Factsheet Water2Adapt Project Water2Adapt (September 2010‐August The Adda river basin 2012) is an applied‐research project which seeks to produce policy‐relevant knowledge and recommendations for THE RIVER water management and the implementation of the EU Water The Adda river springs from Monte del Ferro (2150 meters above the Framework Directive. In particular, the sea) in Switzerland. In Italy it crosses the provinces of Como, Lecco, project will contribute to the economic Milano, Bergamo, Lodi and Cremona; before it eventually flows into Po analysis of water uses, efforts to set up river. Although being the tributary of the Po river, the Adda is the forth efficient and socially equitable prices for longest Italian river and sixths largest river basin. water and water services, and to assess programmes of measures in the river The lake Como (table 3) is the main reservoir on the Adda river. basins. In addition, capacity workshops Situated in the municipality of Como and Lecco, its main tributaries are will be organised in the case study regions Adda and Mero (figure 1). to increase awareness of the topics to which this project seeks to contribute. The river’s main dams are: Water2Adapt aims to: Ardenno, San Giacomo di Frae, Cancano, Olginate, Trezzo sull’Adda. 6 identify 'social drivers' of water scarcity ‐ i.e., the practices which lead to unsustainable consumption and Length 313 km inefficient allocation of water; 6 assess the magnitude and mediating Average Q 187m3/s (total discharge 405 Mm3) factors of water scarcity‐ and drought‐ Hydrographical basin 7927 km2 (11% of the Po Basin’s surface) induced impacts; 6 revisit the performance and wider Springs at Monte del Ferro (2150 meters above the sea) impacts of the water demand Flows into Po river close to Cremona (35 m above the sea) management policies. 94% Italian territory 6% territory of Switzerland Resilience and adaptive capacity, that is In Italy the basin extends on 81% in mountains, and on 19% in Po plain; the ability to withstand and recover from significant disruptions (or to absorb and Principal sub basins Info cushion against damage), will be Adda sopralacuale, Adda sottolacuale, Lago di translated into practical management tool Como, Brembo, Serio applicable at river basin scale. Precipitations www.feem‐project.net/water2adapt/ Continental climate Scheda Tecnica: Adda – Marzo 2011 Table 1. Water use in Adda basin Civil – Civil– non Electricity Area Industrial Fish Basin area potable potable Irrigation (l/s) production (km2) (l/s) (l/s) (l/s) farming(l/s) (l/s) Adda above the lake 2.431 2.048 940 786 5.748 1.226 304.467 Adda below the lake 1.412 7.057 2.808 61.496 231.284 10.587 823.280 Source: Regione Lombardia, 2006 Table 2. Irrigation canals in the Adda river basin Canals Q Km Canal Martesana 32 38 Canal Muzza 105 60.6 Canal Vacchelli 37 34 Canal Retorto 21,8 6 Source: AdBPo, 2006. Table 3. Lake of Como Area basin Altitude Volume Depth Max Depth Media Flow effluent Recharge Area (km2) catchment (m.a.s.) (Km3) (m) (m) (m3s1) time (years) (Km3) 198 145.9 22.5 410 154 4509 158.3 4.5 Source: CNR, http://www.iii.to.cnr.it/limnol/cicloac/lagit.htm MUZZA CANAL The Muzza canal derives water from the Adda river at Cassano d’Adda. The canal is 38,511 meters long and it flows back into the Adda river close to Castiglione d’Adda. Along the canal there are 37 intakes and many more hydraulic nodes. The entire Muzza network is composed by open earth canals. The Muzza is both the largest irrigation canal by capacity and the first artificial canal built in Northern Italy. LAND RECLAMATION AND IRRIGATION BOARD MUZZA BASSA LODIGIANA The reclaimed land in Lombardia accounts for 1.214,867 ha or about the 50.9% of the total region area. The land is divided into 19 districts managed by different land reclamation boards (LRB). Four different Land Reclamation and Irrigation Boards, all part of the Consorzio dell’Adda, operate on the river: LRB Media Pianura Bergamasca, LRB Est Ticino Villoresi, LRB irrigazioni Cremonesi and LRB Muzza Bassa Lodigiana. The LRB Muzza Bassa Lodigiana has the concession for the Muzza canal (112 m3/s) in order to serve its 5.000 users. According to the INEA (2009) the total volume withdrawn for irrigation from the canal is about 2.120 Mm3 per year (99% of total canal flows). 2 / 4 Scheda Tecnica: Adda – Marzo 2011 Whereas the withdrawals from the irrigation network are seasonal, the water is derived from the river to the Muzza canal all year around. The length of the primary canals of the irrigation network is 410 km long (ca. 4000 km including the secondary canals), 90% of which with multiple functions: irrigation, industrial use and drainage. The land managed by the LRB Muzza Bassa Lodigiana extends on about 74.000 ha. It covers 69 municipalities, of which 53 in the province of Lodi, 3 in Cremona’s and 13 in Milano’s. In the INEA report (2009) highlights that all the potentially irrigable land is irrigated. The water is delivered in irrigation turns. The main crop is maize, increasingly more cultivated for biofuel production. The hydrological system of the Muzza canal basin can be divided into two areas: upstream Muzza and downstream Bassa Lodigiana. In the former part only flood irrigation is practiced, whereas in the latter the pressurised irrigation (sprinkler) is applied on 18% of the irrigated land. Overall, the pressurised irrigation practice remains marginal on the whole territory of the LRB (1,9%). The irrigation season is different for the two districts: for Muzza it lasts from the second decade of May until September; for Bassa Lodigiana from June till August. Nevertheless, the water is also derived from the Muzza canal in winter for agricultural, industrial, fish‐farming, and environmental uses. Figure 1. Adda river basin Table 4: Agricultural crops in the district of Lodi Tot. Area Area in production Tot. production Harvesting Crops (ha) (ha) (quintal) (quintal) Cereals 27 323 27 323 2 805 713 2 805 713 Dry legumes 342 342 20 550 20 550 Vegetables open air 821 821 479 615 479 615 Industrial cultivations 2 861 2 861 119 620 119 620 Fresh fruit 3 3 450 450 Forage 23 382 23 382 13276 261 547 Vegetables (greenhouses) 8.4 8.4 12 020 12 020 Note: Cropping year 2010. Source: Statistics I.STAT http://dati.istat.it/ 3 / 4 Scheda Tecnica: Adda – Marzo 2011 References Autorità di Bacino del Fiume Po (2006). Caratteristiche del bacino del fiume Po e primo esame dell’impatto ambientale delle attività umane sulle risorse idriche. Istituto Nazionale di Economia Agraria (2009) Rapporto sullo stato dell’irrigazione in Lombardia. Regione Lombardia (2007) Dossier Acque di Lombardia. Una ricchezza da proteggere, Lombardia Verde – Numero Speciale. Water2Adapt Website Coordinator: Il bacino del fiume Adda Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM) http://www.addaconsorzio.it/Adda/index.asp?Disp=idrometro Partners: Consorzio di bonifica Muzza Bassa Lodigiana 6 Seeconsult GmbH, Germania http://www.muzza.it/eventi.asp 6 Basque Centre For Climate Change (BC3), Spagna Istat.it 6 Chamber of Agriculture Lower http://www.istat.it/ Saxony, Germania 6 Fundação da Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia Universidade Nova de Lisboa (FFCT‐CENSE), Portogallo Duration: Settembre 2010 – Agosto 2012 Contacts: Coordinatore scientifico: Jaroslav Mysiak Project manager: Martina Gambaro Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore 30124 Venice e‐mail: [email protected] tel. 041 2700472 Funded by: 6 Bundesministerium fuer Bildung und Forschung , Germania The results contained in this policy brief were produced within the project 6 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Water2Adapt "Resilience enhancement and water demand management for Spagna climate change adaptation", funded under the IWRM‐net funding initiative 6 ISPRA ‐ Istituto Superiore per la by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Ministerio de Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale, Ciencia e Innovación (Spain), ISPRA ‐ Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Italia Ricerca Ambientale (Italy), and Foundation for Science and Technology 6 Fundação da Faculdade de (Portugal). Ciências e Tecnologia, Portogallo 4 / 4 .