Large parts of Italy are still firmly in the grip of heat and drought: In its forecast, the Ministry of Health issued the highest heat warning level for 22 Italian cities (see fact box).
Prime Minister Mario Draghi announced Rome’s measures due to the ongoing drought – from today the government will take care of emergency plans in the affected parts of the country. The government in Rome has already asked half a dozen regions to declare a state of emergency in order to enable further aid money and civil protection operations because of the water crisis.
There is no alternative to rationing
Verona is now rationing drinking water consumption because of the persistent drought: The new mayor, Damiano Tommasi, has signed an ordinance due to the weather conditions and their consequences for the water supply, “which limits drinking water consumption for private purposes,” according to the website of the city of 250,000.
In concrete terms, this means: Until August 31, it is forbidden to use drinking water to water gardens and sports facilities, to wash cars and to fill swimming pools. Drinking water may only be used during the day for eating, personal hygiene and cleaning in the household. Ignoring the ban can result in a fine of up to 500 euros. Mayor Michele Conti also signed a similar order in Pisa: In the tourist Mecca in Tuscany, drinking water may only be used in the household from July 11th. Such measures have already been decreed in other cities in Italy – but Verona is the largest city so far.
The agriculturally important Po Valley in northern Italy is experiencing its worst drought in 70 years. According to Coldiretti, the country’s largest farmers’ association, the drought threatens more than 30 percent of the country’s agricultural production and half of the livestock in the Po Valley. Because of the low water level, salt water penetrated the riverbed at the mouth of the Adriatic Sea up to 30 kilometers inland. The water level of Lake Maggiore and Lake Garda is significantly lower than is usual. The Tiber, which flows through Rome, also has extremely low water.
Also infrastructural problems
It is clear to Prime Minister Draghi that infrastructural problems are making the drought worse: some of the country’s water reservoirs and pipes are in such a dilapidated condition that 30 percent of the water is being lost. Critics, on the other hand, accuse politicians of not having done anything about it in recent years.
According to water expert Andrea Mangano, pioneer of the “Transaqua” project in Africa, Italy is suffering from an earlier halt to hydraulic engineering projects that could have made the difference today. Desalination plants along the 8,300 kilometers of Italy’s coast are in ever greater demand.