Extended Low Tides Cause Smaller Canals in Venice to Dry Up

Many of Venice’s smaller canals have nearly dried up due to an extended period of low tides, leaving boat crews frustrated and tourists confused.

Experts attribute the ongoing low tides to a persistent high-pressure weather system affecting much of Italy.

As the canals act as streets in car-free Venice, this recent situation has compounded daily challenges in the lagoon city. In some instances, ambulance boats have had to dock further from their destinations, requiring medical crews to transport stretchers over long distances as their vessels struggle to navigate canals that have been reduced to mere trickles of water and sludge.

For visitors, this situation meant that gondolas were unable to traverse certain secondary waterways that weave beneath Venice’s charming bridges.

In midwinter, a combination of high atmospheric pressure and the lunar cycle results in exceptionally low water levels during ebb tide, as explained by Jane Da Mosto, an environmental scientist and sustainable development analyst with We Are Here Venice, an environmental advocacy organization.

She emphasized that this phenomenon underscores the urgent need to clean Venice’s inner canal system, which has been neglected for too long.

Navigation remained possible on the broader, main waterways, including the Grand Canal and Giudecca Canal.

Additionally, the same high-pressure system, coupled with the lack of snowmelt from the Alps this year, has contributed to the shrinking lakes and rivers in northern Italy over the past weeks. Recently, an isthmus connecting the shores of Lake Garda to a small island has resurfaced, allowing visitors to effectively walk partway across the lake.