Drought plagues Italy. On the first day of spring, 21 March, the cabin director, while the appointment of the Extraordinary Emergency Commissioner has been frozen for now. It is true that in recent days the situation has improved somewhat. But the repercussions on agriculture and families remain heavy. The damages for Coldiretti now exceed 6 billion euros. The country was not prepared for a crisis of this size. Since February 2021, drought has affected 38% of irrigated agricultural areas. The Anbi – National Association of Water Basin Management Consortia – defines it as severe-extreme drought and in the latest report writes that: Italy no longer has major rivers. The first river of the Peninsula, the Po, remains below the monthly historical minimum with 14% less water than the average values.
Are seawater desalination plants against drought?
The President of Veneto Luca Zaia and the Mayor of Genoa Marco Bucci they proposed the construction of watermakers of sea water. Evidently they will have deepened the analyzes of the WHO which has included Italy among the countries with the greatest water stress. The fact is that a technical and political response to these emergencies must be found. These are fatal circumstances for the climate and accentuate the tropicalisation of the peninsula. But are watermakers really the most appropriate answer? And what would be the time to build them, given the chronic slowness for new infrastructures? "The much cited desalination plants can be a solution for localized emergencies, they are certainly not decisive for a widespread factor such as drought which penalizes agriculture and the environment in a territory like the Italian one" he says Francesco Vincenzo, President of the ANBI ». Not only. It is remembered that Israel has transformed the desert into a green area. « We have the garden and our job is to maintain it. It just doesn't seem the same to me..." adds Vincenzi. The national weather status is constantly observed. Precipitation remains scarce and insufficient to resolve a situation of generalized water crisis. In the Dolomites the snowpack is 40 centimetres. Lake Garda is filled only for a third. In Liguria it rained in the Genoese hinterland, as well as in Calabria some rain only occurred in the province of Reggio Calabria. Pills of optimism. As for the rivers, essential for the ecosystem, the levels are decreasing as can be seen along the Tiber. In two southern regions - Basilicata and Puglia - the water reserves are almost dry. In Puglia there are even 5 million cubic meters of water missing.
Also invest in the invaded ones
Massimo Gargano, Director General of the ANBI in the latest Bulletin of the organization, takes up the theme of desalination plants. Completely rejected? No. « If we talk about islands yes, replacing the obsolete and very expensive barges of the sea. There are many doubts, however, whether to do it in the rest of the country, above all with purely desert nations as a reference, where the oil economy abundantly finances this practice ». The economic aspect in recent weeks is well highlighted in all the analyzes to combat drought. Next Tuesday's control room could also authorize new interventions in support of agriculture above all, when the mayors' appeals for the rationing. «The costs [of the desalination plants] - adds Gargano - would put the made in Italy food industry out of the market, increasing the costs of the products on the shelf. Together with the efficiency of the hydraulic network and the optimization of irrigation use, it is no longer logical to create the conditions for retaining and transferring rainwater, improving the environment through a network of multifunctional ponds starting with the reuse of the thousands of abandoned quarries? ” Compared to the desalination operation, the interventions on the reservoirs would be faster. There desalination, however, it is a phenomenon to be taken into consideration. In Italy there are 20.000 small reservoirs, which until thirty years ago held 15% of rainwater, against just over 11% today. For years no maintenance has been done, weakening an ancient system, a legacy of the farmers, against the scarcity of water. For the medium-long term, the PNRR has envisaged interventions for 700 million euro per year until 2026. A figure considered minimal, however, by organizations such as Utilitalia which, after two terrible years, estimate investments of 6 billion a year are necessary. All eligible money to be able to cope with unexpected (?) instead very predictable events related to climate change.
