In Sicily it is drought warning and for agriculture it is a tragedy. We are already starting to see the first signs of a lack of water. Scattered throughout the region are 29 dams and the situationanalyzing the data released by the regional department of the basin authority of the Sicily hydrographic district and comparing them with those of the same period of 2023, is dramatic. “The main problem is the lack of rain – he says Dario Cartabellottageneral manager of the agriculture department and commissioner for the water emergency – and compared to 700 million cubic meters of uncontainable water, as of today, April 2024, there are just over 150 million”.
The Sicilian government sent to Rome, last Wednesday 24 April, all the documentation necessary to obtain the declaration of the national state of emergency for the 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 working group, also engaged in continuous meetings these days, has identified the necessary interventions, differentiated according to the implementation times. Among those rapidly implemented, the purchase of new tankers for Sicilian municipalities in crisis, the regeneration of wells and springs and the restoration of abandoned ones, the strengthening of pumping systems and existing pipelines, the construction of new pipelines bypass. For the next few months, however, we are evaluating the restructuring and restarting of the Porto Empedocle watermaker, in the Agrigento area, and of one of the two 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 has established nine technical tables at the Civil Engineers 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. The Council of Ministers is now expected to proceed with the declaration of a state of emergency for the Droughta measure expected for next week together with the allocation of the first sums for the most urgent interventions.
In general, the difference of all Sicilian dams compared to the previous year is -31%. The total of the 29 reservoirs goes from 431.27 million cubic meters of water in March 2023 to 299.09 million cubic meters of water present one year later. The month of March was the seventh consecutive month with rainfall lower than the norm for the period, with a deficit of approximately 300 milliliters of water. Sicily is today the only Italian region in red zone.
Summer is getting closer and closer, non-existent rainfall. Meanwhile, agricultural companies are increasingly afraid of the effects of this drought. For plants, water, used for irrigation, is fundamental and vital. Among these dams are those that supply water intended only for irrigation use the invasions of Orange, Cimia, Comunelli, Disueri, FuroreGorgo Lago, Nicoletti, Ogliastro, Olivo, Paceco, RubinoSan Giovanni, Santa Rosalia, Sciaguana, Trinity and Zaffarana. Then there are dams which, in addition to using water for the countryside, serve water for drinking purposes. Like the reservoirs of Ancipa, Castello, Fanaco, Garcia, Leone, Piana degli Albanesi, Poma, Prizzi, Rosamarina and Scanzano.
Democratic Party deputy Giovanna Iacono intervenes in a note: “The request for a state of calamity due to the drought by the Sicilian Region is a duty of Renato Schifani towards the Sicilians, farmers and breeders first and foremost, who are already facing an emergency never seen before, amplified by years of failure infrastructure planning. An act that we Sicilian parliamentarians of the PD have requested several times, which arrives very late, and which we hope this time will actually produce the desired results and will not end up as a victim, as has already happened, of the inefficiency of the centre-right. It will not escape anyone’s notice that just a few weeks ago, responding to a question of mine, the now minister Musumeci clarified that the funds to deal with the extreme calamitous events that occurred between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023 had gone up in smoke both due to delays on the part of the Region, and because the minister himself did not recognize the gravity enough to declare a state of national emergency. Now let’s hope that the same doesn’t happen, because it would be yet another slap in the face to Sicilian men and women, who are preparing to face months of serious emergency”.
