No drinking water’, red alert in Italy | Nightmare summer for this region: nothing will come out of the taps.
Water emergency in Italy: fears of a summer without water are growing.
In recent times, let’s face it, water has become an increasingly hot topic. Climate change, waste, old infrastructure… in short, the perfect cocktail to create a serious problem. If just a few years ago it seemed like the stuff of far-off documentaries, now the threat of running dry is just around the corner.
After all, water is the basis of everything. Not just to quench our thirst (of course), but to keep the whole ecosystem going. From our bodies to our crops, everything stops without it. It allows cells to function properly, lubricates joints, aids digestion… OK, I could go on and on. But the point is that without water there is no life, neither for us nor for the planet.
Here in Italy, the situation is becoming increasingly delicate. Even when it rains – and we have had some rain in recent months, eh – it is no longer enough. The management of water resources seems to be in trouble, and natural and artificial reservoirs cannot hold enough water to meet future needs. Pretty scary stuff when you think about it.
It is not just a matter of taps running dry. There is a whole world of agriculture that stands to pay dearly. And when agriculture suffers, the effects are felt in our supermarkets and on our dinner tables. In short, the problem is not just about ‘others’.
A project to save water in Italy
To try to remedy the situation, Coldiretti and Anbi have come up with a rather interesting idea. They want to create a network of reservoirs connected to a super-innovative pumping system. The idea is simple: collect rainwater as it falls and store it for lean times, like now.
At the moment, rainwater is practically thrown away, spread out over the 230,000km of canals scattered across the country and then sent straight out to sea. Preposterous, isn’t it? This new project could double the water harvesting capacity and use it not only for agriculture and livestock, but also to generate hydroelectric power and reduce the risk of flooding. A much-needed breath of fresh air, no, water. Especially for the people who live here.
It was Coldiretti who sounded the alarm (for the umpteenth time, you might say) on World Water Day. The situation? Not exactly rosy, especially for some southern regions. The water shortage in Puglia is particularly striking: 100 million cubic metres less than last year.
Unless something changes soon, it will be virtually impossible to irrigate fields this summer. But there are other regions affected by this problem, such as Sardinia, Basilicata or Sicily: they are in bad shape, very bad.
