Sicily region in water crisis as Ancipa dam reach critically low levels

The Mediterranean Island of Sicily is facing a worsening water crisis, underscoring the urgency of global action on water security, as world leaders gather in Baku, Azerbaijan, for COP29 to address the growing impacts of climate change.

Nested in the Nebrodi Mountains, the Ancipa Dam built to meet the needs of a large part of the Sicilian territory, is nearly depleted. It is projected to last only 2 and half months more.

The climate change-related crisis has left the dam, once serving 22 towns, a shadow of itself, providing water to just five. Residents now have limited access to water—once every seven days—leading to frustration and protests across the region.

President of the Movement for the Defence of the Territory and a Nicosia resident, Fabio Bruno, has raised concerns about the dam’s striking depletion from 26 million cubic meters to one million in just over a year.

Local officials are urgently searching for alternative solution to the water crisis to support the community. This has led to drilling in nearby Nicosia for underground aquifers and the construction of a new artesian well.

According to Nando Zabbia, the Councillor for Civil Protection in Nicosia, this well could provide temporary relief but emphasized that climate change has reduced the availability of traditional water sources.

Months of below-average rainfall in Sicily has led to the Italian government declaring a state of emergency, as the island continues to deal with temperatures as high as 48.8 degrees Celsius in 2021, a European heat record at the time.