The farmers have come from the countryside to chain their tractors in front of the gates of the wells because the water is delivered in fits and starts, often it doesn’t arrive at all and fruit, almond and olive trees dry out. The striking gesture of the Coldiretti farmers was carried out in front of the gates of Pozzo della Parata in Bitonto, tired of experiencing an emergency every year with the supply of water in fits and starts with shifts that are unable to guarantee the correct irrigation of the fields . The entire agricultural sector is affected, having become hot and dry – reports Coldiretti Puglia – with over 164 million cubic meters of water less than the capacity of the reservoirs, with seasonal agricultural products at risk in the fields.
Same critical situation in Palo del Colle with the Defense well which is not working – reports Coldiretti Puglia – due to electrical problems which inhibit the operation of the pumps. But in Adelfia, Well 4 in the Fieno district and Well 1 in the Brunetta district are closed due to a fault in the electrical panel, Well 5 has a limited water flow due to voltage drops, Well 16 in the Sirenga district has problems to the electrical panel and the water mains, while Well 13 in the Parco dei Prinicipi district has pump problems. In Terlizzi the well in the Lioy district has been out of use for over a year, while in Putignano the San Pietro Piturno well needs the pumps to be lowered because there has been a significant drop in the water table.
With the drought and the rise in sea levels, the rise of the salt wedge makes water resources and land unusable with a scenario which – underlines the regional Coldiretti – is more than worrying for the agricultural economy of the entire region. Among other things, Puglia is the region of Italy where it rains the least with an average of 641.5 millimeters per year and serious impacts on agriculture caused by drought which destroys crops and encourages fires and represents the most significant disaster for fields and it also maintains the negative record – recalls Coldiretti Puglia – of the average annual availability of resources per capita with only 1000 cubic metres, less than half of the national average annual availability per capita estimated at 2330 cubic metres. On the other hand, 89% of rainwater is lost every year, a waste that Puglia cannot afford – concludes Coldiretti Puglia – considering that it does not have water and needs important works to redesign its water and hydrogeological structure and to guarantee not only the water supply for the population, but to ensure adequate irrigation bodies for agricultural, artisanal and industrial production.
The fields and stables are caught in the grip of the drought emergency – insists Coldiretti Puglia – with the failed management of water and reclamation in Puglia, starting from the lack of ordinary and extraordinary maintenance for which the farmers are still being sent crazy bills , but the same goes for irrigation works, many of which are incomplete, often in a precarious state, with losses that are no longer sustainable and even the reservoirs created need to be redeveloped, expanded and made suitable for modern distribution across the regional area. For this reason, Coldiretti Puglia has asked the Prefects of Puglia for a permanent regional table for the irrigation and drought emergency which will address without delay long-standing and pressing issues facing ARIF and the commissioned reclamation consortia: Due to the sieve networks, 1 liter of water in 2, a waste that cannot be afforded, from the efficiency of the supply and drainage networks to the completion of unfinished systems, from the extraordinary maintenance of collective irrigation systems, including wells and of the drinking water distribution networks in rural areas to the renewal of the agreements with the Basilicata and Molise Regions, from the expansion and commissioning of plants suitable for modern distribution in the regional area to the age-old question of commissionerate reclamation consortia.
