Water emergency in Nurra: only 14% of water in the reservoirs

The water emergency in the territories of north-western Sardinia was the focus, today in Cagliari, of the crisis table meeting chaired by governor Alessandra Todde.

The spotlight is on the scarcity of water accumulated in the system of lakes Temo, Cuga and Bidighinzu, which today stands at approximately 17.9 million cubic meters, corresponding to 14% of the authorized useful capacity, to which are added the extraordinary maintenance interventions scheduled on the Coghinas I and II aqueducts.

«The Region is making maximum efforts to guarantee, also with various temporary works, the satisfaction of the priority water demands, first and foremost», explains Todde, «drinking water and then industrial water, livestock water and irrigation water of high environmental and economic value».

The suffering in which the Nurra system finds itself has highlighted how the period in which significant meteorological inputs can still arrive is almost over and that the volume currently stored, equal to approximately 18 million cubic meters, must be appropriately managed since the connected drinking sector has an average annual requirement that varies between 18 and 20 million and cannot be fed by alternative sources. In addition to this, there are important and urgent works on the Coghinas I and II aqueducts, thanks to the Pnrr funds in charge of Enas, which must be completed without delay by March 2026 and which during the period April 2025 - March 2026 may only be used in part due to possible disruptions. For this reason, it is appropriate that at least 3.5 million cubic meters be tied to drinking use in Lake Cuga to deal with any eventuality, thus being able to guarantee more than a month of autonomy in the event of emergencies and unforeseen events.

«For this reason - continues the president - it is useful to start a survey now on the potentially usable local resources, such as wells and springs, which could be added to those already available in Lake Surigheddu and those deriving from the reuse of refined waste water from the San Marco plants in Alghero and Funtana Veglina in Sassari».

A special invitation is addressed to the Nurra Land Reclamation Consortium to prepare " a delivery scenario that, while taking into account the limited resources available and management difficulties, aims to contain the damage to tree crops, perennial crops and, naturally, safeguard the watering of livestock".