We have much, much more water than a year ago: almost 977 million cubic meters. At the end of summer 2025, we had just over half that . We are two-thirds of the maximum possible capacity, but in the last month alone we have consumed (and, in part, wasted) almost 102 million cubic meters : between July, August, and these first 20 days of September, we have squandered 15 percent of the abundant reserves stored this year.
Sardinia is preparing to leave behind the hottest summer since 1950 and is already looking to its water reserves for next year's heat, when we may not be fortunate enough to count on last winter's extraordinary rainfall .
And in recent days, ANBI, the institutional and trade union representative body of Italian land reclamation consortia, issued an alert: based on evaporation and transpiration data, Sardinia's coastal areas are in a state of "extreme drought." The Cuga, in the Nurra region, and the Maccheronis, in Torpè, also remain in an emergency state, with the (usual) risk of restrictions between Bassa Gallura and Baronia.
The goal is therefore to address the leaky networks and avoid waste: Enas has solved its part, but the problem of the irrigation networks remains, which waste 50 percent of the resource.
The full article and further features and insights are available in L'Unione Sarda on newsstands and on the L'Unione Digital app.
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