Lack of water resources, Italians not very aware

Attention to the water resource is still very lacking: only 2 out of 10 Italians are worried about it in the present and 70% believe it is a problem exclusive to specific areas and periods of the year. To trace the picture is an Ipsos research commissioned by Finish on the occasion of the world day for the fight against desertification and drought conducted on a sample of a thousand people. Looking to the future, only 22% of Italians, in fact, believe the World Resources Institute’s forecasts that Italy will be in a water stress situation by 2040 to be true. In this regard, the southern regions are considered to be most at risk (92% against 13% for the north and 12% for the center), with peaks of concern that concern Sicily (69%) and Calabria (51%) in particular. The reference to Sicily is not accidental: as highlighted by the Istat 2021 Report on water, among the seven Italian cities in a situation of greater criticality in terms of water dispersion (i.e. over 45%), 3 are Sicilian: Catania (54 , 7%), Palermo (45.7%), Messina (46.6%). These data are also confirmed by the Ipsos research for Finish: 78% are in fact convinced that water dispersion is very worrying in southern Italy and the islands, compared to 50% in northern Italy. Despite this, the perception of the actual quantity of water dispersed at national level is still very poor (42% of that introduced into the network the real figure), with even 70% underestimating the losses and only 15% having an opinion in line with actual data.

The main victim of this delicate situation is agriculture which every year, in Italy, records a use of water exceeding 15 billion cubic meters, mainly useful for the irrigation of those areas where rainfall and soil moisture are not sufficient to guarantee the water needs of Italian agricultural excellences famous all over the world In this regard, despite the lack of awareness of water, the research shows that: 57% agree that the lack of water can have a devastating impact especially on agriculture (compared to 38% relating to the impact on everyday life and 5% to that on industries); 42% believe that farmers should make their contribution to water protection through the search for more efficient irrigation methods (against 68% of ordinary citizens, who should improve their consumption; 54% of governments, who should punish misconduct and 50% of companies, which should instead undertake to improve production processes).Finally, particular attention must be paid to innovation. 85% of the interviewees are in fact confident that the development of new technologies in the agricultural sector will allow a better and more efficient use of water in the future, with an even greater percentage (90%) in the age group between 14 and 17 years.