Water levels low in Tiber river amid drought

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has called his ministers for a meeting late Monday to discuss the possibility of declaring a state of emergency in various regions of Italy badly hit by drought.

Five Italian regions have requested state of emergency status as Italy is facing its worst drought in 70 years. On Rome's Tiber River, plants growing on the riverbed can be seen on the surface and debris is floating in the shallow waters.

"The Tiber, as he can say from his 40 years' experience on the river, has never had a situation like this," said, a boatman. The Tiber runs through the Lazio region, one of those expected to be put on the list for the state of emergency.

According to the Italian research group CNR, this year Italy has had half the average rainfall of the past 30 years having devastating effects on agriculture.