The Sicilian government has transmitted to Rome last Wednesday 24 April all the documentation necessary to obtain the declaration of national state of emergency due to drought in Sicily. In the dossier, the solutions proposed by the control room led by the President of the Region and coordinated by the head of the regional Civil Protection to quickly put a stop to the crisis due to the lack of rain.
The declaration of a state of emergency due to drought by the Council of Ministers is expected next week together with the allocation of first sums for the most urgent interventions. The working group, also engaged in continuous meetings these days, has identified the necessary interventions, differentiated according to the implementation times. Among those of rapid implementation, the purchase of new tankers for Sicilian municipalities in crisisthe regeneration of wells and springs and the restoration of abandoned ones, the upgrading of pumping systems and existing pipelines, the construction of new bypass pipelines.
For the next few months, however, we are evaluating the renovation and restart of the Porto Empedocle watermakerin the Agrigento area, and of one of two between those of Trapani and Gela (in Nisseno), an operation that will require longer times and tender procedures. At the same time, the regional Civil Protection department was established nine technical tables at the Civil Engineering of the capitals of each province, with representatives of the Water Department, the Reclamation Consortia, and the Basin Authority. This resulted in numerous proposals for urgent interventions, which were examined by the control room. Furthermore, several meetings were held with Siciliacque, Aica Agrigento, Caltacque and Acque Enna.
