A super commissioner to manage the water emergency, with special powers to do what is necessary, and overcome too much bureaucracy.
It is one of the hypotheses on which the government is working.
The first meeting of the Water Table is scheduled today at Palazzo Chigi, with the premier and five ministers.
Among the other interventions under study are rationing, new reservoirs, repairs of the sieve aqueducts, a national water plan.
"On the issue of drought - Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida said yesterday - the government is working on various mechanism proposals: it can be a special commissioner or another formula that allows overcoming too much bureaucracy, since too many desks slow down the time, faced with a problem that must be addressed immediately".
Among other hypotheses, even a collegiate control room, instead of a single figure.
The water situation in Italy is serious, the government is aware of it.
In the Alps the snow cover is halved, the large lakes in the North and Center are well below average, the Po and the other rivers are half dry.
In the north, the most affected area, the water deficit is 40%.
A third of national agricultural production is at risk, warns Coldiretti.
Hydroelectric production risks being reduced, due to the semi-empty reservoirs, precisely at the moment in which Russian gas needs to be replaced.
And it's not just an Italian problem.
France, Germany and the United Kingdom are also suffering from drought.
Beyond the Alps, the shortage of water risks slowing down the production of nuclear power plants, which also serve Italy.
To address the situation, the first inter-ministerial table on the water crisis is set at 11.30 in Palazzo Chigi, chaired by Giorgia Meloni.
Ministers Musumeci (Civil Protection), Pichetto (Environment), Fitto (European Affairs), Lollobrigida (Agriculture), Salvini (Infrastructures) are summoned, with the undersecretaries of the Prime Minister Mantovano and Morelli.
At the end, the decided measures will be announced.
Pichetto and Musumeci have already said publicly that a rationing plan will be needed if the drought continues.
Salvini has shown interest in the "lake plan" of the Anbi, the network of new reservoirs proposed for some time by the association of basin consortia.
But it would also be necessary to repair the losses of Italian aqueducts, which reach 40%;
improve the interconnection between reservoirs,
to move water to where it is needed most;
dredge the docks, to increase their capacity.
The Pnrr allocates 2.9 billion to the water system: it is a question of spending it well and as soon as possible.
This would serve Super Commissioner or control room.
More in the long term, a National Water Plan would also be needed to plan the interventions.
It is another hypothesis on which the government is working.
