WATER TRANSFER FROM BASILICATA TO PUGLIA: A TECHNICAL, ECONOMIC AND INSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE

Abstract

The necessity of supplying Puglia by transfer of water resources from Basilicata (250 Mm/year mainly for civil use but also for agricultural and industrial uses) and another bordering region (Campania for 200 Mm/year only for civil use) arises from the scarcity of water resources inside Puglia, where precipitation is very low (400 mm/year), rivers are few and with limited watersheds and costal aquifers are overexploited with salt intrusion. Moreover recent droughts have pointed out the need for revising water supply policy in Puglia, looking for the increment of the transfer of water resources from Basilicata (50 Mm/year) and Campania (32 Mm/year) and the development of feasibility studies of new supply options from other nearby regions (Abbruzzi and Molise) and/or another country (Albania). In this paper this plan and all these alternatives are described. In Italy the art.17 of the Galli Law, enforced in 1994, states that the deal between two regions for the transfer of water resources has to take into account not only the technical definition of the project, but also the environmental and social impacts, and the institutional assessment for the government of the resources and the management of the infrastructures. The recent application of the Water Framework Directive of the European Community, based on the principles of full cost recovery and polluters pay, introduces in this process the need for defining not only the financial costs of the proposed projects but also the environmental and the resources costs. In the paper the deal between Puglia and Basilicata for the management of existing and proposed infrastructures for the transfer of water resources is also described, which represents the first application in Italy of Galli Law (art.17) and of the principles of the EC Directive.