The Lambro ( or ''Lambar'' ) is a river of

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

, northern Italy, a left tributary of the Po. The Lambro rises from the Monte San Primo, elevation , near the Ghisallo, in the

province of Como The province of Como (; Comasco dialect, Comasco: ) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Lombardy region of Italy. It borders the Switzerland, Swiss cantons of Ticino and Grisons, Grigioni to the north, the Italian provinces of Province of ...

, not far from

Lake Como Lake Como ( , ) also known as Lario, is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the third-largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. At over deep, it is one of the deepest lakes in Europe. ...

. After Magreglio it flows through the Valassina and the ''comuni'' of

Asso Asso ( Valassinese ) is an Italian ''comune'' in the province of Como, in Lombardy, Italy. It has 3,524 citizens and an area of , with a density of . Main sights Significant historic buildings are: * the castle, built in the 12th century; nowada ...

, Ponte Lambro and Erba, entering Lake Pusiano with the name of ''Lambrone''. The Lambro passes through Brianza reaching

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

and crossing its famous park (where king Umberto I was assassinated by Gaetano Bresci) in two branches which join again before the river passes through the eastern part of

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. At Melegnano it receives the waters of the Vettabbia and, at Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, those of its main tributary, the Lambro meridionale ("Southern Lambro"), almost doubling its discharge. The Lambro flows into the Po near Orio Litta. At the average discharge of the Lambro is relatively small, but it can be occasionally boosted to 40 m³/s or more by the Milanese water drains and dangerous floods are frequent in the rainy seasons. The name Lambro was used for a popular three-wheeler commercial transport vehicle produced by Milanese automaker Innocenti, which also made the

Lambretta Lambretta () was a brand of motor scooters, manufactured in Milan, Italy, by Innocenti. The name is derived from the word Lambrate, the suburb of Milan named after the river Lambro which flows through the area, and where the factory was locat ...

motor scooters A scooter (motor scooter) is a motorcycle with an underbone or step-through frame, a seat, a transmission that shifts without the operator having to operate a clutch lever, a platform for their feet, and with a method of operation that emph ...

Etymology

According to Pokorny's

Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch The ''Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch'' (''IEW''; "Indo-European Etymological Dictionary") was published in 1959 by the Austrian-Czech comparative linguist and Celtic languages expert Julius Pokorny. It is an updated and slimmed-down ...

(''Indo-European Etymological Dictionary'')
1132 (''legʷh-'')
''Lambrus'' corresponds to Greek ἐλαφρός, meaning 'light (in weight), quick, nimble' ('leicht, flink' in German) and is related to Illyrian ''lembus'' (*''lengʷho-s'') 'light vehicle' ('leichtes Fahrzeug' in German), whence also Greek λέμβος. Pokorny cites Krahe, ''Gymnasium'' 59 (1952), p. 79.

Pollution

Lambro drains a very densely populated and heavily industrialized zone, including a significant portion of the

Milan metropolitan area The Milan metropolitan area, also known as Grande Milano ("Greater Milan"), is the largest metropolitan area in Italy and the List of metropolitan areas by population, 54th largest in the world. Definition Given the absence of an official ...

with a population of more than 3,000,000. Before the construction of a treatment plant in 2002, almost all of the sewage from the city of

flowed untreated into the river, as well as industrial sewages.

Saboteur oil spill

Despite the implementation of sewage treatment, overall water quality remained poor, until the major disaster of 23 February 2010, when unknown criminals poured into the river, near Villasanta, the contents of several silos containing oil and other

hydrocarbons In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and hydrophobic; their odor is usually faint, and may b ...

, all belonging to a company named "Lombardia Petroli". This oily mass, estimated at over , followed the entire length of the river, despite both local authorities and

civil defence Civil defense or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from human-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency management: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, ...

's efforts in order to stop the flow, then reached Po river. This disaster caused considerable damage to wildlife and vegetation, both in Lambro and in Po, and its effects will be evident for many years afterwards, making it one of the worst environmental crises in recent history in Italy.NICOLE WINFIELD
"Lambro River Oil Spill May Create 'Ecological Disaster' In Italy"
''Huffington Post'', 2010-02-24

References

{{Reflist Rivers of Italy Rivers of the Province of Como Rivers of the Province of Lecco Rivers of the Province of Monza and Brianza Rivers of the Metropolitan City of Milan Rivers of the Province of Lodi Rivers of the Province of Pavia