Water projects, the run-up to the NRP
One year before the deadline, only 2% of the plans have been concluded but 51% are in testing. Payments stopped at 30% and the South penalised by industrial shortages and unspent funds. The virtuous role of land reclamation consortia and managers stands out
3' min read
Key points
3' min read
The Pnrr is the biggest chance to overcome the historical criticalities of the Italian water service: from governance gaps to network losses, from the lack of infrastructure to the purification of waste water. Despite the fact that in June 2025 - i.e. about one year from the deadline - only 2% of the planned interventions are completed (40 projects), another 51% of the works are in the acceptance phase and 37% in execution. Most of the investments remain to be realised, with a percentage compared to the set targets of 30.6% and liquidated payments amounting to 30% of the allocated amounts. The numbers emerge from Ref Ricerche's position paper 'Pnrr and water service', elaborated on data from the Italia Domani portal, which Il Sole 24 Ore of Monday is able to anticipate.
For the water service, the NRP includes two reforms, under the Ministries of the Environment and Infrastructure. The last one led to the National Plan of Infrastructural and Safety Interventions in the Water Sector (Pniissi), of which the first tranche of funding was released on 16 September, i.e. EUR 957 million for 75 interventions.
Four investment lines, totalling EUR 5.3 billion, to which are added mainly state funds to reach about eight billion, distributed over 568 projects. Forty per cent of the funds are earmarked for the Mezzogiorno, where the governance and skills gap remains evident and the situation is most critical. "One option was to focus more decisively on forms of partnership between local entities and qualified operators (listed or even in house), or even with state agencies (Invitalia) to shorten the start-up time of industrial management," points out Donato Berardi, director of the Ref Ricerche think tank, "but the territories shy away from these solutions for fear of losing control. In the south there is a lack of industrial players, with the exception of Acquedotto Pugliese, which could have been the focus of interregional alliances. An attempt is being made with Acque del Sud, but the project, born in 2017, would need to be put back at the top of the government agenda'. In the North, industrial managers, established economies of scale and sustained investments prevail, with better results on efficiency, governance and services.
The timing
.The data show that 98 per cent of the projects have been started, but 7 per cent are behind schedule, a share that rises considerably when the implementing bodies are the regions. The Mezzogiorno is the most penalised area, with 10% of projects behind schedule.
The ambit governing bodies (Ega) manage the majority of projects (38% of the total), although they are responsible for small-scale interventions. The monitoring reveals the virtuous role of drainage consortia and managers. "They have reached, respectively, an expenditure share of 44% and 32%, while the Regions are far behind in implementation, with an expenditure share of 5%, and pay for a skills gap at all levels," continues Andrea Ballabio, economist at Ref Ricerche. This is critical, given that they are in charge of 13 projects, but very significant, with an average amount of over EUR 70 million per project.
