The water crisis advances, the sources are dry and the Campania region launch the emergency call. An invitation to “activate awareness-raising actions to optimize the water resources currently available”. A message also arrives from via De Gasperi that leaves little room for interpretation: in the event of “further and sudden” decreases in available water, an “emergency plan” will be implemented. It is written in black and white in the document that the Directorate General for the “Integrated Water Cycle” of the Region sent to the president and general director of the Campania Water Authority, to the district basin authority of the Southern Apennines, to the Civil Protection, to the prefectures of Naples, Caserta, Benevento, Salerno and Avellino and to the water service managers.
THE SITUATION
In Sannio the situation is worrying. Just think that for weeks citizens have been struggling daily with the stop-and-go of home taps. In recent days the president of Gesesa Domenico Russo underlined: «We believe that we need to talk to citizens and explain the situations. What we are facing is a new event compared to previous summers, the emergency is not limited to our area but is generalized». Which certainly does not reassure the citizens of Benevento and the surrounding areas. The data in the possession of the Region on the flow rate of the Maretto, Torano and Biferno springs speak clearly: in 2017, the year in which the water emergency was declared, in the month of May the flow rate of the sources was equal to 4,156 liters per second. From 1 to 19 June it was 4,077 liters per second. Furthermore, comparing the data for 2023 with this year’s, a decrease of 1,024 liters per second is evident and, if we take into account the numbers for the period 1-19 June 2024, the decrease increases by another 384 liters.
The Authority also highlights the reasons that led to the current emergency: “The low rainfall and snowfall last fall” have led to a “significant reduction in water resources”. In recent weeks, all the regional sources that feed the Torano-Biferno Campano Aqueduct (sources of Maretto, Torano and Biferno, via the Molisano Aqueduct) are recording a “severe and persistent decrease in supply capacity”.
To deal with water shortages, the Campania Region is already using additional resources from the well fields of Ponte Tavano and Cancello and part of those from the Western Campania Aqueduct under concession to Acqua Campania Spa. Water losses from the networks aggravate the critical issues municipal water supplies, with losses averaging between 30% and 60%.
ACTIONS
The structure, which is “constantly monitoring the supply capacity of regional water sources”, therefore informs that in the event of further and sudden decreases in the resource, “prompt communication will be given to all the subjects in question and an emergency plan will be implemented which includes the supply to the various users of the quantities as foreseen by the master plan, with possible water rationing”.
One point also concerns the implementation of the nocturnal water rationing plan, a measure that has already been adopted in some municipalities in Campania, such as Benevento, in June. According to the Region it would represent “a last resort to be adopted exclusively in the event that the continuous decrease in water resources makes it necessary to adopt an extraordinary measure to protect the water supply of all citizens”.
IN THE CAPITAL
From Gesesa they explained that “an immediate attempt was made to address the situation with night closures, limiting them to the time slot that goes from midnight to 5.30 in the morning”. And that it was decided to introduce a sort of rotation between the various areas involved to avoid always burdening the same neighborhood. The latest communication from the company in chronological order, just yesterday morning, warns that «in addition to the closures already communicated, due to a significant drop in the supply of deep springs and even more so in superficial ones as well as excessive water absorption in distribution considering the high temperatures, further planned closures in other areas of the city are absolutely essential. So in the Ponticelli district there will be no water supply from midnight to 5.30 am for the next three days. The places affected by the closure are: Capodimonte Iacp area and entire neighborhood (via dei Dauni, via Nicola Ciletti, via Liborio Pizzella, via Filippo Palizzi, via Nicola Boraglia, via Antonio Navarra, via Carlo Labruzzi, via Cesare Beccaria, via Raffele Viviani , via Croce Rossa, via Cupa del Gesù, part of via Città Spettacolo, via San Giuseppe Moscati). Contrade Coluonni, Fontana Margiacca and Saglieta.
The document released by the regional offices concludes by representing an “absolute and immediate necessity for all parties involved to adopt the necessary measures of competence” with the aim of raising awareness among local authorities “for the optimization of the water resource currently available”.
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