50 days of rain.”
Venice has taken steps in recent years to protect its waterways and combat overtourism, including banning large cruise ships from the lagoon basin near St. Mark’s Square and the Giudecca Canal and declaring the waterways around Venice a “national monument.” The city’s efforts have earned it a reprieve from being included on the UNESCO World Heritage danger list.
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Venice also plans to implement a fee for day trippers, but the start has been postponed, and it is currently unclear when it would go into effect.
While smaller canals have been impacted by the drought conditions, the wider main waterways, like the Grand Canal, remain navigable, according to the AP.
Moreover, Venice isn’t alone in facing weather-related challenges. In the Alps, several ski resorts were forced to close in January due to a lack of snow and unseasonably warm temperatures, CNN reported.
