Lake Garda stood at 55.5 centimetres above the Peschiera hydrometric zero at 10:30 on Wednesday 14 October 2026. That is 16 centimetres below the average recorded on this date since 1995 and 25 centimetres below the level of a year ago. The lake has been almost stationary for days: in the last 24 hours it dropped by less than a centimetre, with about 17 cubic metres per second flowing in and 18 flowing out towards the Mincio river.
How it compares with the last thirty years
In the series that starts in 1995, the average for 14 October is 71.7 centimetres. This year the lake is below average, but in eight of the 31 previous years the water was lower than today on the same date. The lowest value is from 2003, at 11 centimetres, followed by 2007 and 2022, both at 23. Then come 2015, 2004, 2005, 2017 and 2006, between 40 and 52 centimetres.
On 14 October 2025 the Peschiera gauge read 80.8 centimetres; in 2024 it read 108.3. The absolute minimum of the series, 8 centimetres, dates to mid-September in both 2003 and 2007.
From the March peak to the August low
The year began with the lake above one metre. The 2026 peak, 129.6 centimetres, was reached on 26 March, and the level stayed above 100 centimetres until 24 June. A summer with little rain then brought it down to the low of 51.7 centimetres on 19 August. Since September it has fluctuated between 54 and 65 centimetres.
Less water released towards the Mincio
Over the same period, releases from the Salionze dam, which regulates the flow of water from Lake Garda into the Mincio, have changed. In June and July the outflow averaged 65-67 cubic metres per second. In August, when the Comunità del Garda, the Consorzio del Mincio and AIPO agreed to cut it to 28 cubic metres per second, the average fell to 50, and in September to 30, with a temporary increase for the permanent meadows of the Mantua area.
Since the first days of October the outflow has been 18 cubic metres per second, the quantity needed to guarantee the minimum vital flow of the Mincio and the lakes of Mantua.
On 8 October, Pierlucio Ceresa, secretary general of the Comunità del Garda, called the overall picture “very positive”, with safety margins for the autumn weeks, when weather problems are statistically possible.
The readings from the regulating bodies of the large lakes are updated every 30 minutes. They are instrumental measurements that have not yet been validated.
