Today we celebrate World Water Day, with many initiatives, also in Sardinia, inspired by the need to increasingly limit waste in a climate scenario that is increasingly stingy with rainfall .

The day coincides with a strong controversy over the work of Enas, the Sardinian water authority, the operational arm of the Region for the management of dams. The fuse was lit two days ago by Gavino Zirattu, president of Anbi Sardegna, the Association representing the seven land reclamation consortia on the island. The introduction. « Even if the reservoir situation is no longer as serious as it was a few weeks ago, when volumes were at historic lows, we must not lower our guard. With the last bulletin in February, there were 1025 million cubic meters of water in the system, equal to approximately 56.2% of the authorized useful regulation volume. An increase of 67 million cubic meters compared to January 2024. A step forward made solely and exclusively thanks to Mother Nature", comments Gavino Zirattu, the president of Anbi Sardegna, the association that represents and protects the 7 land reclamation consortia Island.

The dam on Tirso – Zirattu again: «We must not continue to hope for abundant rain, to trust in the clemency of the weather, to make work in the countryside safe». Among the various Sardinian emergencies, the president of Anbi Sardinia pointed the finger towards the Tirso dam, where the maximum "authorized" volume has been reached and the excess water has been ending up in the sea for days. «All this while the Flumendosa system is in serious trouble, with 200 million cubic meters less than in 2023. The necessary infrastructure exists, built decades ago, for the interconnection. It would therefore be a question of reactivating the pumps to provide water to the countryside of Southern Sardinia, but also for the priority needs of drinking water." «We can only ask the new regional government to fill the infrastructural delay that Sardinia has suffered for over thirty years», closes Zirattu, «with the hope that the sector can finally get the attention it deserves on such strategic issues for the future of our Region."

Coldiretti Sardinia – To make matters worse, the president and director of Coldiretti Sardinia, Battista Cualbu and Luca Saba, arrived. «After the serious problems experienced by agricultural and livestock companies and by citizens all due to one of the least rainy winters ever experienced in Sardinia, now comes the insult: the spillage of some Sardinian dams into the sea. The case being experienced in the Campidano area is emblematic, between the Tirso dam and the Flumendosa, with the former spilling water into the sea due to the maximum level it has now reached and the latter having been in a water deficit for some time now with a level of 200 million of cubic meters less than in 2023. An unacceptable situation to which we must say enough is enough."

The cost of waste – Cualbu and Saba add: « Farmers and breeders, but in general the Sardinians, want to know if the primary good such as water or the cost linked to electricity, such as that which would be needed to activate the pumps, is worth more in the Tirso dam where the infrastructure is already present and could allow us to alleviate the thirst of our countryside in Southern Sardinia. Coldiretti Sardinia presented its proposals for the strategic management of water as a primary source for the development of agriculture to the candidates in the regional elections. Everything is in the hands of the newly elected president Todde. We expect a leap forward from the Region, as we have suggested, in the name of the modernization of irrigation networks for the reduction of losses, for the interconnection of basins, but also for the reuse of treated wastewater and incentives for the adoption of more modern systems » .

Sardinia Water Authority - Enas decided to reply, stating that «we, although carefully following the problems of the agricultural world, are however a public body and not a trade association, therefore, we act pursuant to legal provisions (often unexpectedly classified as "bureaucratic quibbles"), taking care to implement the provisions given by the basin authority, which acts to protect the entire community and according to the rules given by the law, upon reading which it is necessary to satisfy as a priority the needs for use domestic, followed by industrial and irrigated ones".

The cost of the bill - «The operation of transferring water resources from Tirso to Flumendosa has a cost of approximately 5.5 million euros per year, currently not present in Enas' budget, unless resources are used that are currently allocated to guarantee the supply of drinking water, a solution which however cannot be objectively considered in the absence of guarantees of new financing".

In the Enas note it is also stated that «it should also be remembered that, unlike the other management entities, Enas, in order to guarantee greater revenues, cannot increase the sales tariffs of raw water, being obliged by a resolution of the Regional Council to apply amounts (6 thousandths of a euro per cubic meter for the agricultural sector and 2.5 cents for the drinking sector) absolutely below the costs and therefore not sufficient to support the supply of the resource and the management of the works of the multi-sectoral water system".

The silence of the Region - «Over the past months, despite the numerous reports made formally and informally by the Extraordinary Commissioner to the competent bodies» , Enas writes, «a solution capable of filling this deficit and guaranteeing the necessary financial resources has not arrived. to the management of the system".

«In order to have the necessary reassurances to obtain the necessary resources, Enas has already activated the appropriate contacts with the incoming regional administration which only took office yesterday and which will certainly put on the agenda what is necessary to resolve the problem» .

A question and answer which, today, will be widely echoed in the various initiatives dedicated to World Water Day. And with the president of the Region, Alessandra Todde, who will have the role and the power to have her say.

(Unioneonline)

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