The severe drought that the country is suffering, with half the rainfall compared to the average of recent years, forces the city councils to approve measures to save water
The serious drought that Italy is suffering, with estimated losses of some 1,000 million euros in agriculture, is also beginning to have an effect on other economic sectors and on the daily lives of citizens. In a hydrological year with half the rainfall compared to the average of recent years and with 70% less snow in the Alps, the most affected area is the Po basin, the largest and longest river in the country, whose course it is at its lowest level in the last 70 years, which is why the remains of ships from the Second World War have even begun to emerge from its depths. The lack of water has also caused the production of hydroelectric plants in the Po Valley to be reduced by half.
At the gates of a summer that is expected to be particularly dry and hot, many Italian municipalities are approving regulations to try to reduce consumption. Among them, what was decided in Castenaso stands out, a municipality of 16,000 inhabitants in the province of Bologna, where the mayor Carlo Gubellini has prohibited hairdressers from washing their clients’ hair more than once. Anyone who fails to comply with the regulations can be fined between 25 and 500 euros. «An average of about 13 liters per minute runs through an open tap. If two washings are done, more than 20 liters are lost. In the current situation we can’t afford it,” Gubellini told the local Bologna edition of ‘Corriere della Sera’ a few days ago.
Castenaso’s ‘anti-drought’ circular also prohibits the use of drinking water between 8 am and 9 pm to water plants or wash the car. Similar regulations have also been approved in many other Italian municipalities, even proposing that the water with which the vegetables are washed be used to water the plants or that the dishes be washed with the water that remains after cooking the pasta for its degreasing power. . Public fountains are also being affected by the drought. In Milan, for example, the City Council has decided to cut off the water supply and drain the 70 that the municipality has.
“There is no precedent. It is a sign of how climate change changes politics. It is a way to save water, but also to signal the fact that we are facing a problem that must be carefully managed”, explained Pierfrancesco Maran, councilor of the Italian economic capital. “The savings compared to what is consumed in a city like ours is obviously very small, but we hope that it will be an invitation to everyone so that at home we save where possible.” Even the Archbishop of Milan, Mario Delpini, has raised prayers to the Virgin imploring her to rain.
If their prayers are not successful and the drought continues, as meteorologists predict, the Mario Draghi government could declare a state of emergency in the coming weeks. He was advanced by the head of Civil Protection, Fabrizio Curcio. “We are defining the criteria and measures with the regions,” he said on the Skytg24 channel. Lombardy, Piedmont, Veneto and Emilia Romagna are the most affected territories, although it is also beginning to suffer in the center of the country. “In some areas it is not excluded that rationing will lead to water cuts during the day as well,” warned Curcio, who fears that the drought and high temperatures will facilitate the multiplication of forest fires during the summer.
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