In the last six months of 2023, only 150 millimeters of rain fell on the Italian island of Sicily. a few months later, the region's government declared a state of emergency due to the drought. Experts have warned that this could be the third worst water crisis the island has ever seen, writes euronews.com.
With part of the population and economy reliant on agriculture, the lack of water has widespread consequences and can lead to cows producing less milk, fewer offspring and in extreme cases mean more animals are sent away for slaughter.
Harvesting weeds for hay production is also difficult given the unpredictability of spring rains – the climate crisis is causing unusual weather conditions across Europe.
Even when there is rain, reservoirs cannot store it
In Sicily, drinking water is usually extracted from aquifers, underground layers of rock that contain water, while water for crops is stored in large reservoirs built after World War II. Both systems rely on the abundant winter precipitation that was once common but is now increasingly scarce.
"Since 2003, Sicily has seen a decrease in rainfall of over 40 percent, leading to a significant drop in water collection from the main supply reservoirs, particularly affecting distribution," commented a professor from the University's Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment of Catania, Giuseppe Luigi Cirelli. "Add to that the lack of maintenance of the irrigation network for the last 25 years, which has resulted in significantly lower reservoir capacity even when we have had water," Cirelli says.
The problem is compounded by the fact that more people now live in the Catania region, Sicily's second largest city after the capital Palermo.
"The lowering of the water table due to the climate crisis has gradually made it more difficult for water to penetrate into the aquifers, leading to a decrease in the water destined to become drinking water," Cirelli explains.
Lack of cooperation in managing vital resources
An additional reason experts give for the lack of interventions and the lowering of water levels is the fragmented management of water systems, involving multiple actors, which complicates matters.
The water crisis is causing some young farmers to close their businesses and leave Sicily, as Riccardo Randello, president of AGIA Sicily (Association of Young Agricultural Entrepreneurs), explains.
This month, the Italian government allocated an initial €20 million to Sicily to deal with the regional emergency caused by the drought.
"To date, unfortunately, the disaster situation and even what is laid down in the regional plan are completely insufficient," said Graziano Scardino, president of the Confederation of Italian Farmers in Sicily. "Unfortunately, there is nothing to compensate the farmers' losses, and the damage verified today exceeds one billion euros. We think that after the European elections, politics should intervene to ensure serious compensation measures, not just regulations that remain on paper", he adds.