There is nothing in the water emergency that is afflicting Italy with an emergency. For at least twenty years, water shortages have been a structural problem in the country, explains Francesco Vincenzi, president of the National Association of land reclamation irrigation improvements (Anbi).
The peculiarity of this drought is that it came too early. An earliness well described by the lean of the Po, the most serious of the last seventy years. According to data from the basin authority, which recommended reducing irrigation withdrawals by 20 percent, the flow of the river in Pontelagoscuro has dropped to an all-time low of 170 cubic meters per second: less than half the level of water. alert, set at 450. In 2003 and 2006 the Po had already fallen below the warning threshold, but at the end of August.
The agony of the largest river in Italy is only the symbol of the severe drought that affects the entire Po valley and extends to the center and south. It is the result of the concomitance of the drastic drop in precipitation – minus 60 per cent of rainy ones, minus 80 per cent of snow, which has already ended in the alpine deposits – and of high temperatures: in June they were recorded on average between 3 and 4 degrees above the seasonal average, while from NASA they let it be known that spring 2022 was the fifth warmest since 1880.
With the exception of Lake Garda, all the northern basins are in great trouble, less than 20 percent full, while last year they were still over 90. Rivers are also suffering: the flow of the Tanaro is reduced by two thirds. Piedmont is the most affected region, where 250 municipalities have issued ordinances to encourage responsible use of water. But there is also a risk of rationing in the Bergamo area and in the Parma Apennines. In the Delta area, the saline wedge has risen by at least 20 kilometers towards Ferrara, putting at risk the availability of fresh water for agriculture and for the drinking of about 800 thousand people.
At the center, the effects of drought are already tangible in Lazio, where the shifting of drinking water is already underway in 22 municipalities in the province of Frosinone. The measure could soon affect another 180,000 people. The president of the Region Nicola Zingaretti has decreed the state of calamity.
Regions and local authorities, in addition to asking to use the funds of the NRP and to divert water from hydroelectric power to agriculture, would like the declaration of a national state of emergency. This would guarantee the government’s political shield when unpopular decisions such as water rationing need to be taken.
The regions are also working to define the necessary criteria for declaring a state of emergency: to be granted if the damage to agricultural production exceeds 30 percent of salable. The Executive and Civil Protection, on the other hand, prefer a decision that allows individual territories to be assessed on a case-by-case basis, but it is not known when it will be completed.
Agriculture Minister Stefano Patuanelli recommended that the requests for a state of emergency and calamity come together, to coordinate civil protection interventions and compensate for non-insurable damage.
Patuanelli also stressed the need to create a fund to insure farms from damage caused by extreme weather events, which will be increasingly common.
Indeed, agriculture is the sector most affected. Coldiretti estimates the damage already caused by the drought at three billion. Wheat, being harvested, is among the least at risk crops, with an expected decline of 30 percent. Added to the loss are the 170 per cent increase in fertilizer prices and the price of agricultural diesel, which has almost tripled in one year. Fruit and vegetables, soy and corn are the crops most at risk. Rice deserves a separate discussion: without rain the administrations of Pavia, Novara and Vercelli will have to choose between safeguarding the harvest and rationing water for civil use.
The consequences are also serious for energy production, already in trouble due to the gas crisis. On the Po, the Isola Serafini hydroelectric plant in San Nazzaro has stopped. But the drought is also blocking thermoelectric production, which requires water to cool the plants. The power plants of Moncalieri, Sermide and some groups of Ostiglia are already at a standstill, but five other plants risk being cut off. This is why the reopening of the coal-fired power plants of Venice fusina, La Spezia and Monfalcone is being considered.
In the background the risk of fires: there are still no critical situations, but the burning season begins in July.
This article appeared in number 33 of the Essential, on page 2.