The Maccheronis reservoir is at its lowest level and can no longer guarantee the distribution of water for irrigation purposes .
The water emergency returns to Sardinia: the artificial basin in the Torpè area holds less than 2.2 million cubic meters of water, the dam is below 10% of its water capacity, which is why the Central Sardinia Land Reclamation Consortium has decided to immediately interrupt the distribution of water for irrigation in Alta Baronia and Bassa Gallura .
This decision was made to safeguard the civil uses (drinking, food, and sanitation) of rice and its use for livestock watering. Exemptions may be granted, upon justified request, only for greenhouses, nurseries, and specialized orchards.
The Consortium is also installing a temporary water lift system from the Posarda River to supply the Torpè municipal water treatment plant, which will soon no longer be supplied by the Maccheronis reservoir. The project is expected to be completed in about ten days.
The Consortium calls on municipalities to promote maximum consumption reduction and prohibit non-essential water use. It warns that if current conditions persist or worsen, water supply will be cut off in some municipalities, prioritizing Siniscola, Posada, Torpè, Budoni, and San Teodoro .
Municipalities, the warning states, "must adopt specific bans on the use of the resource for car washing, irrigation, watering public and private green spaces, as well as for other uses not essential to domestic and civil needs ."
Massimo Gargano, general director of Anbi , emphasizes that this new emergency, yet another, "highlights the need for a new reservoir." "We can't just continue to hope for rain," concludes Ambrogio Guiso, president of the Central Sardinia Land Reclamation Consortium . "We need serious planning, taking into account the increased population and tourism, as well as the climate crisis. We continue to reiterate the importance of a new reservoir, and the Abba Luchente dam seems to us to be the most immediate and feasible solution ."
