There is no other word outside of “drought”. The water emergency has entered the regional government’s agenda and, to date, seems to be the only one among Schifani’s concerns. Who after having “threatened” to dismiss the (non-compliant) health managers and having willingly accepted the law on differentiated autonomy, is committed to encouraging the Control Room – set up by himself – to resolve the enormous problems that beset farmers , farmers and ordinary citizens, with repercussions also on tourism. But even on the drought – this is the discovery of recent days – we woke up late. In the sense that it is not enough to stop with other vouchers, such as those for the purchase of fodder, or with the request for a state of emergency (which will bring about twenty million as a dowry for the purchase of tankers). He should have intervened earlier, in depth, to strengthen the dam system which in Sicily is in a pitiful state. They are almost all empty.
But not because it doesn’t rain (and this is the novelty), at most because they are inadequate and it is not possible to use them. According to data provided by Istat, in collaboration with Ispra (the Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research), every year in Italy approximately 300 billion cubic meters of water rains, or slightly less. Yet we withdraw just 34 billion, that is, 11% of the total available. The other side note is that 900 millimeters of rain falls per year in Palermo: believe it or not, more than in some European capitals such as London or Berlin (among the least renowned for their mild climate). This idiosyncrasy was pointed out to the Huffington Post by Erasmo D’Angelis, journalist, former undersecretary at the Ministry of Infrastructure and above all former number one of ItaliaSicura, the mission structure created by the Renzi government to combat hydrogeological instability.
“Therefore you cannot compare Italy, as I often hear sometimes, to an African country in terms of lack of rainfall. Here, quite simply, the importance of water networks in the budgets of the State and the Regions is underestimated. Much more is regularly invested in road, motorway, railway, digital and telecommunications networks – says De Angelis -. But not on the water ones. And Sicily is precisely the photograph of Italy that does not invest in water”. Yet, a few days ago, the Region returned to the charge – this time with the Ministry of Food Sovereignty – for “the recognition of the condition of force majeure and exceptional circumstances from 1 July 2023 to May 2024″ which, once ascertained, ” will allow agricultural and livestock businesses operating throughout the Sicilian territory to take advantage of exemptions in some areas of the common agricultural policy, which would allow them not to apply certain constraints to pastures and land, continue to benefit from aid, postpone payments, sanctions and charges” .
In the request forwarded to the ‘executioner’ Lollobrigida – it was the FdI minister himself, during a question time in the Senate, who declared that “fortunately this year the drought affects the southern regions much more and in particular Sicily” – Schifani also highlights how “the reduction of water resources in the reservoirs and a general context that places Sicily in the “red zone” due to water shortages like Morocco and Algeria. A situation that has worsened in recent weeks due to the unavailability of irrigation water in the basins.” But Morocco and Algeria, according to D’Angelis’ findings, have nothing to do with Sicily. Nor for history and much less for rainfall.
The Istat-Ispra data, in fact, report how Sicily has an annual water requirement of 1.75 billion cubic metres. Yet, in 2023 alone, 25 billion cubic meters rained on the island. “The water is not collected and we see the sheep forced to drink mud because out of 26 large dams controlled by the Region, data from the Ministry of Infrastructure tell us that three are out of operation, five are subject to safety limitations, and ten are awaiting testing for decades. The others are muddy, half blocked by sediments or even two thirds.” “From this point of view,” continues D’Angelis, “they are still in the Middle Ages.” Unfortunately, this is where we always end up: the inefficiency of politics and the lack of planning, which a series of interventions invoked by the Control Room will not be enough to mask. It’s just like that. And those who play to stop the emergency, with bizarre solutions, do not do a good service to the future of farmers and breeders.
Which today, perhaps, they will be able to purchase fodder more easily, or they will continue to receive contributions even in the absence of production. But tomorrow? Even from Dario Cartabellotta’s interview with Live Sicilia a disarming picture emerges: “In the last 100 years we have never seen something like this – said the director of the Agriculture Department -. We are trying to intervene with an extraordinary plan of interventions so that farmers can equip themselves with wells, ponds and reuse of waste water to counteract circumstances like the current ones in the years to come. On this there is already a proposal from the Schifani government for 20 million euros, which has gone to the Budget Committee”. Twenty million in addition to the twenty already expected by the central government following the declaration of the state of emergency. And to the ninety set by the Cohesion Agreement between Rome and Palermo, under the European Development and Cohesion funds (which provides for the reactivation of the desalination plants).
Yesterday, meanwhile, the Control room for the water emergency it examined the situation in the Agrigento area, one of the Sicilian territories most affected by drought. Of the first 20 million euros allocated by the national government, the Region has allocated around 6 million to Agrigento for wells and pipelines. “During the meeting – we read in a note from Palazzo d’Orleans – the need to proceed immediately with the execution of those short-term interventions which will guarantee a greater supply of water, thus avoiding the worsening of the scenario in full tourist season”. But we are still at the crumbs of an overall investment plan, for all the provinces, calibrated at over 700 million. Meanwhile, tourists are also fleeing, who after having lived with fires for a few summers in a row, don’t dream of dying of thirst. And they start canceling reservations.
“I still remember when in 1975, I went on behalf of the Manifesto, for a report on the Sicilian drought, to some villages between Palermo and Trapani – concludes D’Angelis in his story -. People here had access to water from the taps for only two hours a week and in those two hours they filled every container they could find as much as they wanted. I returned to Sicily a month ago, near Trapani but also near Agrigento: nothing has changed. There are still rationings and people, albeit with more advanced containers, for example on the roofs, are forced to follow the same routine.” Fifty years and not hearing them.
