Sicily is currently experiencing an unprecedented water, agricultural and environmental emergency.
Drought, fires in several provinces, many floods with a notable decline in water resources, rising temperatures.
Water to irrigate fields is increasingly scarce, causing problems also for drinking water reserves. Starting from March-April 2024 over 90 municipalities have had to undergo water rationing in various island areas.
Farmers’ associations complain about the enormous damage to the sector. The regional government led by President Renato Schifani has decided to ask for new extraordinary measures from the EU and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry due to the persistent drought that has been affecting the island for at least a year. The objective is the recognition of conditions of force majeure and exceptional circumstances for the entire territory of Sicily pursuant to EU regulation 2021/2116.
The island is in the red zone like some countries in North Africa
The situation regarding the water crisis in Sicily is worsening, to the point that the Region’s Basin Authority has put on the agenda «the resumption of water withdrawals from wells contaminated by nitrates, following the purification of the water before their use. This may especially affect tourist areas, where over 10 million guests are expected in the high season.” It should be underlined, however, that the general secretary of the Basin Authority, Leonardo Santoro, specified that “the Region has not authorized the resumption of withdrawals”.
Data on the severity of the water crisis
The data makes the dramatic nature of the situation even better understood. According to what was published by the Basin Authority of the Sicily hydrographic district on 27 May, of the 288.95 million cubic meters then retained by the 29 dams on the island, the water actually available in the basins was just over half (154.23 million cubic metres), having to subtract the volumes intended for the survival of the ichthyofauna, those for the safety of the reservoir and those intended for accelerated evaporation. In 11 of the 29 large Sicilian reservoirs the usable volume ranged between 0 and 1 million cubic metres, while in another five it was between 1 and 2 million.
And that’s not all. In the opinion of Massimo Gargano – general director of Anbi -: «It is presumable that the water remaining in over half of Sicily’s basins is in fact unusable». There is also a lowering of the water table, on the slopes of the great Etna the decrease is estimated by experts at 20 metres. It should be remembered that the Etna area is historically among the richest areas in water in Sicily and the South. The fact of the current shortage should make everyone reflect. In the Etna-Simeto area, crossed by the main Sicilian river, there is a notable decline, to the point that in some Oases where there has almost never been a shortage of water you can now see bare earth. In the Simeto Valley and the Catania Plain, the most fertile areas of the island, there is a very notable shortage of water for irrigating fields. There are semi-empty reservoirs in Calatino. According to the CIA in eastern Sicily, “the damage to the agricultural sector on the island amounts to one billion euros”.
Farmers, producers, farmers and ranchers feel abandoned. There are those who cry when they see their blood orange garden dying (the citrus sector is the one that needs the most water). Not only lost crops in various areas, it is now essential for growers to save plants. While they hear pharaonic projects being discussed, they have the concrete problem of saving land and fields.
There are companies that give up wheat harvesting. Animals are also suffering, the great drought has a very negative impact on habitats. Also due to the drought, the farms of the famous Ragusan donkeys are at risk. Great difficulties also for sheep and cattle. The Sicily Region has announced that it will distribute vouchers to farmers for the purchase of fodder for the animals in proportion to the number of livestock and the criticality of the drought.
Regarding the loss of jobs in 2024 in the island’s agriculture, there is no definitive data yet, we will have to wait until the end of the year to have a complete picture. The farmers’ associations indicate the loss of thousands of jobs, especially for workers dedicated to harvesting the products. The drought in Sicily is the most serious in Italy For the president of the Anbi, Francesco Vincenzi: «What is being recorded in Sicily, but which is progressively rising from the South to Central Italy, has worse characteristics than the previous great droughts in the North» .
Sieve nets
In Sicily, as in various other parts of Italy, there is also the issue of sieve networks. Sicily is the third region in Italy for water loss with 52 percent with peaks of 58% in the Agrigento area (which is the province with the least water resources on the island). There are other paradoxes and contradictions, in the area richest in water – that of Etna – there are some areas where water loss (public communication from the managing body) reaches 75%. There are worn pipes, and with many holes, in Sicily where last summer there were areas without water or electricity because the high temperatures damaged the underground electrical cables and caused them to go up in smoke.
In the province of Etna Valley where the most advanced silicon carbide microchips in the world are produced, there are areas where 75% of water resources are lost because the infrastructure has pipes with many holes. And the bulkheads of the Ponte Barca del Simeto, damaged for several years, do not allow the collection of the water which, if not stopped, reaches the sea several kilometers further on. Farmers complain that while citrus groves and other crops suffer from a lack of water, the precious commodity is largely wasted because there are dysfunctions in the bulkheads. Surgery has been decided, better late than never…
