Environment

East Sardinia, water emergency: 65% reservoirs

Last year the average filling was 81%. The causes to be sought in drought and network leaks. Water is rationed in the villages of Ogliastra

by Davide Madeddu

16 May 2024

3' min read

Key points

1.2 million tourists
Hypothesis desalinators
Campaigns on their knees

3' min read

From the countryside to built-up areas to the coastal strips: it is a water emergency in eastern Sardinia. All the fault of the drought and the leaks that the networks connecting the main reservoirs to inhabited centres or agricultural areas have to deal with. Compared to last year, when the average filling of the reservoirs was 81% of the maximum flow, today it is 65%.

Eastern Island Dry

Particularly feeling the problem, with rationing already begun, are the communities in the eastern part of the island, in Ogliastra. "The situation is particularly serious in the countryside, as well as in the urban and tourist areas, since the season is already beginning," emphasises Davide Burchi, mayor of Lanusei. "In many urban centres, water is rationed from 4 p.m. to 6 a.m. the next morning, with all the inconveniences that this entails.

Suffice it to mention one figure, which was released a few days ago by the administrators: stocks in the Maccheronis dam amount to 8 million cubic metres of water. A quantity that, in the absence of rain, can guarantee supplies until 10 August.

1.2 million tourists

The concern of administrators, but also tour operators, is growing, especially in view of the imminent opening of the season. 'Ogliastra alone has 1.2 million presences during the summer,' they argue, 'it is clear that if there is a lack of water resources, the problems increase.

The summit with the prefect

It is precisely for this reason that in recent days the prefect of Nuoro wanted to meet both local administrators and representatives of the various institutions, as well as representatives of the associations of the agricultural world. 'Part of the problems is linked to the failure to start a series of works, suffice it to say that one project has been at a standstill since 2001,' Burchi adds, 'but also to losses. About 50 per cent of the water resource is lost due to old pipelines. It is clear that we cannot move forward in this way'.

Hypothesis desalinators

One of the solutions put forward during the summit with the prefect was the use of desalinators. "The example of Israel is certainly positive, since it allows the reuse of 80% of the sewage and in coastal areas of seawater," he added, "the fact remains that these are long-term interventions, but here we have to manage the emergency.

Go to Rain and Drought Observatory

Campaigns on their knees

The world of the countryside is no less worried because the drought has a double negative effect, as Luca Saba, director of Coldiretti Sardegna, points out. 'With the temperature rising, crops need more water than in normal periods,' he says, 'The problem arises because the upstream resource is also scarce.

Asbestos pipes for 7.5 thousand kilometres

The Coldiretti director general also points out another aspect: 'In Sardinia there are 12 thousand kilometres of leaking pipelines, and 7.5 thousand kilometres are in asbestos cement that needs to be replaced and where there are copious leaks. To aggravate the situation there is also another fact: 'What is missing is the interconnection between the basins,' he adds. 'If there had been, we would not have seen the Tirso river water end up in the sea due to the floods, linked to the heavy rains in the west, and the Flumendosa dry due to the drought in eastern Sardinia. Hence the request to 'ensure that projects for connecting infrastructures are, in some cases completed, in others realised'.

The Region in the Field

That the case is at the Region's attention is underlined by President Alessandra Todde in her speech to the Regional Council. "We are tackling the drought that is affecting our island and the consequent water crisis, with the contribution of all the players involved in the basin authority's control room," she emphasised. "The resolution of the past few days is the result of this confrontation: the passage of water from the Tirso to the Flumendosa has been achieved through pumping, water that would otherwise have ended up in the sea. And that's not all: "We convened the most at-risk sector for the resources dedicated to agriculture, that of Posada, which is served by the Maccheronis reservoir, to share with the reclamation consortium and the mayors the actions to avoid putting the civil and industrial use of water at risk and to manage the emergency on agriculture and livestock farming.