Water, Vanoi dam 'under the x-rays', but Rome also awaits option zero

Venice – For the Vanoi Dam project, "all technical and safety aspects, including geology and geotechnics, are being carefully analyzed using the most modern technologies available today." The Ministry of Infrastructure later announced that "to date, no project has been submitted for review and possible approval; therefore, no process has been initiated to formulate and support the necessary technical considerations. The design phase must, however, include a comparison of alternative solutions, including the zero option, i.e., no dam, through specialized reports to verify compliance with relevant technical standards."

Vannia Gava, Deputy Minister of the Environment, explained this yesterday in the Chamber of Deputies committee, clarifying that within the "programming and planning activities, aspects relating to geomorphological stability will be addressed, which are the responsibility of the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security, with the involvement of the District Basin Authority".

To date, "however, the ministry has not received any requests for funding from the Veneto Region or the Autonomous Province of Trento, attributable to the intervention. Furthermore, no request for environmental assessment relating to the project has been received", the deputy minister specified in the written response, seen by 'Dire', to the PD deputy Rachele Scarpa. In any case, it will be the responsibility of the relevant technical commission, "in relation to the nature of the proposed project, to take into account all the observations that may be received during the public consultation phase", added and reassured Gava.

Furthermore, during the procedure for drafting the final project, to be subjected to an Environmental Impact Assessment, a debate phase is foreseen; the comparison, required by law, is based on scientific data, engineering studies and socio-economic assessments with the widest involvement of institutions and associations, and under the coordination of a delegate of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport”.

Scarpa, replying and while thanking the vice-minister for her response, declared herself dissatisfied. There is a “clear opposition” from citizens and the Province of Belluno to the Vanoi dam but, “despite this, the planning and design activities continue at high costs, without there being a clear position taken by the Government regarding the construction of the work”.

Which should serve to address water scarcity but "is not among those envisaged by the extraordinary commissioner for drought". And while the Brenta Land Reclamation Consortium has already started the planning phase, "the Government has not yet taken a definitive position". All this, concluded the dem, without forgetting that "a significant hydrogeological risk has been detected".