Going, going, gone-dola! Why the grand canals of Venice are drying up
ITS winding waterways have won Venice a reputation as one of the world’s most romantic cities.
But anyone considering a Valentine’s trip there should maybe think again.
For a lack of rain and exceptionally low tides have turned its labyrinthine canals into a muddy mess. Some of them have been left with barely a trickle of water.
Hundreds of gondolas and other vessels have been grounded amid the muddy detritus that most tourists never want to see.
Even the Grand Canal has been affected. Gondolas are tied up and covered, unusable, near the Rialto Bridge, and many other working boats on minor canals beached on the mud and redun- dant. The combination of unusually low tides and unseasonably dry conditions in the Venetian lagoon is an unusual problem for a city that’s normally worrying about the threat of flooding.
High atmospheric pressure in the upper Adriatic has meant weeks without rain and it is the third year in a row that Venice has had such a dry winter.
There are also claims that so much money from state and local funds has been spent on a £4billion flood barrier for the city that there is little left for dredging the canals to keep them clear of mud.
Venice’s record low was set in 1934, when the tide was four feet below average. The city is built on an archipelago of 118 islands formed by about 150 canals in a shallow lagoon. Around 400 bridges link the islands.
The canals serve as roads and everything must travel by boat or on foot. The waterways and historic buildings attract milshrunk lions of visitors every year but, while tourism in the city continues to grow, the size of its resident population is dwindling.
Many Venetians now live on the mainland and commute to the historic city – usually to work in the tourism sector. Since 1951, the city population has from 175,000 to some 55,000. To blame are high prices driven by the boom in tourism, the logistics of supplying a carless city, and the erosion of canal-side apartment buildings by lapping waters.
Basements and ground floors in much of the city are frequently flooded when the ‘acqua alta’ ( high water) phenomenon occurs, forcing residents and visitors alike to wear high rubber boots and use raised walkways.
In November, local officials announced new measures to bar the largest cruise ships from sailing too close to the Unesco site.
Vessels weighing 100,000 tonnes or more will have to take a less glamorous route to the industrial port of Marghera, bypassing views of the Grand Canal.
‘Exceptionally low tides’