After the rains, which have not loosened their grip on the Po basin, the epicenter of the drought shifts and extends towards central Italy. The Anbi Observatory reports this: Marche is involved, “where there is now a risk of rationing of water supplies”. In Tuscany, 90% of the territory is in a condition of extreme drought and the reduction in the flow rates of the rivers Bisenzio and Ombrone is almost zero. “Dramatic” is the state of the water resource in Lazio: in Rome, since the beginning of the year, it has rained 63% less and in the province there have been, in a few days, 496 interventions by the Fire Brigade for fires.
The areas of Ascoli Piceno and Fermo suffer the most in the Marches, due to the persistent absence of 80% of the rains; the volumes of water, retained in the reservoirs, drop by one million cubic meters a week to be able to quench the thirst of the countryside and all the rivers have lower flows than in previous years (negative historical record for the level of the Sentino: -38 centimeters).
In Tuscany the Bisenzio has 0.30 cubic meters of flow per second against an average of 2.42 mc / sec) and the Ombrone is now transformed into a 500 liter per second stream, when the Minimum Vital Outflow is indicated in 2 mc / sec. In Lazio, the Aniene is practically halved compared to the average flow rate, the Tiber registers lower levels even than the ‘very dry’ 2017, Liri and Sacco mark the lowest figure in recent years, Lake Nemi is over a meter lower than the 2021 and Bracciano is -32 centimeters from last year’s level.
In Campania, all rivers are in deficit compared to last year (today’s flow of the Liri-Garigliano: 36 mc / sec 36; in 2021: 100 mc / sec), while in Abruzzo it is the area of Chieti that suffers most from the lack of water.
In the South, the particularly high air and sea temperatures characterize the period: the more than 11 million cubic meters of water, taken in a week from the Basilicata reservoirs, whose water availability is marking a deficit of about 37 million cubic meters over last year. On the other hand, the balance of the main Apulian basins remains positive, despite a weekly withdrawal of more than 14 million cubic meters.
Without snow, the lakes are gradually emptying. This was underlined by the Anbi Observatory (National Association of Consortia for the Management and Protection of the Territory and Irrigated Water: “the volume of water needed by Lake Maggiore to return on average is 2,527 million cubic meters, despite its level being grew almost 12 centimeters in 7 days “, thanks to the rainfall.
The other large northern basins are all in decline and abundantly below average with the Lario, which actually registers only 11.2% of the filling.
“Disconcerting” is the comparison with the volumes possessed in recent years. “It is a situation that exemplifies the calming function of large basins, which are now insufficient, however, to respond by themselves to the needs of territories burned by drought, creating a critical situation also from an environmental point of view. For this, it is necessary to the aid of a network of medium-small and multifunctional basins such as those envisaged by the Laghetti Plan, which we proposed together with Coldiretti “, comments Francesco Vincenzi, president of Anbi.
Slight increase in flow for the Po, thanks to the abundant rains that have fallen in these days in the Aosta Valley. In Pontelagoscuro (Ferrara), it has risen to 200 cubic meters per second, when, however, the salt wedge alarm is already triggered at 450 cubic meters / sec and the marine entrance is now reported 30 kilometers from the mouth. “The increase in range it does not solve the problem of the very serious water deficit in the Great River, but avoids, for now, a stop to withdrawals, which would cause enormous damage to agriculture “, explains Anbi.
Source: Ansa
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