Delta del Po

The Po Delta wetlands have been protected by the institution of two regional parks in the regions in which it is situated: Veneto and Emilia-Romagna. The Po Delta Regional Park in Emilia-Romagna, the largest, consists of four parcels of land on the right bank of the Po and to the south. Created by law in 1988, it is managed by a consortium, the Consorzio per la gestione de Parco, to which Ferrara and Ravenna provinces belong as well as nine comuni: Comacchio, Argenta, Ostellato, Goro, Mesola, Codigoro, Ravenna, Alfonsine, and Cervia.
In 1999 the park was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and was added to “Ferrara, City of the Renaissance, and its Po Delta.” The 53,653 ha (132,580 acres) of the park contain wetlands, forest, dunes and salt pans. It has a high biodiversity, with 1000-1100 plant species and 374 vertebrate species, of which 300 are birds.
Until 1989 water resources were administered regionally or locally. The major authority on the lower Po was the Magistrato alle Acque di Venezia, first formed in the 16th-century Republic of Venice. It made all the decisions concerning the diversion of the lower river. Most part of the delta is still in Veneto.
In 1907 under the Kingdom of Italy the agency became the Magistrato alle Acque and took responsibility for all the water resources in northeastern Italy. Currently it is a decentralized institution of the Ministry of Public Works, headed by a chairman appointed by the Head of State and the Council of Ministers. Its headquarters are in Venice. Its domain is the management and protection of the water system in Veneto, Mantua, Trento, Bolzano and Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
In 1989 in response to the major geologic problems that were developing along the river Law no. 183/89 was passed authorizing The Po Basin Water Board (Autorità di bacino del fiume Po), which would direct operations concerning all the water resources in the Po basin (see under Po Valley).