Italy

From WaterWiki.net

Italy is part of:
Europe & CIS · Western Europe ·
Water Basins of Italy:
Danube · Isonozo · Po · Rhine · Rhone · Roia ·

Facts & Figures

edit

Capital

Rome

Neighbouring Countries

France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia

Total Area

301,230 km²

- Water

7,210 km² (2.39%) / 239 m²/ha

- Land

294,020 km²

Coastline

7,600 km

Population

58,092,740 (193 inhab./km²)

HDI^A

0.945 (2007)

Gini Coefficient^A

36 (1995)

Nominal GDP^B

$2,399,000 million

GDP (PPP) Per Capita^B

$31,000

National UN Presence

FAO, WHO, UNESCO, UNIDO, IFAD, IAEA, UNCCD, UNDESA

Land Use^C

- Cultivated Land

104,377 km² (35.5%)

- Arable

77,651 km² (26.41%)

- Permanent Crops

26,726 km² (9.09%)

- Irrigated

27,500 km²

- Non cultivated

546,357 km² (64.5%)

Average Annual Rainfall^D

832 mm

Renewable Water Resources^E

175 km³

Water Withdrawals^F	44.37 km³/yr
- For Agricultural Use	45%
- For Domestic Use	18%
- For Industrial Use	37%
- Per Capita	769 m³

Population with safe access to
- Improved Water Source	100%
- Urban population	100%
- Rural population	100%
- Improved Sanitation	100%
- Urban population	100%
- Rural population	100%

References & Remarks

^A UNDP Human Development Report

^B CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia

^C CIA World Factbook Country Profiles

^D Aquastat - FAO's Information System on Water and Agriculture

^E CIA World Factbook

^F Earthtrends

No maps

1 News
2 Country Profile: Climate, Geography, Socio-Economic Context
3 Country Profile: Water Bodies and Resources
4 Country Profile: Legal and Institutional Environment
5 Country Profile: Water Sector Coordination
6 Country Profile: Trends in Water Use, Management and Sanitation
7 Country Profile: Challenges and Opportunities
8 Articles
9 Projects and Case Studies
10 Publications
11 Who is Who
12 References
13 See also
14 External Resources

News

Country Profile: Climate, Geography, Socio-Economic Context

Country Profile: Water Bodies and Resources

Country Profile: Legal and Institutional Environment

At national level, the Royal Decree of 1933 recognized water resources as a public good. In 1989, Law 183 established the river basin as the basic unit within which all regulatory actions concerning water resource management, water pollution control and soil protection are to be coordinated for economic and social development and for environmental protection. The law also established major basin authorities and entrusted them with planning responsibilities. In 1994, Law 36 introduced a reform under which municipal utilities were aggregated into Optimal Territorial Areas (OTAs), which are responsible for the management and supply of water services such as wastewater treatment, sanitation and drinking water provision. OTAs also have to draft Optimal Territory Plans (OTPs), which analyse the availability of water resources and plan for their current and future use. Basin authorities have the responsibility of verifying that the OTP is coherent with basin plans and objectives.

Legislative Decree 152 was introduced in 1999 to protect water resources by preventing and reducing pollution and improving water quality. It also required regions to classify water bodies (i.e. surface, ground and coastal waters) and establish limits for the pollution loads that can be discharged into the environment. The Water Protection Plan, which directly complements the basin plan required by Law 183, is the main instrument for implementing the laws enacted by Legislative Decree 152. This decree is considered a forerunner of the EU Water Framework Directive of 2000, as it also aims for a comprehensive action framework for water resources protection by introducing measures for specific uses (e.g. drinking water, bathing water) and for specific sources of pollution, such as agricultural and industrial effluents.

In 2006, a consolidated text on environmental protection, Decree 152, was approved. It includes rules for waste management, strategic environmental assessment and environmental impact assessment procedures, and water resources protection and management, as well as for dealing with environmental damage. The part concerning water resources protection and management formally adopts the contents of the EU Water Framework Directive, for example by creating river district authorities and assigning them the task of producing river basin management plans. As of October 2008, however, Legislative Decree 152 of 1999 was still in effect because the 2006 decree had not yet been implemented.