TICINO PARK

Desired by the people since 1967, the Park was set up in 1974. Later, in 1980, the Piano territoriale di Coordinamento (the territorial Plan of Coordination), was approved. Some of the institutional objectives of the regional Park are: the protection of the river, the safeguard of the river basin and of both the fauna and the flora, the regulations of the agricultural and tourist activities and the conservation of the environment. The Park keeper has various tasks: he inspects the cutting of the woods and the variations of the town planning, he controls the hunting, the fishing and the traffic, he picks mushrooms and inspects the quality of the water.

If we had the possibility to look down at the full extent of the river we would see how the Ticino flows in a bed which is deeply embanked if compared to the plains of the regions Lombardy and Piedmont. It flows down a valley which becomes wider going from Sesto Calende to Pavia. The Ticino River is about 100 kilometers in length flowing from the Lake Maggiore to the Po River and down from a height of 193 meters above sea level to 56 meters above sea level.
If you are near the bridge of the Becca, where the Ticino flows into the Po, you can notice the remarkable difference in the colour of the water, as the water of the Ticino is much clearer. As a matter of fact, the water that comes from the Lake Maggiore is already of good quality, and, moreover, the riverbed is mostly made from pebbles, gravel and sand, and there are very few suspended particles. The "Light blue river" is affected by some biological polluting agents, however the presence of natural springs, which provide the river with clean and oxygenated subterranean water limit the impact of pollution. Furthermore, the activity and the controls of the Park ensure a good quality of the river's water, thus allowing bathing and the use for agricultural and industrial purposes.