The Rivers Secchia and Panaro are the main rivers of the Modena Province. Their Po plain stretches (about 100 km and 85 km long respectively) have two sectors whose geomorphological characteristics are different; in fact the rivers, near the Apennine margin, are deepened in the alluvial plain while, in the mid-lower part of the plain, are hanging rivers within artificial levees.

This study was based on detailed bibliographical research, examination of historical documents and maps, interpretation of aerial photo-interpretation and field survey. From the first millenium B.C. to the 14th century A.D. the Rivers Secchia and Panaro wandered within a rather wide area. Courses very similar to the present one were taken by the rivers in the 14th-15th centuries, after several diversions.

As regards the evolution over the past two centuries, near the Apennine margin the rivers turned from a braided riverbed to a channelised course subject to marked deepening. This modification was due to the gravels quarrying activities along the riverbeds (particularly intense since the 1950s) and the construction of fluvial barrages. In the mid-lower part of the plain, the rivers course have been conditioned by artificial meander cuts carried out to reduce flood hazard. The R. Secchia meander cuts, carried out mainly in the mid-19th century, have shortened the river length by about 10 km; the R. Panaro meander cuts, carried out at the end of the 19th century and in the beginning 1970s, have shortened the river course by about 8 km. Since these cuts did not reduce adequately flood hazard, "flow regulation systems" were constructed in the area of Modena along both rivers.

It can be stated that the present courses of the Rivers Secchia and Panaro in the Po Plain are the result of a series of anthropogenetic interventions over the last centuries.