Italy's rivers fall 40 pct in 2017 drought: World Water Day report

ROME, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Italy's four major rivers decreased almost 40 percent due to drought last year, national statistics agency ISTAT said Thursday.

The average level of the Po and the Adige rivers in the north, Florence's Arno and Rome's Tiber was 39.6 percent lower than the average for the 1981-2010 period, according to the report published on the occasion of United Nations (UN) World Water Day.

Italy last summer was plagued with scorching temperatures and devastating wildfires that destroyed thousands of hectares of land, including national parks and nature reserves.

Temperatures throughout the country rose by 3.2 degrees Celsius above the national average during the summer months, while rainfall dropped by 55 percent in June compared to the average in previous years, according to the farm ministry.

According to the National Research Center (CNR), rainfall in the first half of 2017 was 80 percent below normal in several parts of Italy and the country was "experiencing dramatic drought conditions".

The drought prompted emergency government measures, including solidarity funding for affected regions, suspending taxes and mortgage payments for farmers, and summoning additional European Union agricultural funds to a total of 2.3 billion euros (about 2.8 billion U.S. dollars).

The UN established World Water Day 25 years ago. Currently, at least 2.1 billion people live without safe drinking water at home, according to the UN. Enditem