[HIGHLIGHTS] Lake Garda secret tunnel saves major Italian city from flooding

Storms are causing concern in Italy. Recently, Verona is threatened with flooding.

But a tunnel to Lake Garda helps. Not without consequences for the North Italian Lake. The idea behind it is to serve as a reservoir when the Etsch river has too much water. The tunnel ends not far from the small town of Riva del Garda, which is the destination of many holidaymakers from Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. The authorities only open the tunnel if there is an extraordinary risk of flooding. Because: The procedure is indeed effective. But: It also poses ecological risks for Lake garda. The EtsCh rises in the South Tyrolean mountains, flows through the Adige Valley (Italian: Valle dell'Adige) and the Northern Italian Plain in Northern Italy. Finally it flows into the Adriatic Sea south of Laguna Veneta. Over a length of ten kilometers, the water flows through a tunnel under the Monte Baldo mountain into the northern basin of Lake GardA.