Recently, many news reported the flooding in the lagoon city of Venice. The rising water level caused by flooding reached its highest peak in more than 50 years. While the flooding is the major concerning to many and is reported through media massively, I found the lagoon water system in Venice interests me more.
A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from seas by islands. The Venetian Lagoon is surrounded by island barriers and the Adriatic Sea. Venice, the city, was built on islands situated inside the lagoon. I found that this would be a good topic for the story map. Firstly, the lagoon was built six to seven thousand years ago by engineers living in the Roman era, so there is a history approach connected to the waters. Besides, three canals run through that stretch of land, connecting commercial activities between Venice merchants and commercial vessels from other countries. This is the economic side. The interactions between the rising sea tides and rivers in the lagoon are interesting to delve into as well. What’s more, Venice’s water is highly polluted, because people dump sewage water in the canals. Therefore, this topic would also relate to the great stink that we discussed in the class.