The water crisis in Sicily reaches the Council of Ministers which meets today at Palazzo Chigi in Rome to discuss the delicate situation on the island.
In the afternoon, the meeting is scheduled for 5.30 pm, with the President of the Region Renato Schifani acting as spokesperson for Sicily’s problems. A prerogative that the Autonomistic Statute assigns to him is precisely that of participating in the Council of Ministers when it deals with topics that concern Sicily and to do so with the rank of minister.
Schifani, “Institutional responsibility on me”
“Today I feel the institutional responsibility of personally representing to the government and the Council of Ministers what the situation is that is foreseen regarding the drought in Sicily. An absolutely worrying situation to which I did not want to sound alarmist but which certainly cannot be taken lightly.” Thus the governor of the island on the sidelines of the international congress organized in Palermo by the regional prosecutor’s office of the Court of Auditors.
“Intervene today to avoid damage during the summer”
“We need to intervene today to avoid irreparable damage during the summer due to the lack of rain – added the governor – The reservoirs are there but they must be managed very carefully. Today I will present my report and I am absolutely certain that I will be listened to by the government which has put the state of disaster on the agenda and therefore there is no doubt that it shares this decision. We will discuss the amount of amounts necessary to allow us to activate the first initiatives aimed at avoiding extreme cases of drought during the summer”.
The emergency plan that looks at the worst
Meanwhile, the Region has already started an emergency plan regarding which a series of rumors have circulated. we talk about tankers, field watermakers, the use of military engineering alongside civil engineering. It’s about preparing for a water crisis that hasn’t really exploded yet but which we fear could be truly dramatic in the summer.
But this is an extreme plan that looks at the absolute worst scenarios. On the report sent to Rome, the President of the Region has already expressed his opinion in the rooms of the Palace, considering the report attached to the request for a state of national emergency, sent by Palazzo d’Orleans to the Meloni government, to be disproportionate and not at all suitable for counteracting the effects of the drought. .
Password: save water
A handbook on how to save water in view of a summer that promises to be difficult, but also a series of emergency interventions ranging from the request for the use of portable watermakers to the use of armed forces tankers and field instruments of military genius.
While the water supply companies reduce the pressure in the distribution and water networks to save water, the regional government is already preparing countermeasures. In the emergency request and recognition of a natural disaster, the region also requests the sending of the armed forces to be able to use military engineering field watermakers and Navy tankers for supplies.
Below average rainfall in Sicily in April
Even in April the rainfall on the island was below average.
“The month of April further extended in Sicily a now long series of months with lower than normal rainfall that began last September 2023, which is increasingly seen as an extreme anomaly compared to the Sicilian climate. The hopes of a significant recovery of the heavy deficit accumulated during the autumn and winter were concentrated above all on the beginning of the month, when significant amounts of rain could have saved at least part of the cereal production, which in some areas went instead of all lost. The regional average of monthly precipitation was approximately 23 mm, compared to a normal value of 41 mm for the period 2003-2023″. The technicians of the Sicilian agrometeorological information service say so.
Since last September 1st the average rainfall has halved
Since 1 September 2023, overall rainfall for Sicily has been only half of normal values, but there are areas of eastern Sicily where less than 30% of what was expected based on the climate fell.
From an analysis, although not easy, of the long historical series, for the Catania area the September-April period, with 191.2 mm totalized in 8 months by the SIAS station, appears to have been absolutely among the driest of the series of the Hydrological Annals starting from 1916.
Even by applying homogenization factors to the SIAS series with respect to the series recorded in the past in the urban area, which unfortunately are no longer acquired today, the accumulation recorded this year appears only lower than the values recorded by the Catania GCOO.MM station. in the period 1968-69, data which is also of very uncertain validity.
Stop ornamental fountains and swimming pools
In the meantime, the emergency office asks citizens to start saving the precious liquid by using the shower instead of the bathtub, use washing machines and dishwashers only with full loads, and check the efficiency of water systems to avoid leaks. With an ordinance, it then forces public bodies not to use drinking water in ornamental fountains and swimming pools and also invites private individuals to do the same. Circulars have also been issued prohibiting the use of drinking water to water plants during daylight hours
