A model of water exploitation from the Isonzo to Istria

Author: Rosanna Turcinovich Giuricin

English writers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries employed their talents to describe in minute detail the wait for rain in monsoon India. The mounting tension, the close bond between life and water that becomes the very expression of divinity. Without knowing that in those very years, industrialization and the emission of enormous quantities of carbon dioxide into the air would contribute to climate change within a century. To bring the same tension of waiting for rain even in a rainy world, with a mild climate, like Mediterranean Europe. These are scenes from these days, the heat that makes the air unbreathable, the desire to wait for the rain with mouth and eyes wide open, as if it were… a deity. Oddities of our century? All very logical for science, for those who study these phenomena, for those who spend their lives sending important signals for the development and solution of everyday problems. Daniel Nieto Yabar of the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics (OGS) in Trieste is one of the many scientists committed to studying the phenomena, explaining them and suggesting solutions. His specialty is hydrography. Everyone is waiting for the rain but, Professor Nieto, will it be enough, can it be enough to solve the problem of the drought that has tormented us this summer even along the Adriatic? “One of the biggest problems related to water is its management. Up until twenty years ago it was chaos, the exploitation of waterways changed with the borders, even regional ones, responding to immediate interests, without precise planning. Fortunately, with the European Directive 2000/60, this management has been standardized from source to mouth, allowing for a projection of exploitation and harmonious development, responding to three fundamental principles: the quantity available, the quality and sustainability". You are the head of several European projects, what is the role of your Institute in this field? “We are developing models of artificial recharge of the aquifers to allow areas like the Isonzo – which becomes a universal model – to make reasoned use of it without climatic surprises. This is a model that can be applied wherever the same geophysical characteristics exist, for example in Istria." Why is the impoverishment of rivers and lakes so scary? “The water that reaches the sea prevents the salinization of the coast, which means that if the cone of fresh water that penetrates and slows down the salt water is sufficient, there will be no penetration of saline water into the cultivable lands that would otherwise become arid. To do this, the flow of fresh water into the sea must not fall below certain limits. Hence the importance of monitoring and maintaining active aquifers, also with the introduction of water in various ways which is part of the modern management of the problem. With the European CAMI project, which also involves Slovenia, we are proceeding with an in-depth knowledge of water resources in order to try to improve the process of characterization of aquifers and thus act as a support for the identification of qualitative and quantitative protection works for underground water, the primary source of both drinking and productive water supply”. Isn't it enough for it to rain to re-establish a just and acceptable balance? “I would say no. Indeed, let's hope that torrential rains don't arrive, which on a land that is now so dry, almost impermeable, would only wash away the humus, impoverishing the cultivable surfaces". What can you do? “We need more education and awareness: to influence consumption and waste – 80 percent of water consumption is in agriculture, the remaining 20 percent concerns industry and population consumption – to reduce pollution that makes water sources inaccessible, to influence the release of carbon dioxide that leads to obvious climate changes and finally to combat the competitive use of water resources with adequate policies. Education is fundamental and must start in schools. We are happy to participate in teachers' projects, we are happy to meet school children to explain to them with suitable books and films what water represents in our reality and how to defend a precious resource". Are science and society still moving in parallel? “In many situations, yes. This is why European projects are fundamental, linked to specific legislation that finally connects the scientific world with the economic-social one”. She was also part of the Italian expedition to Antarctica. Why is this so important? “Because through core sampling we can study the evolution of the earth over the centuries, even in recent times, and evaluate the impact of civil life on the environment. The pollution there provides us with unequivocal scientific answers.” Prof. Nieto, you were born in Peru, why did you choose Trieste as the destination of your scientific commitment? “I was born in Cuzco and raised in Lima. Near my home there lived a community of Istrians that I frequented for a long time, that's why when at 17 I had to decide to leave my country, the most familiar destination was Trieste. Here I studied and continued to live and work." And the collaboration with Peru? “Strangely enough, it is the only country with which I have not been able to realize projects. No prophet of his country, as the saying goes. On the other hand, during my studies on the magredi, in the Montereale Valcellina area, I found myself immersed, once again, in an Istrian community of exiles. Is Istria in my destiny?”