“For every centimetre lost in Lake Maggiore we waste 2 billion litres”

An urgent procedure. And this is what the Ticino Park has asked to the judges of the Water Court to immediately suspend the Waters Directive Ministry of the Environment that since last 15th March has brought the level of Lake Maggiore to 1 metre on the gauge datum. The lawyers of the Park filed a few days after the new hearing that sees opposing sides in the struggle for the lake level that for some days has reached the height required by Rome.

But the alarms on the consequences of the decision are multiplying. If in fact the Ticino Park has feared since last year, the risks to the environment and ecosystem of the blue river now even the Consorzio Villoresi raises the bar of the clash. Without the necessary water supplies in Lake Maggiore in fact at risk there will be 7,000 farmers, hydroelectric plants along the channel and the site of Expo exhibition. Here’s the video with the words of the president of the consortium, Alessandro Folli.

Half a meter of water in more or less in Lake Maggiore, in fact, is equivalent to a huge amount of water. Each centimetre of water in the reservoir of the lake, in fact, is equivalent to a volume of over 2 billion litres (For instance, an Olympic swimming pool contains about 2 million litres, ed). Without the accumulation of stocks in this time of year when the summer should prove particularly dry, water may not be enough for all necessary uses.

Maintaining a high level of the lake, however, is not painless.

It is clear that the risk of flooding doesn’t exist – 1.5 metres is the normal height of the winter period – some more problems there may be regarding the beaches on the lake. And if Switzerland is particularly concerned with some members of the Federal Council who are submitting queries on the subject, even in Italy there are concerns. Some hoteliers have asked the representatives of the Province of Varbano, Cusio, Ossola to mediate to avoid that some beaches are sacrificed to avoid drought. And so between the opposing needs, will be the judges of the Court of the Waters in Rome they have to find the position in the next hearing convened for 25th March.