“In 2017, when the water crisis on Lake Bracciano risked having water rationed in the capital, the world's attention was focused on Rome; today the Tiber river is becoming salinized with serious repercussions on the agriculture of large areas suited to producing food such as Maccarese and Ladispoli, but no one talks about it": this was reported by Massimo Gargano, General Director of ANBI, who spoke at a training seminar, organized by Filbi-Uil union in Milano Marittima.

The flow rate of the Tiber is currently around 80 cubic meters per second, when the average for the period is greater than 200 m3/s; this favors the rise of the salt wedge inland. The crisis begins from the source of the river with a flow practically halved already upstream Molino, in Umbria. A similar condition is recorded for the Aniene. Things are not better for the levels of the Colli Romani lakes: that of Albano has dropped by 11 cm in the last month, the Bracciano basin is 7 centimeters below last year and that of Nemi has actually lost almost half a meter of water. water in 12 months!

“The consequences of the climate crisis – continues the DG of ANBI – are accentuated in Lazio by unregulated anthropic pressure on water resources. For this reason it is necessary to increase water availability, making existing infrastructure more efficient and creating new storage basins; the future certainly cannot be desalination plants, the costs of which would strongly penalize the agricultural economy and our shopping bag as well as entail serious environmental consequences, linked to the disposal of the so-called polluting brine."

Currently in Lazio there are 5 reservoirs with a total capacity of 7,495,000 cubic metres; the Reservoir Plan (“lakes”), proposed by ANBI and Coldiretti, provides for at least 18 more capable of increasing water availability by a further 13,312,500 cubic metres. On these basins, 23 floating photovoltaic plants (production: 15.26 million kilowatt hours per year) and 4 hydroelectric power plants (production: 301,603 kilowatt hours per year) can be positioned.