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WEATHER

Italy issues fines for water wastage amid northern drought

After a dry winter, people in northern Italy are facing water shortages and fines for wastage amid a severe drought in the region.

Published: 5 April 2022 11:03 CEST
Italy issues fines for water wastage amid northern drought
A tree trunk is pictured on the river bed of the river Po in Motteggiana, northern Italy, which has been affected by a significant lack of rain during the winter months. Photo by MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP

Mayors of towns across northern regions of Italy are turning to measures rationing drinkig water supplies and fining residents for wasting resources as water remains scarce.

Months of dry weather has led to a drought in northern Italy and the Po River basin in particular, with no relief in sight, according to a new weather study.

Italy overall has experienced one of its driest winters in 65 years with rainfall 80 percent lower than the seasonal average, according to data from the Regional Agency for Environmental Protection (Agenzia regionale per la protezione dell’Ambiente).

Italy’s longest river, the northern-located Po river, is now at its lowest level in winter since 1972.

As a result, municipalities across the northern region have been forced to cut off water supplies at certain times of the day and limit water to essential reasons.

The regions mainly affected are Piedmont, Liguria, Emilia Romagna, Lombardy and Alto-Adige, which have turned to rationing measures.

READ ALSO: From Venice to Mont Blanc, how is the climate crisis affecting Italy?

Entire communities have issued ordinances, asking citizens not to waste water and forbid its use for purposes other than food and hygiene.

Fines between around €51 to €258 are in place in Varallo, Piedmont, for those not following the rules, reported Italian newspaper La Corriere della Sera.

In Bajardo, a village in the coastal region of Liguria, the authorities have turned off the taps between 8pm and 8am.

The town’s mayor, Francesco Laura, said he had no other choice.

“The springs have dried up. Mountain water no longer arrives and in the village the little that comes from taps is used for cooking and washing,” he told newspaper La Stampa.

Scientists warn that severe droughts can be expected more frequently amid human-caused climate change.

Italy’s winter drought followed record temperatures last summer, in which Sicily is believed to have recorded the highest ever temperature in Europe at 48.8C.

Italy then faced months of storms, record rainfall and flooding before plunging into a dry winter.

The European Commission’s Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS) reported that there has been a constant lack of rain since December 2021.

Member comments

  1. Meanwhile, here on the east coast of Australia we have had our wettest ever summer. Extreme floods and landslides. Crazy times.

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ENVIRONMENT

OPINION: Why Italy lags behind Europe on green policies – and things aren’t changing

With climate protests by young Italians and talk of clean energy policy, will Italy finally change its ways and catch up with other European countries? Silvia Marchetti argues a much bigger cultural shift is needed before Italy could truly go green.

Published: 16 May 2024 10:50 CEST
OPINION: Why Italy lags behind Europe on green policies - and things aren't changing

There’s a lot of talk about environmental-friendly practices and spreading awareness on climate change, but I must admit Italians are perhaps the least eco-conscious of all Europeans. 

We struggle to keep up with the rest of Europe. From buying more bottled water than almost any other country to repeatedly delaying a ‘plastic tax’ and dumping on beaches and in parks, it’s part of a general cultural attitude which has very little ‘green’ in it, even though the pandemic and soaring energy costs have pushed a minority of Italians to become perhaps a bit more careful. 

Too many Italians just have that ‘che me ne frega’ approach (meaning ‘I really don’t care’), which gets on my nerves and is quite ingrained in the general mentality. 

When I used to live in Holland back in 2002, there were drinking water fountains everywhere, people filled their own portable insulated bottles which were not made of plastic, and which seemed to me so cool and fashionable.

While in Rome we have the famous fontanoni (historical water spouts), locals either use their hands to drink, or still buy glass and plastic cups and bottles to fill and then throw away. 

When it comes to recycling waste, only half of Italy does it properly, while the Baltic countries are the most efficient waste-wise among the 27 members of the European Union. 

I live north of Rome, in the countryside, and differentiated waste disposal services arrived in my comune just six years ago, while at my seaside house south of the capital, this happened only last year. In Rotterdam, where I lived during university, citizens had been recycling waste since at least a decade earlier. 

READ ALSO: Why Trento is ranked as Italy’s ‘greenest’ place to live

Some 25 years ago, when I was in Geneva, people walking their dogs would scoop up their pets’ poo with recyclable gloves and place it in neat plastic bags; that’s something you’d see hardly anyone do even nowadays in Italy.

I’m at times ashamed of saying so, but we have really bad habits – like keeping the tap water running even when you don’t need it, such as during one-hour showers or while brushing teeth, turning the lights on at night in the garden when everyone is at home and no guests are expected, and buying endless motorini (scooters) for the kids and then one car per adult family member.

The Italian love of cars results in heavy traffic and dangerous levels of pollution – but will this ever change? (Photo by ANDREAS SOLARO / AFP)

I think this is all due to the fact that most Italians are very showy, even in energy consumption. Keeping house lights or car usage down to a minimum would imply to neighbors a state of precarious wealth, if not almost poverty. 

There’s another factor that plays a major role. Italy, as opposed to other European countries, has always heavily relied on gas and oil consumption, not on alternative green energy that still sounds quite futuristic. This dependency on fossil fuels will likely lead to our demise if we don’t act.

READ ALSO: Italians and their cars are inseparable – will this ever change?

The post-pandemic funds given by the European Union should boost investments in alternative and green energy, but the effects will only be seen in the long run.

In order to have a positive impact, the money must be efficiently spent. Almost 37 percent of a total €191 billion of European aid is expected to go into funding green investments in Italy over the next few years. 

But it all reads very vague at the moment, and I’m afraid the Italian approach might change only slightly, no matter the ambitious government plans. It’s more wishful thinking. 

In the rest of Europe children are taught about climate change and how to adopt good practices in everyday life. I have friends in Belgium whose kids read about recycling plastic and reducing weekly the number of plastic water bottles they buy.

READ ALSO: What is it with Italians and bottled water?

In order to have a radical change in Italians’ attitudes, environmental awareness must be spread inside schools and among children. It really depends on the future generations.

The younger generations, born in an era already marred by environmental damage, are the only ones in Italy who can really ‘go green’ in everything they do and consume.

Recent protests by student climate change activists in Italy, even if small compared to those staged across Europe, are a sign of a changing mentality among youth.

But in order to further spread awareness, a more pro-environmental education is paramount.

Unfortunately though, there is no political debate around improving education on environmental issues in Italy, mainly due to a lack of political wisdom or forward-looking strategy.

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