Vast swathes of land south of Rome were boggy swamps for thousands of years until a monumental drainage programme in the 1930s turned malaria-infested marshes into prime agricultural fields. Fast forward 90 years and, where water was once abundant, now it is growing scarce as one of the worst droughts in living memory fuelled by weeks of scorching temperatures has drastically reduced the flow of local springs. But ageing infrastructure and leaky pipes are exacerbating an already disastrous situation, with much precious water vanishing down the drain before it even reaches the taps.
