The availability of water resources in the year 2023 confirms the negative trend recorded for several years in Italy, although as shown by the BIGBANG estimates (the national hydrological model created by ISPRA) it can be considered a year of recovery compared to 2022. In our In fact, the availability of water resources in the country for the year 2023 has been estimated at 112.4 billion cubic metres, compared to a total precipitation value of 279.1 billion cubic metres. However, during the year there was a certain recovery compared to 2022, the year in which the availability of water resources reached 67 billion cubic metres, the historic minimum since 1951 and corresponding to approximately 50% of the average annual availability (137 .8 billion cubic meters), calculated over the period 1951–2023.
2023 recorded a nationwide reduction of approximately 18% in availability compared to the annual average for the same long period 1951–2023, the result of the combined effect of a rainfall deficit – especially in the months of February, March, September and December – and an increase in direct evaporation water volumes from bodies of water and from the ground.
The high volume of rainfall that fell in May, estimated at around 49 billion cubic metres, which was, at a national level, more than double that which on average characterizes the same month, estimated at approximately 23 billion cubic meters over the long period 1951–2023. This month in Emilia-Romagna, Sicily and to a lesser extent in Calabria, cumulative rainfall values were recorded locally that were even more than 6 times higher than the averages for the period. In particular, these intense and concentrated rains in the first half of the month were the cause of the tragic flood events in Emilia-Romagna.
