Germany Lake Garda more crowded than it has been for almost 50 years

Lake Garda - one of the most popular tourist destinations in northern Italy - is the most crowded it has been in a summer for almost half a century.

After heavy rainfall over the past few days, the water level in Peschiera in the south of the lake was 1.46 meters above hydrometric zero on Wednesday. The last time such a level was reached was in 1977.

In 2023, the level was almost one meter lower

Last year, some people were still worried that Lake Garda could dry out in one place or another after a long period of drought. The water level was almost a meter lower at the time.

Now, due to heavy rain, it rose by ten centimetres within a week at the start of the main summer season. This corresponds to a water volume of 50 million cubic meters. In some places in the region, more rain has fallen since the beginning of the year than in 2022 and 2021 as a whole.

All beaches are open

However, tourism officials have assured that the high water levels will not cause any difficulties for holidaymakers. The local authority Comunità del Garda said: "All beaches are open and shipping is also running regularly." However, hotel and beach resort owners fear for their business due to all the rain. Their hopes are pinned on things improving in July.

The water level is the height of the water level above sea level - this is 64.027 meters above sea level. It therefore does not correspond to the actual depth of the water - Italy's largest lake is more than 130 meters deep on average.

SDA