Drought, next agricultural irrigation season in Sardinia at risk

Water crisis: after the drought alarm for the territories of Baronia, Medio Campidano and Chilivani-Ozieri, the alarm has now also arrived in the North West of a region that, thanks to its hydraulic infrastructures, had so far been able to respond better than others to the prolonged absence of significant rainfall, despite the strong anthropic pressure due to tourism. The Sassari-based Consorzio di bonifica della Nurra (Nurra Land Reclamation Consortium), in agreement with the sector's professional organisations, has decided to inform farmers, so that no one will commit to major investments in the countryside in the absence of guaranteed water.

"At risk of being jeopardised is the future of the Sardinian primary sector, a fundamental asset for the island's economy," comments Francesco Vincenzi, president of Anbi (National Association of Consortia for the Management and Protection of Irrigated Land and Water): "What is happening is an example of how even the most attentive regions are lagging behind the speed of the climate crisis.

The situation is very worrying, because the multifunctional Temo and Cuga reservoirs not only retain 17 per cent and 31 per cent of capacity respectively but, because of ongoing work on the Coghinas 1 and Coghinas 2 aqueducts (serving, among other things, cities such as Sassari and Alghero), they have to divert water intended for irrigation to the Truncu Reale drinking water treatment plant: the Sardinian region has closed the dam and this means that the 2025 irrigation season cannot be planned. Currently, the two reservoirs and the Bidighinzu reservoir together hold less than 21 million cubic metres of water out of a potential capacity of almost 109.

"Hundreds of farms are in danger," explains Gavino Zirattu, president of Anbi Sardegna: "Even if it rains, the pipelines could not guarantee the supply to the drinking water plant and the fields at the same time because, due to the works, they are the same at the moment.

In the background is the unresolved issue of the use of wastewater from Sassari's modern purification plant: the works have been completed since 2015, but a management plan is still missing, which would guarantee the use of at least 500 litres per second. 'We are in a state of total uncertainty because the game, although on the home stretch, is only considered in the face of an emergency, as happened in the last irrigation season; at the first rains, however, the subject is shelved,' Zirattu adds.