How to Deal with Winter Droughts and Water Shortages
The organization is calling on the new Italian government to implement a national water strategy that also promotes circular water management. This would include treating and using the water more often to reduce the environmental impact and conserve groundwater.
Italy’s agriculture minister Francesco Lollobrigida described the water scarcity in early March as a “state of emergency that requires short and long-term measures.” What is still lacking, however, is a concrete strategy.
Saving Water Through Pipe and Reservoir Maintenance
Another way to save water quickly and effectively would be to plug the holes in the existing water infrastructure and fix pipe leaks.
Italy, for example, loses 40% of its water to leaking pipes. The figure is 20% in France and 30% in Portugal, according to the European Association of Water Service Providers. But the volume of water lost is highest in Bulgaria (60%) and Romania (more than 40%).
On average, a quarter of drinking water in Europe is lost due to poor infrastructure and inadequate water management.
In response the EU proposed an update of its water directive in late 2022. It has called on member states to better monitor water wastage and leaks, as well as investing in appropriate measures and data collection.
Reusing and Treating Water Several Times Over
According to the European Commission, there is also massive potential for treating and reusing water.
Currently, only 0.5%, or about one billion cubic meters, of the fresh water withdrawn in the EU is treated and reused. With sufficient treatment plants and the appropriate infrastructure, water could be used much more efficiently, which would significantly reduce the pressure on fresh water reservoirs and dependence on natural water sources.
For example, in Italy, treated water accounts for only 5% of artificial irrigation. The rest comes from increasingly scarce freshwater sources. Agriculture currently consumes 30% of all fresh water in the EU.
Farmers could also transition to more drought-resistant crops, says Burgess.
Preparing for Water Scarcity This Summer
Should the situation continue to worsen, authorities in France have already announced they may impose restrictions on water use in 87 municipalities.
These measures, such as banning filling private swimming pools, are usually only rolled out during extreme droughts at the height of summer.
Copa-Cogeca, an association of European farmers, told DW the situation is “worrisome.”
Climate specialist Samantha Burgess agrees that indications for water supplies in the coming warm months are not good.
“Unless we have a series of storms or rainfall events that have a lot of moisture, what we’re seeing in the maps of soil dryness at the moment suggests we are facing a very dry spring and a very dry summer,” she said.
Burgess assumes there will be restrictions on water use in affected regions in Europe this summer. However, that doesn’t necessarily leave us high and dry.
“Climate change impacts are here and they’re impacting us right now,” she said. “There are a lot of different things that individuals, businesses and society can do.”
Tim Schauenberg is multimedia reporter at DW. This article is published courtesy of Deutsche Welle (DW).
