Northern Italy's waterways slip into critical drought as summer deepens

The Po River and its tributaries—which drain the agricultural heartland and mountain regions feeding the Ligurian coast—have reached levels the Po River Authority (ADBPO) described as critical on Friday, according to The Local Italy. The drought, which has persisted through spring and into summer, has left northern Italy's primary water source severely depleted at a time when demand peaks for irrigation, municipal supply and hydroelectric generation.

For Liguria, the implications extend beyond the region's borders. The Po basin supplies water to the Piedmont plains that feed the port's hinterland, and low river levels constrain barge traffic that might otherwise move containers and bulk cargo from Turin and Alessandria toward the Mediterranean. Hydropower shortfalls in the Alps also ripple through Italy's energy market, raising costs for port operations and logistics.

The Local Italy reported that the weather forecast offered little hope for near-term recovery, suggesting that the critical conditions would persist through the coming days. Veneto, the region encompassing Venice and the northeastern Adriatic coast, declared a state of emergency on Thursday due to the same drought, noting that rainfall from January to May had fallen more than 25 percent short of 2025 levels.

Genoa's port authority has long depended on the ability to move cargo inland via the Po and its rail parallels. When river levels collapse, barge operators suspend sailings, forcing shippers to rely on trucks—a costlier and slower alternative that reduces the port's competitive advantage over northern competitors like Trieste. The drought also threatens the viability of planned inland waterway expansion projects that Genoa has championed as part of its long-term diversification strategy.

The broader Italian water crisis extends to saltwater intrusion in the Po delta, where agricultural land has begun to suffer salinization as the river's freshwater flow diminishes. This compounds the structural challenge facing Liguria's agricultural suppliers: as water stress spreads across the Po basin and the Alps, the cost and complexity of maintaining supply chains through the port region will only increase.