The mayor of Milan signed an ordinance Saturday turning off the spigots of public decorative fountains and the city's archbishop prayed for rain in a tour of churches as northern Italy endures one of its worst droughts in decades.
The city ordinance follows the declaration Friday of a state of emergency in the surrounding Lombardy region, which has endured an unusually early heat wave and months without significant rainfall. Neighboring Emilia Romagna and Piemonte have undertaken similar crisis measures.
