Sicily, the water disaster: empty dams and rusty deselators. « All the projects presented by the Region is rejected »

« I inherited a disastrous situation, » says Renato Schifani. Inherited from whom: from the only two center-left governments that lasted in total 7 years (out of 78!) Or from the 28 of the center and center-right from the DC down? Details. But that the Sicilian water management system is disastrous (and here we spread a veil on the losses of water pipes to 56.1% and the worst sewers of Italy that serve 76.5% of citizens and 35.8%) is very true.

To truly understand the catastrophe The swollen chronicle of illusions of the magazine must be reread New Trapani of summer 1962: « Our lands reversed, brown from the sun, saw the grace of God in early July rain on them. With the simple pressure of a few buttons, with the movement of some leverages, the catheters of the Trinity dam have opened up and the fresh, sparkling water, initiated first by moving and sparkling, and then little by little, branches out in the countless channels, with an increasingly the same course, it unfolded through the fields of the area. A silver tape sparkles now long hectares of land that, from the creation of the world they had never seen if not the water that a few months a year rains from the sky … ». A dream. Destined to be betrayed.

Automatic spills

Built in the battle, that blessed dam was never tested. Never. And in the wake of the images of the Vajont of ’63 (all another story) and the Belice earthquake of ’68 fifteen kilometers, the risk that no one took it anymore. So much to empty the reservoir for decades, up to a ministerial go -ahead about twenty days ago, as soon as he exceeded a certain threshold. Choice that made you write with bitter sarcasm to Giacomo di Girolamo in the newspaper online TP24.it That « The Trinity quenched the Mediterranean».

It was not however a sporadic choice. All the reservoirs, Sicilians and beyond, have two reference shares. One on the engineering projects, the other a security threshold set by the pelvis authorities. EXCEED SOCKE, AUTOMATIC CLASSING. Jupiter Pluvius decides. Especially in these times distorted by Climate Change. When serious maintenance would be essential even more than a time. Just this, denounces the extraordinary commissioner for the water emergency Nicola Dell’Acqua, is the sore button. It applies to the whole of Italy, but in Sicily even more so. This is demonstrated by the infesting forest grown in the outburst channels of the Trinity dam and certain photos taken in times recently drought, the « socket towers » that measure the quotas and stand out from the basins in crisis, the rationments in municipalities such as Caccamo that dominates with its Norman fortress the Rosamarina lake (« but pumping what we need there would be very expensive », sighs the mayor Franco Fiore). taps only every eight days. Everything say the tables of daily monitoring of the Sicilian region itself. Who marked the presence there in Rosamarina yesterday, in spite of old reports on the « enormous capacity » that would « solve the long -standing problem of the water supply of Palermo », of a removal 14.11% of the drinking water allowed and 10.30% of the theoretical one (100 million cubic meters!) Of the initial project. Nor do monitoring about other basins reassure. As in Scanzano today at 30%of the hypothesized level, Poma (25%), Piana degli Albanesi (22%), Garcia (15%). And this already finished in winter.

DISSSED PLANTS

Data that, says the commissioner, do not allow optimisms. On the contrary. Also because each period of drought leads to further problems. Suffice it to see the bucolic campaigns of Castelvetrano disfigured by disproportionate rugs of photovoltaic panels and giant wind farm. « We had been the granary of Sicily for centuries, » explains Mariano Ferraro di Legambiente confirming an investigation by Terraevita on the dramatic abandonment of the land: «Then the farmers were to pay 25 cents a kilo of wheat. From hunger. It goes without saying that if they offer you 50 thousand euros the hectare to put alternative energy plants … ». It applies to wheat, it applies to the vineyards.

Still, recalls the regional official Tuccio d’Urso in charge of mapping work in the water sector in ’91, immense sums were spent for water: « Just to list the interventions did I need 47 pages ». For a total of 7,000 billion lire of the time, « no less than 8 billion euros without counting the inflation that would multiply the final amount by at least four ». The result of many decades, efforts and money? Forty -seven dams (only 20 tested!) Of which 17 already abandoned. Plus others abandoned even before they ended up after raping the landscape. Like that of Blofi whose cement corpse today clutters horrendous the Madonie after having cost at the time 260 billion lire plus 4 million euros recently spent to answer a question: what to do now?

Recurring question, on the water.
The Region also tried with PNRR. A defeat: 31 projects presented, 31 rejected. « Antimeridial prejudices! » They screamed from Palazzo d’Orleans. No, the Cattolica public accounts Observatory replied: « The rejection seems due to the weakness of the projects from Sicily and the deficiencies of its administration which in turn could depend on poorly meritocratic selection policies ». Translation: too many poor employees hired for clientel reasons.

Ruins (and debts)

Matteo Salvini also intervened on the topic a couple of years ago: « I am working like crazy to recover the time lost on the dams, the aqueducts and the sewers in Sicily ». Then, says the Ansa archive (a handful of generic takes on the island water, 373 on the Messina bridge) has let that they hurry in Palermo. Where Renato Schifani (« I didn’t miss a day off, » he said during the last drought) he promised to invest 290 million. For expected maintenance? No, the precedence goes to five deselars (by many not recommended, including CNR) for him « fundamental to guarantee the water supply and face climate change ». Three would go to Porto Empedocle, Trapani, Gela. Where the industrial corpses of the previous deselators lie down rusty. Abandoned years ago for prohibitive costs. Meanwhile, in Gela, for the current ruin, they are still paying 10.5 million debts per year until 2026 … Best wishes.