At the junction of the Po River and the Adriatic Sea , drought and unusually hot weather have caused salinity to rise in Italy's largest delta. Crops along the Po River are dying as they soak up the extremely saline water. What's more, at least a third of the precious bivalve clams farmed in the Po Delta have died. Clams are a key ingredient in making spaghetti clams, an Italian specialty.
Laurenti, deputy director of the Po River Remediation Alliance, checks the salinity of the Po River
Insufficient snow cover in winter and insufficient rainfall in spring and summer have caused drought in the Po River Basin. The amount of water entering the delta from the Po River is at an all-time low. That's 95 cubic meters (3,350 cubic feet) per second, just one-tenth of the annual average.
Although the delta is geographically defined as an exchange of fresh and salt water, the movement of water in the Po delta has become increasingly unidirectional: the distance in which seawater seeps inland has increased from 10 kilometers in the 1980s to this year 38 km. Seawater is seeping into aquifers at an unprecedented rate, with long-term adverse effects.
Meanwhile, clam farmers fear more clams will die. Excessive salinity, high temperature, and the resulting spread of algae make it more difficult for this mollusc to survive.
The rare Adriatic clam has a striped and grooved shell and a stronger umami flavor than other clams. Compared with live clams, dead clams are not very fresh, and the taste and nutrition are not as good as live clams. Therefore, a large number of clam deaths are likely to cause a shortage of food supplies.
Fishermen cleaning clams
Salvaged clams
"These clams are 'suffering'." Katie Sucia Belan, who has been fishing clams for 27 years, said. According to the Italian Agricultural Association, the delta's sediment was not removed in time, preventing oxygen and fresh water from entering the lagoon . The association pointed out that if the normal exchange of seawater and freshwater is not restored, the death of clams may be accelerated this year.
And clam farmers flocked to the market while there were still clams to sell, and the price of clams was forced to drop. Alessandro Facioli of the Italian Agricultural Association said: "The mass death of clams and the drop in prices have brought a double negative effect." Rice growers near
are also anxious because of rising salinity. Farmer Elisa Moreto, who runs a small family business, hopes to salvage a third of her crop this year, but she's not sure. Whether she can be profitable also depends on other factors, including the cost of fuel and fertilizer.
But the real worry is the future. The land around the Po River is 3 meters below sea level, so the salt water flows continuously into the aquifer. If salinity rises and causes permanent damage to aquifers, then irreversible consequences will result. Giancarlo Mantovani, head of the Po Basin Authority, said there was a permanent problem with the entire ecosystem. "We are not only creating agricultural problems, human problems, but also environmental problems." He said, "This is a 'long-brewing storm'." (Download Red Star News, there will be prizes for reporting!)