800-metre net to stop logs at the mouth of the Sarca river

08 April 2025

More safety for the entire lake thanks to the new equipment put in place by the Riva del Garda fire brigade to contain logs and other floating material that reaches the lake during flooding of the Sarca river.
A new piece of equipment has been handed over free of charge by the Autonomous Province of Trento to the Riva volunteer fire brigade. ‘Equipment that will be fundamental in the event of a hydraulic alert, particularly when intervention is required to contain the release of large quantities of water from the Ponte Pià dam into the Sarca and then, from there, into Lake Garda in the stretch between Torbole and Riva,’ said the Trentino authorities.
In these circumstances, the laying of containment nets at the mouth of the Sarca is a crucial operation to prevent debris, logs and other things from ending up in the lake, with consequent problems both in terms of the environment and safety for navigation and sports activities. For example, in October 2024 a large amount of debris and timber had arrived in Lake Garda. A sort of ‘tide of wood’ that had travelled 50 kilometres and, from the outlet of the Sarca between Torbole, Arco and Riva, had arrived as far as Peschiera, with a Coast Guard alert.
Now things should be much better. The Risk Prevention Service of the Autonomous Province of Trento, through its Logistics Unit, has provided the Riva volunteer fire brigade with material worth about 180 thousand euro.

The equipment includes a reel for 800 metres of net, a trailer, and a telescopic hoist for recovering the equipment at the end of the work.
‘These are tools that allow for more efficient operations on Lake Garda, reducing intervention times and improving operator safety. This new equipment represents a very important step towards improving our operational capabilities in case of hydraulic alerts,’ explained Marco Menegatti, commander of the Riva del Garda volunteer fire brigade.


Read the article in the Arena of 15 April