Climate change requires a new strategy on water infrastructure and Europe must make water resilience a priority. This is the message launched by the president of Acea, Alessandro Rivera, speaking at the Euro-Mediterranean Water Forum 2026.
“Climate change is profoundly changing the way we need to think about water infrastructure,” Rivera said, emphasizing the role played by PNRR, which "represented an exceptional opportunity"In the water sector alone, he recalled, 4,3 billion euros have been allocated.
Now, however, according to the president of Acea, we need to look beyond the National Recovery and Resilience Plan"I believe that Europe must do for water resilience what it did, in an earlier phase, for renewable energy: define a common strategy, create a stable framework of rules and incentives, and use public resources as leverage to mobilize much larger investments."
“A true European policy for water resilience”
The challenge therefore concerns not only resources, but also the ability to coordinate interventions"We need to build a real European policy for water resilience," Rivera explained, with "adequate and stable resources in the coming budget cycles" and above all "clear governance, capable of mobilizing both public and private capital."
In this scenario, the role of industrial utilities can be central. “Industrial operators are ready to do their part”, Rivera said. Acea invested over 660 million euros in the first six months of 2026.
Peschiera's doubling
Among the main projects indicated by Rivera is the doubling of the upper section of the Peschiera aqueduct, a project worth 1,5 billion euros that the president of Acea defines as “the most significant water project in Europe”.
"This is a strategic project to ensure the safety of Lazio's water supply, which serves over 4 million people in 150 municipalities," Rivera explained. The project will also allow intervene on the current aqueduct, in operation for over 80 years, and to apply new technologies developed by the group.
For Rivera, Peschiera can also become a model beyond regional borders"This project will represent the group's expertise and a model that can be exported to Italy and abroad." The challenge, concludes Acea's president, is to transform investments into infrastructure capable of addressing an increasingly complex climate, through more structured cooperation between institutions, local authorities, and businesses.
