(ANSA) – ROME, JUNE 13 – After a winter with little snow in the Apennines and a spring with little rain, the symptoms of the water crisis are evident in Abruzzo: this was revealed by the weekly report of the Anbi Observatory on Water Resources.
From the Teatro hills to the Pescara coast, from Val Pescara to the border with Marche, rainfall in the hydrological year is at its lowest; the exceptions are the Fucino plain and the Vasto coast, where rainfall remained average.
In the month of May the coastal hilly area, especially the central-southern one, recorded a rainfall deficit of up to -87.7% on the Pescara coast while, paradoxically, the rainfall was higher than average (+93%) in the areas mountains in the province of L’Aquila.
The continuation of this “leopard patch” hydrological situation since the summer of 2023 means that even areas where there has never been a shortage of water are now finding themselves struggling with rationing and limitations: in the Peligna Valley, a water-rich area, experimenting for the first time with the interruption of supplies for 3 days a week, allowing the irrigation tank (“Sulmona”, which serves half the valley) to fill up, despite the low flow rates of the Gizio river; should temperatures remain higher than average and rainfall should be lacking, this measure will have to be extended to another 13 basins in the district with serious repercussions on agricultural production in the area.
An example of the gravity of the situation, which is taking shape, is the state of the Penne basin, which at the end of May was only filled to 33% of its capacity, recording a water level that was more than 10 meters lower than last year and dropped by a further meter in the first 12 days of June; normally in this period, thanks to the melting of the snow and the May rains, the reservoir contains volumes equal to approximately 8 million cubic metres, while currently it is below 3 million. In the absence of significant rainfall, there will be no water for the countryside as early as July. (HANDLE).
