There is no water in Puglia. Scarce rainfall, high temperatures even in this late autumn and reservoirs filled to only 40% of their capacity: everything means that the water situation in these parts is worsening day by day, so much so that since 20 October Acquedotto Pugliese SpA has implemented further pressure reductions across the entire network.
A defined situation of “full-blown emergency“, which threatens the ability to guarantee the drinking supply throughout the regional territory: at this moment, the springs and reservoirs that feed the network managed by AQP are at less than 50% of the average of the last ten years. The severity of the crisis has been certified by the Permanent Observatory on Water Uses (OPUI) of the Southern Apennines Hydrographic District, which has classified the level of water severity of the drinking sector as “high”.
The 2025-2026 Emergency Plan
The picture that emerges from the latest estimates is anything but reassuring: between October and December 2025 the Apulian reservoirs could lose over 62% of the available water compared to the historical average.
This crisis does not come from nowhere: increasingly scarce rainfall, increasing consumption and dependence on springs and reservoirs located in Campania and Basilicata, such as the Sele-Calore, Monte Cotugno, Pertusillo, Conza and Locone, are bringing Puglia back to the emergencies of 2008 and 2017. Even with collaboration between Regions, the reserves are not enough to guarantee drinking water for everyone.
To deal with the situation, the new 2025-2026 Emergency Plan was launched: absolute priority for water for domestic use, targeted rationing and a crackdown on network pressures. The “Water Crisis” Control Room will continue to coordinate every move, from Civil Protection to irrigation consortia.
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Alongside the emergency measures, the Plan aims to secure the future of Apulia’s water: strengthening infrastructure, reducing losses and reusing waste water refined according to European standards. Because the real challenge is not to overcome the emergency: it is to prevent it from becoming the new normality.
Not just Puglia
The National Association of Land and Irrigation Water Management and Protection Consortia (ANBI) is clear: Italy is experiencing “increasingly fragile conditions from a hydrogeological point of view”, where in the North intense rains and flooding alternate, and in the Centre-South the watchword is: drought, with arid land and almost exhausted water reserves.
According to the European Drought Observatory (EDO European Drought Observatory), historic rivers and lakes in Italy show clear signs of suffering: in Lazio, for example, the Tiber River has recorded flows higher than -30% compared to the average, and other local water systems show constantly decreasing hydrometric levels.
The water crisis is no longer a problem relegated to Puglia, Sicily or the southern regions: it is national. From North to South the signs are clear: reduced availability, insufficient rainfall, infrastructure under pressure. If we do not intervene decisively and quickly, the blame will not only be on the climate crisis, but also on management that does not keep up.
Sources: Acquedotto Pugliese SpA / EDO European Drought Observatory
