Short description of the best practice
The Agrigento province area is affected by aridity and water scarcity. The availabe surface and underground waters are polluted or saline and therefore not suitable for irrigation purposes.
Dam and artificial reservoires have been costructed in the past decades to meet the growing water demand of agriculture and civil uses.
Public consortium manage and distribute to 10.161 farms (19305 ha) the water collected and stored in the artificial reservoires during the winter months. The water made availble by the consortium are of good quality and at an affordable cost. Consortia in Sicily are no profit organization . The SLM practice is based on the recent innovation of pressurized water distribution and control based on effective volumes used. The new system is improved in respect to the traditional system based on the amount of surface to be irrigated.
The contabilization of water used allows water savings and better management of the infrastructures.
This area is actually the only in the regional territory to apply this methodology.
Location
Sicily, Agrigento province|
If the location has well defined boundaries, specify its extension in hectares:
19305.0
Estimated population living in the location:
450000.0
Brief description of the natural environment within the specified location.
The most widespread soil associations are represented by eutric regosols eutric / vertic cambiosols with eutric fluviosols developed on clay hills, and lithosols and eutric cambiosols orthica luviosols eutric regosols / lithosols in mountain areas. The substrate consists mainly of sand, clay and limestone|
The topography is flat in the land strip along the coast and a hilly inland up to the embossments of the mountains Sicani.
The climate of the southern area of Sicily is classified, according to the WMO-UNEP Aridity Index, semi-arid and dry sub-humid. The nearest climatological station ( Agrigento, 313 msl) annual maximum temperatures ranges between 14 and 30°C, minimum temperatures 7,7 and 21,4 °C At regional level temperature increased by 1,5 °C from 1921 to 2002. Average annual precipotation is 497 mm. At regional level precipitation declined by 158 mm in the period 1921-2003.
Prevailing socio-economic conditions of those living in the location and/or nearby
According to the National Institute of Statistics data (2006) the main economic activities and their share of the regional GDP is:
Agriculture, fishing 3,52 %
Industry 9,30%
Construction 5,52%
Commerce, tourism 18,28%
Services 28,28%
Finance, real estate 21,29%|
Land tenure and associated irrigation plants are private; Water infrastructures ( reservoires, distribution network) and their maintainance works are managed by public consortium (Consorzio di Bonifica) at regional administrative level.|
The average per capita GDP in the province of Agrigento (14.790 Euro) is below both the average country value ( 30.680 Euro) and the Sicily average ( 17.533 Euro) (year 2008).
On the basis of which criteria and/or indicator(s) (not related to The Strategy) the proposed practice and corresponding technology has been considered as 'best'?
The criteria are based on a stakeholder analisyst of efficacy, efficiency, effectiveness of the practice. The stakeholders consulted for the assessment have been:
Farmers members of the consortium,
Local enterprises in the sector of water distribution infrastructures
Regional civil servants involved in the consortium activity
Techcnicians and managers of the reclamation consortium
Regional and national agencies working in the area
The benefit of the practice in term of the three criteria can be syntetized:
1) The water allocated but not used by farmers can be used in the successive irrigation cycle,
2) The contabilization and payment of the water effectively used allows consistent water savings,
3) Reduction of pollution due to leaching,
4) Improved planning of crop production.|
