- Canals in Venice have been reduced to a trickle due to drought and low tide, Reuters reported.
- Pictures show grounded water taxis and low-lying gondolas at the bottom of canals.
- Normally, Venice faces the opposite problem, having braved a historic flood in 2019.
Unusually low tides and drought conditions in Italy have resulted in the canals of its famously watery city, Venice, almost drying up, Reuters reported.
A series of images of the city on Friday show some smaller channels with just a trickle of water, grounding the city's famous gondolas and water taxis and newly exposing the foundations of buildings.
In the larger channels that act as the city's major "highways," muddied steps that are normally underwater are now visible, with the bases of wooden guidance poles also exposed.
Water ambulances, which form part of the city's emergency services, were also unable to access some routes, Reuters reported.
Normally, Venice needs to guard against the opposite problem: flooding, as seen in 2019 when the waters of the "floating city" rose to their highest levels in 50 years.
Multiple issues are being blamed for the current unusually dry conditions, including low tides, sea currents and a full moon, Reuters reported.
It also comes as the environmental group Legambiente raised alarm over long-running drought conditions in the north of Italy.
According to the group, the Alps received 53% less snow over the winter, while the Po River — which serves much of northern Italy — had 61% less water than usual.
Italy declared a state of emergency in the agricultural areas served by the Po river last year.
