A steering committee meeting on the water crisis was held today at Palazzo Chigi, chaired by Vice-President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini and also attended by Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry Francesco Lollobrigida, Minister for Civil Protection and Marine Policies Nello Musumeci, Minister for Regional Affairs and Autonomies Roberto Calderoli, Deputy Minister of the Environment and Energy Security Vannia Gava and Undersecretaries to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers Alfredo Mantovano and Alessandro Morelli. During the meeting, it was decided to speed up and coordinate the planning of medium and long-term infrastructure measures and, in the short term, to appoint a national commissioner up until 31 December 2023, who will have a renewable mandate and a very specific scope of responsibilities.
More specifically, the commissioner will be able to take action in high-risk areas and unblock short-term measures such as removing mud from and de-icing water reservoirs, increasing reservoir capacity, managing and using waste water, mediating in the event of disputes between regional and local authorities on matters concerning water and gathering information on national water requirements.
Technical assessments are being carried out in order to formalise the definitive solution.