Po Delta, June–July 2026: A heatwave across Europe caused the Po River’s flow to drop sharply — from around 1,000 m³/s to under 300 m³/s in less than two weeks. With less river force pushing back, seawater moved roughly 18 kilometres inland, reaching irrigation canals across the delta.
Response to the Po Delta saltwater intrusion problem
To counter this emergency, the Delta del Po Reclamation Consortium has implemented a mix of climate adaptation solutions. The strategy ranges from large-scale engineering works to widespread regional interventions, including the widening of consortium canals and new pumping stations, all the way to digital innovations.
The most evident success of this approach is being recorded on the Island of Ariano. Here, thanks to ministerial and PNRR funds, the 29.3 kilometers of the Canale Veneto have been transformed into a massive freshwater reservoir. The canal has been widened and equipped with three pumping stations – including the new Goro central plant – which reintroduce reclamation water back into the network. This structural intervention, now supported by digital technology, is saving irrigation and allowing historic rice fields to be reactivated even in the areas most exposed to the advancing sea.
Engineering works like these buy time, but the Consortium is clear that pipes and pumps alone won’t be enough. Farmers on the ground still need to know, day to day, where the salt wedge stands and how to act on it, which is why digital tools are becoming as much a part of the strategy as the barriers themselves.
Learn more about the Delta del Po Phito food system
Where this connects to Phito
Phito doesn’t fix saltwater intrusion, as this is more of an infrastructure problem. Where we see farmers benefiting from the Phito App is being able to help the take informed decisions and monitor the salt water wedge. Photo enables staying in contact with farmers and land managers through its alerts and messaging interface, but also offers tools to better read and interpret the salinity of soils. Cooperatives and farming organisations in charge of monitoring these issues can for instance send out real-time alerts. But the app also strives to offer guidance and a space for peer-to-peer learning about how to become more resilient not only in times of emergencies. That’s the kind of long-term resilience work Phito offers in food systems like the Delta del Po, one of Phito’s nine partner regions.
