Acqua Alta

From her early beginnings, Venetians carefully diverted feeding rivers, dug up saltworks, and shored up her banks. Currents and tides had to be kept in balance, as they they cleaned the city, carried waste out to the sea, and renewed murky waters harbouring below. Throughout our modern era, many of Venice’s canals have been filled to make walkways, lagoon entrances have been dredged deeper for oil tankers, and her feeding rivers have been significantly diverted. Industry on nearby coasts have also spewed out pollutants into her basin. Although acqua alta have been noted as early as the 13th century, floods have become more frequent. In 1900 C.E., the city experienced high tides approximately ten times in a year; now she is menaced up to sixty times a year. The city is truly "going under", which begs the question: "How will we respond?"