Deputy PM Matteo Salvini announced on Tuesday he is working on a bill to allocate one billion euros towards a comprehensive water plan for Italy.
Italy is facing frequent droughts across various regions. Currently, Sicily is experiencing a severe drought.
“I am developing a National Water Plan, marking the first time we are approaching water management with a medium and long-term strategy rather than emergency responses,” stated the right-wing League leader during a video link-up with Enna, Sicily. The conference focused on Salvini’s Messina Strait Bridge project.
Salvini aims to approve nearly one billion euros in national investments by the end of June to compensate for the delays in addressing water issues in past years.
“I understand the severity of the situation in Enna and its province, and I am committed to offering support,” he added.
Sicily is currently facing severe drought, while northern Italy, particularly the Po Valley and Emilia-Romagna, has experienced recurrent droughts in recent years.
Sicily Drought
In Sicily, drinking water typically comes from aquifers – underground layers of rock that contain water -while large tanks built after World War II store water for crops. Both systems depend on the once-abundant winter rainfall, which has now become increasingly scarce.
“Since 2003, and worsening in recent years, Sicily has seen rainfall reductions of over 40%, resulting in a significant decline in water collection by the main supply reservoirs, especially impacting distribution,” explains Giuseppe Luigi Cirelli, Professor of the Department of Agriculture, Food, and Environment at the University of Catania.
“Add to this the lack of maintenance of the irrigation network over the last 25 years, which has resulted in significantly lower reservoir capacity, even when we had water,” Cirelli adds.
