Sicily is severely affected by the water crisisputting in crisis especially the provinces of Agrigento, Catania and Palermo, where fears of a decline in tourism are growing. low rainfall of 2024 have led to the drying up of rivers and the Draining of several reservoirslacking volumes of water useful for users. The discussion on the water crisis has intensified in the last week, especially due to the proposal of the rationing plan proposed by AMAPthe Municipal Water Company of Palermo, to delay the exhaustion of water resources in the capital province, the implementation of which has been suggested for the July 22ndbut which was opposed by the regional government. The discussion was further fueled by the spread on the web of fake news regarding the rationing plan itself and the increasing attention of the newspapers international journalismincluding the New York Times.
AMAP’s rationing proposal in Palermo
In recent weeks a press release published on the websites ofAMAPthe Municipal Water Company of Palermo, and of the Municipality of Palermo he proposed new measures to contain water consumption from 22 July 2024essential to ensure the continuity and future sustainability of the water service. The plan met with opposition from the President of the Region, who called for greater collaboration between institutions to find alternative solutions. The mayor of Palermo, Roberto Lallagathen announced that the AMAP plan will be reviewed at the regional consultation table, temporarily suspending its launch.
In the meantime, some alleged details on the rationing methods in the Sicilian capital have been spread on social media. However, AMAP promptly authenticity denied of this information, stating that it comes from a private profile and therefore classifying it as fake news.
Water crisis and rationing in Sicily
The water crisis has been gripping Sicily since 2023, the year in which an average annual precipitation at regional level of 558 mmfor the fourth consecutive year well below the historical average of 750 mm. In early 2024, theBasin Authority confirmed it high water severity status in the Hydrographic District of Sicily, for both the irrigation and drinking sectors. The low rainfall and temperatures well above the seasonal average did not allow the filling of reservoirs and lakes used for water supply. In fact, already at the end of February, the reservoirs showed a net useful volume of available water resources of 158.03 million cubic meters (Mmc), significantly lower than the 317.45 Mmc expected for the period from March to December 2023, thus highlighting a deficit of more than 50%.

With resolution no. 51 of 20 February 2024the Regional Council of Sicily has declared a state of crisis for aid interventions for breeders affected by drought, which adds to the damage to agriculture. Subsequently, with the resolution no. 100 of March 11the president of the Sicily Region, Renato Schifaniproclaimed the state of emergency for the water crisis in the drinking sectorextending it up to the December 31, 2024.
The March resolution has intensified the water rationing measuresalready active in several Sicilian municipalities since 2023, to mitigate the water crisis in the short term and conserve resources until the autumn rainy season. Specifically, rationing implies a reduction in water supply capacity from 10% to 45% in 105 municipalities at risk of drought in the provinces of Agrigento, Caltanissetta, Enna, Messina, Palermo And Trapani.

The intensification of the crisis in the summer season
In the last three months, the water crisis in Sicily has worsened. The drought report of the River Basin Authority of June 2024 highlights a marked negative anomaly in precipitation, which are well below the historical average. According to the Sicilian Agrometeorological Information Service (SIAS), the regional average of monthly precipitation has dropped to around 8mmsignificantly lower than the average of 11 mm from 2003-2022The accumulated precipitation in the last 12 months amounts to 414 mma figure comparable to that of the great drought of 2002which was of 413 mm. In some areas of eastern Sicily, the rainfall deficit exceeds 60%. Added to this are temperatures above the seasonal average, which in some cases have exceeded 40°C.

These weather conditions have contributed to a further worsening of the drought for the current year. At the beginning of July, 6 of the 29 invasions present in the hydrographic district of Sicily were completely drywith a net profit volume for users equal to zero.

The countermeasures of the Sicily region
To combat the water crisis, funds have been allocated 20 million euros in Sicily, out of 130 requested, to implement an emergency program that includes 138 interventions aimed at improving the water supply. Among these, the re-functionalization and the Well Restoration And sources already existing, the construction of new wellsthe purchase and arrangement of tankers for the most affected areas and the repair of distribution networks for reduce losses. Other interventions include the purchase of fodder for animals and the supply of drinking water, as well as the future reactivation of three desalination plants in Trapani, Gela and Porto Empedocle.