Fonti alternative di approvvigionamento idrico: la desalinizzazione. La legge “SalvaMare” e il passo indietro del decreto “Siccità”. Innovazioni sostenibili

Water is an essential resource for life and a fundamental human right. Drought and global warming are increasingly affecting larger geographical areas. Desalination helps increase water supplies but has significant impacts on ecosystems and health. Article 12 of Legislative Decree No. 60 of 2022 – the “SaveSea” law – addressed a genuine legislative gap by subjecting the construction of such plants to environmental impact assessment procedures, marking a step forward in environmental protection, shortly followed by a regulatory setback. Legislative Decree No. 39 of 2023, converted into Law No. 68 of 2023 – the “Drought” decree – significantly scaled back the scope of Article 12, subjecting desalination plants with a capacity equal to or greater than 200 l/s to a verification of the need for an environmental impact assessment, leaving out larger plants that could significantly affect the environment. An innovative and more sustainable alternative to land-based plants is represented by mobile desalination.