A primary public service conceived and rethought several times over the last thirty years, even subjected to a popular referendum, stranded in local bureaucracies. What does Italy lack for water management to become truly public and efficient? Citizens are waiting for nothing else, but... When Matteo Renzi in 2014 included the reorganization of the water sector in the "Sblocca Italia" he launched a high challenge: investments, efficiency, quality, managerial management. All, unfortunately, denied by the latest research carried out by the Spl laboratory of Ref Ricerche and by some judgments of the experts. Meanwhile, hundreds of companies continue to manage the service in contrast with the law.
Despite the terms set by the "Sblocca Italia" for the delimitation of the optimal territorial areas (Ato) and the definition of the government bodies (Ega), the Italian water system is not up to the needs. For once, it's not even necessary to look at other European countries. We have problems at home, as Massimo Gargano, general manager of Anbi, the Association of reclamation and irrigation consortia, recently explained. An exemplary case: Puglia. The situation in Puglia, affected by dry reservoirs despite the frosts of these days, is among the most disconcerting on the national scene. 4 major hydraulic works costing more than 66 million euros are terribly unfinished. And to resume work, protect the economy and the needs of the population for now there is no talk of it.
The Regions have created the ATOs, but they have often remained on paper. In Abruzzo, Campania, Molise, Calabria the primacy of defaults. Calabria is branded as the victim of a political stalemate due to a lack of unified vision on the organization of the territory and on the form of management of the integrated service. Opposite vision to the challenge of "Sblocca Italia", conceived for an industrial approach to the service. And the managers? There are four non-operating managing bodies: one in Abruzzo, two in Sicily, one each in Calabria and Molise. In these two Regions, the research focused on a transversality between the Region and the Municipalities with many mayors who have not even adhered to the Optimal Ambit. The sad synthesis of this picture is heterogeneity. From North to South. In Rome as in Palermo, or in Bari.
Of the 15 managers who had to place the service in the hands of a single company by June 2015, 10 are in default: Valle d'Aosta, Campania, Molise, Calabria and Sicily which suffers most of all disservices and lack of water in homes every summer . There is no manager required by law, so who takes care of distribution and bills? Who do users' money go to? The researchers confirm that as of December 31, 2017, 360 managements have ceased definitively and the year before 500.
In fact, there are companies that manage water differently from what is required by law. And there are 111 in Lombardy, 108 in Lazio and so on. However, citizens suffer from supply shortages, poor maintenance, and systems that need to be renovated. A way out and to relaunch the service can be the aggregation of several managers. The Spl researchers indicate it as a possible solution, but the bureaucracy and the multifaceted local authorities must make a quantum leap. Not small, because public services qualify the country and its ruling class.
