Drought: in Italy we have lost 30% of the water resource in 30 years

In 30 years, Italy has lost 13% of its water resource, equal to 19 billion cubic meters of water: just under the volume of the entire Lake Garda and about two thirds of all the water that is withdrawn every year from the environment to support human activities in our country. A drop linked to climate change which, combined with the size of national withdrawals (equal to an average of over 30 billion cubic meters of water per year), provides a picture of the water stress to which our country is subjected, calculated such as the ratio between total water withdrawals and the availability of fresh surface and underground water. This is what emerges from the comparison of ISTAT-ISPRA data between the average annual water availability of the periods 1951-1980 and 1991-2020 processed by Greenpeace Italy which, on the eve of World Desertification Day, disseminates a map of national water stress.

The analysis also shows that the basin of the Pothe area that hosts the largest Italian rivers and lakes, is also where the higher level of water stress (65.6%), almost double that recorded in the South and Islands, areas historically most at risk of drought and desertification. An apparent paradox that can be explained by considering the water withdrawals intended for human activities: more than half of the national quota is in fact concentrated in the Po Valley district, where about 70% of the water is used foragriculture. Even at a national level, over half of the water withdrawn is destined for agriculture (56%), two thirds of which is used in the Po Basin, where the national agricultural and livestock production is concentrated, with feed crops such as corn.

“Certainly water stress represents an additional risk factor in favoring desertification in Italy. The territory of the Po basin has always been a large user of water and now that the water resource is reduced and the lack of rain is felt particularly in those areas, it is clearly the territory that suffers the most impacts”, declares Stefano Tersigni, first ISTAT researcher. “In particular, the agricultural model that has developed over the last 50 years is no longer adequate for the resources available todaybecause it uses too many and is not very resilient to climate change: we need to change the irrigation systems and adopt more efficient ones, but also direct choices towards less water-demanding crops and agricultural models”.

According to the most up-to-date estimates, about a third of the water used to irrigate our crops is used to produce feed for the zootechnical chain, which however covers just a quarter of the sector’s needs. Among the crops that require more water, we find the riceThe corn and the forage; with the exception of rice, these are crops mainly intended for intensive farming Italians.

“These data clearly show that it is necessary to intervene on withdrawals intended for intensive agriculture and animal husbandry: without a transformation of our agricultural system in an agroecological key, no solution that aims to increase water availability will be sufficient”, he declares Simon Savini, Greenpeace Italy agriculture campaign. “The stake is ours food safety: since it is estimated that about 20% of the Italian territory risks becoming uncultivable, produce and consume less meat it is a fair price to pay to build an agri-food system in balance with our water resources”.

In the current framework and, above all, considering future scenarios, it is necessary to plan an efficient use of water resources in the agricultural sector, starting with a reduction in productions with higher water consumption, such as those linked to the intensive farming system. To favor the conservation and infiltration of this precious resource, Greenpeace also deems it urgent to restore the health of the soils, through measures such as the set aside of the land and the increase of natural areas within agricultural areas, functional not only to protection of biodiversity but also water retention.

These are essential adaptation measures, because water stress adds to the multiple impacts of the climate crisis on our economies and societies, risking further widening inequalities as agricultural product prices rise.