The Po Delta, an unstable border of water

The Po Delta is the end of the river, where the bed fans out into six
branches as it merges with the Adriatic sea: from north to south,
they take the name of Levante Po, Maistra Po, Pila (or Venice) Po,
Tolle Po, Donzella Po and Goro Po, which marks the border with
Emilia-Romagna.

As the freshwater gradually mixes with the salt water of the sea, the landscape changes, from the cane thickets, inhabited by herons, to the lagoons, where the marine birds stop.
The Delta environment is a continually evolving one, marked by the
gradual advancing of the land that has emerged due to the
deposition of river sediment. In order to evaluate the scale of the
phenomenon, suffice to consider that in Etruscan and Roman times,
the coastline corresponded more or less with the current line of the
Via Romea, which connects Chioggia to the abbey of Pomposa; two
thousand years later, the front has advanced over twenty kilometres
and is represented by transitional environments of an exceptional
value, not merely from an environmental standpoint, but also an
economic one, with shellfish, especially muscle and clam, farming:
from the north, the Barbamarco lagoon, Burcio valle, Basson valle,
Canarin sacca and Scardovari sacca.

The Po Delta territory covers to a total of 400 m2 and lies in the
province of Rovigo. Almost one third of this area (12 thousand
hectares) was protected in 1997 by the establishment of the Po Delta
Regional Park, which embraces some nine municipalities (Adria,
Ariano nel Polesine, Corbola, Loreo, Papozze, Porto Tolle, Porto Viro,
Rosolina and Taglio di Po).
The southern section of the park is a specular reality under the jurisdiction of the Emilia-Romagna region, comprising the seventh branch of the delta, which stretches towards the fisheries of Comacchio, in the province of Ferrara, as far as the Cervia saltworks in the province of Ravenna, for a total of 60 thousand further hectares. Overall, it is one of the most important wet areas not
only in the Mediterranean, but also the whole of Europe, xtraordinary
both with regards to the variety of the wealth of its environments –
rivers, lagoons and pine woods – and fauna – with the nesting of the
flamingos, for instance – but also as regards cultural values, with the
Veneto section that bears witness to ancient settlements such as Adria and sites of extraordinary historical value such as the Church of St. Basilius, a stopping point along the old via Popilia.

Delta navigation: buoys and red and white triangles
The best way to discover the territories of the Delta is on its
waterways, using any kind of vessel, from cabin cruisers to
houseboats, from dinghies to canoes.

River navigation is part of the broader padano-veneto system, which makes it possible on the one hand to sail back up river as far as Cremona (and, at certain times of year to continue on to the mouth of the Ticino) and on the other it develops along the Adriatic coast from Ravenna to Venice, and then to the threshold of the gulf of Trieste. Access to the Delta Po waterways passes through the mouths of the rivers, along which numerous mooring places can be found, or through the basins and canals that connect the various stretches of the waterway.

From a practical point of view, river sailing does not present any particular difficulties, although one must pay attention to the depth of the water and the downstream current that mixes with the pull of the tides in the opposite direction in the areas closest to the sea.

The practicable waterways are accompanied by special indications of red and white triangles on posts and buoys that indicate the sandbanks and the manoeuvres to be performed.