The Great River (working title) is a new photographic project that aims to investigate the changes underway along the largest Italian river.
Water needs across Europe have steadily increased over the past 50 years mostly due to population growth and climate change. This resulted in an overall 24% decrease in renewable water resources per capita across Europe. Southern European countries are the most affected by this phenomenon.
In Italy, 35 percent of national agricultural production is concentrated in the Po Valley where around 40 percent of Italian GDP is produced: its main water reserve, the Po river basin, has drastically reduced and this year is facing the most severe drought since 1972.
The Po river, the largest Italian river in terms of length and flow, supplies water for civil, industrial, and agricultural use. Its water is also used to produce electricity.
Around 16 million people live along its banks (Italy has about 60 million inhabitants) and the current drought puts more than a third of Italian agricultural production at risk.
photography 