Best Photos of the Day

Shop owner John Codara, whose gelato bar is located right next to the “Leonardo” ferry along the Adda River, shows a wooden scale model of the ferry in Imbersago, Italy on April 18, 2023. Codara is convinced that the engineering of the ferry could handle low water. (Alessandro Grassani/The New York Times).

The town center of Imbersago, Italy on April 18, 2023. With the loss of Imbersago’s main attraction, tourism has slowed to a trickle. (Alessandro Grassani/The New York Times).

Shop owner John Codara, whose gelato bar is located right next to the “Leonardo” ferry along the Adda River, in Imbersago, Italy on April 18, 2023. Codara is convinced that the engineering of the ferry could handle low water. (Alessandro Grassani/The New York Times).

Elementary schoolchildren on a guided tour of the “Leonardo” ferry, moored along the Adda River in Imbersago, Italy on April 18, 2023. The ferry used to traverse the banks of the Adda, in northern Italy, but drought and an abundance of bureaucracy has closed it down. (Alessandro Grassani/The New York Times).

A ferry used to traverse the banks of the Adda River, in northern Italy, but drought and an abundance of bureaucracy has closed it down. Map at 2.1 X 2.8 -- cat=i.

Fabio Vergani, mayor of Imbersago, aboard the “Leonardo” ferry, moored along the Adda River in Imbersago, Italy on April 18, 2023. Some of the townspeople say an Italian problem more daunting than climate change - bureaucracy - is the real culprit for the ferry’s immobility since May. (Alessandro Grassani/The New York Times).

Leonardo Da Vinci’s image outside the ticket office for the “Leonardo” ferry, moored along the Adda River in Imbersago, Italy on April 18, 2023. The flights of the river’s birds, the formations of its rocks, and the workings of its ships are said to have inspired Leonardo’s genius. (Alessandro Grassani/The New York Times).

The Adda River in Brivio, a town near Imbersago, Italy on April 18, 2023. This month, the government established a task force to tackle the scarcity of rainfall, which has also hit the Adda, where swans glide on water so low that islands have emerged, rowboats are beached and the last of what the town calls “Leonardesque” ferries has become a stationary landmark. (Alessandro Grassani/The New York Times).

The Adda River in Brivio, a town near Imbersago, Italy on April 18, 2023. A year after Italy’s worst drought in seven decades, a winter without much rain or snow has turned into a dry spring across northern Italy. (Alessandro Grassani/The New York Times).

The barrier of Paderno d’Adda, a municipality near Imbersago, Italy on April 18, 2023. The dam diverts the river toward the hydroelectric plants of Esterle and Bertini. (Alessandro Grassani/The New York Times).