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ITALIA
rock aquifer of the island of Ischia, facing Naples The work is nearing completion and this
(Corniello et al. 1994). technical regulation will soon be included in Ital-
ian legislation.
Over the last forty years, the increased pop-
ulation in coastal areas has exacerbated saltwater Artificial recharge experiments have been
encroachment especially during the dry Mediter- carried out in Sicily, aimed at replenishing the
ranean summers, when the tourist population, as severely depleted aquifer of Syracuse, and in
well as agricultural water demand, reach a peak. southern Sardinia, to explore the possibility of
creating hydronamic recharge barriers to coun-
The deterioration of groundwater quality teract salt water intrusion in the aquifer of
has also led to soil salinization locally, forcing Capoterra, in the Bay of Cagliari. In the delta
farmers to switch from profitable to less remuner- aquifer of the river Flumendosa, south-eastern
ative but salt-resilient crops. Sardinia, electric barriers have been successful-
ly tested to stem saltwater intrusion. (Barbieri
MANAGEMENT et al. 1990).
In Italy, surface and groundwater are the The conjunctive use of surface water and
property of the state and are distributed by state groundwater is common practice, but the princi-
agencies upon specific authorization. A licence is ple that water should be managed in terms of
required from local water authorities to abstract integrated resources balance, considering water
groundwater on privately owned land, but a great quantity and quality for the different uses, has not
many wells are unauthorized. yet been adopted in all regions, and very much
still remains to be done to inform and convince
A number of laws and regulations have been people to save and manage water resources in the
introduced to protect groundwater quality. The most proper way.
important is the 319/1976 act, "Regulations to pro-
tect water from contamination", together with the To date, systematic water quality monitor-
"Criteria, methods and regulations for implementing ing is only carried out in the coastal aquifers of
art. 2 of the 319/1976 law", enacted in 1977. It was Venetia and Romagna, while saltwater intrusion
only in 1985 that legislation was enforced on drink- in other regions is investigated mainly within the
ing water quality (DPCM 08.02.1985), based on the framework of research projects.
80/778/EC directive on drinking water standards.
But the most forceful legislation in this regard is Seawater desalination plants have been
DPR 386/1988, which implements the EC directive installed for integrating water resources in many
80/778. It concerns recommendations for national tourist areas, especially on the islands, chiefly to
standards and permissible limits, and introduces secure drinking water supplies.
water protection areas and related framework state-
ments for control and policy. In accordance with current legislation, all
waste waters should be treated before being dis-
The act also provides for full technical reg- charged, and filtered and disinfected depending
ulation. In late 1988 the Ministry of the Environ- on how they are to be reused. Industries in Italy
ment set up a commission of experts to undertake have been using recycled water for several years
this task. The terms of reference cover general in a number of coastal and inland areas, so as to
principles; Protection areas for wells, springs and increase groundwater availability for drinking
surface water sources; hydrogeological surveys water. The water treatment plant at Genoa recy-
and reports; land-use regulation and human activ- cles 5 Mm3/year.
ity control; protection areas for drinking water
sources; vulnerability maps; Analysis and central The severe droughts that southern Italy has
organisation; disaster plans. been experiencing since the mid 1990’s, have
prompted interest in wastewater reclamation and
reuse for irrigation. Successful trials have been
carried out in Sicily and in Sardinia, where exper-
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