Giuseppe Mella City of Venice

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1 Hyderabad Wa ter Management Information System Giuseppe Mella City of Venice

2 Summary The City of Venice Water management in Venice Actors Safeguarding Activities Pollution High Water Events Water transportation system The International Relations Department Asia Urbs Projects

3 The City of Venice Venice is one of the most famous cities in the world, strategically located in relation to both Italy and Europe. Venice is the capital of the Veneto Region, that is today one of the strongest economic regions in Europe. The City in figures: Size: 457 km 2 Population: 266,181 people Population density per km 2 : Population in the centre and lagoon area: 38% Population on the mainland: 62%

4 Characteristics of the City/1 The Venetian territory can be divided into three main areas: the Islands (old town) the Lagoon the mainland area - Mestre and Marghera (new town and industrialized area) The unique setting of the city of Venice contributes both to its appeal and to its vulnerability to flooding and environmental degradation

5 Characteristics of the City/2

6 Characteristics of the City/3 1. Tourism industry: (3,438,000 arrivals per year; 281 guesthouses and hotels, 20,945 beds) 2. Industry: Marghera petrochemical plant is one of the largest Italian industrial areas (1,550 ha) for the chemistry, advanced materials and shipbuilding. Nearly 11,800 employees work in Marghera plant. 3. Commercial and industrial port: total goods traffic amounts to more than 24 million tons per year, (25% represented by commercial goods, 25% by industrial goods and 50% by petrol). Passengers traffic is also intensive (more than 700,000 units per year). In both the ports work about 30% of the total employed people in the Venetian area. 4. Glass industry, sited in Murano island. 5. Other traditional handicraft activities. Figures (business units and workers): Industry: 4,461 (30,500 workers) Commerce: 6,544 (23,000 workers) Services: 8,416 (41,500 workers) Institutions: 1,966 (28,700 workers) Total: 21,387 (124,600 workers)

7 Water management in Venice

8 Water management: actors/1 Body Role Competence regarding the protection of water management State Legislative, guidelines, coordination Substitutive powers in the case of inertia on the part of regions and local bodies Normative activities Transposal of EU directives Fixing limit values for entire national territory Financing plans and monitoring Regional Administration Venice Magistrato alle acque Legislation Programming and planning at the regional level Safeguarding of the Venice Lagoon Programming the Provinces/Municipalities activities Monitoring surface and grounwater Elaboration data, reports on the state of the environment for the State Water for human consumption Swimming water (mapping, identification of suitable areas) Morphological recovery intervention Monitoring the quality of Lagoon waters

9 Water management: actors/2 Body Provincial Administration Municipal administration Mayor of Venice Role Control and planning Authority over health issues Management of aqueduct services, sewage networks and purification through a specific authority Supervision of water traffic in the lagoon Authorisation and control od discharge in surface water and soil Environmental impact assestment of projects of provincial competence Provisions in stases of great danger or damage Authorisation of discharged Management of aqueduct and sewage services Swimming waters Competence regarding the protection of water management The Mayor has been delegated by the Government as the Commissario (figure given authority in a situation considered critical) for water traffic in the lagoon Local Authorities Consultancy and support to the other bodies; Support agricultural activities; Environmental quality control; Technical and scientific support; Intervention in case of accidental spills; planning of resource use; analytical control of seawater; analysis of drinking water

10 Water management: actors/3 Body Autorità di ambito (ATO) Role Planning and control of integrated water services Competence regarding the protection of water management Organisation of integrated water services (catchment, purification for consumption, distribution, collection) Integrated water services management (VESTA) Catchment Authority ARPA (Regional agency for environmental protection and prevention) Agent responsible for the management of the integrated water services in the ATO Adopt the catchment plan for a water balance for the uses Environmental quality controls, Seawater monitoring Management of aqueduct, sewage network and purification Planning of resource uses Technical and scientific support to the Region

11 Physical protection Crisis Factors to combat: High water and sea storms: Erosion of the coastline Deterioration of jetties Urban fragility Pollution and erosion: Morphological deterioration Environmental deterioration Oil-tanker traffic risks Safeguarding activities: Dredging of lagoon channels Restoration of minor islands Re-opening of channels Algae harvesting Removal of pollutant sediment Interventions for landfills Estuary phytopurification Distancing oil-tanker traffic

12 Pollution in Venice Lagoon Manifestation: Disappearance of animal and plant species Weakening of the natural defences Invasion of macroalgae Causes: Porto Marghera industrial plant Waste water discharge Urban Lagoon Centres discharge Pollution of sediment

13 Pollution and Marghera industrial plant The huge industrial zone at Porto Marghera on the mainland was built over a rich complex of salt marshes, filling in a vast area of the Lagoon. Its factories, in particular the petrochemical complex, have extensively polluted the soil and the Lagoon's waters. Porto Marghera represents an old approach to development. Since the 1960s, when Italy's chemical industry met the first symptoms of an ongoing economic crisis, Porto Marghera has seen little investment or conversion. Innovation & Conversion/ VEGA (Venice Science and Technological Gateway) is an initiative aimed at creating a strong link among intellectual, scientific and entrepreneurial resources, both local and international, as well as at implementing the sectors of search and that are concerned with new materials and information technology applications

14 Pollution in Venice Lagoon < Standing time for pollutant substances. 53% of the pollution in the lagoon comes from agriculture and livestock and 47% comes from industrial, civil and urban sources.

15 Pollution in Venice Lagoon Water transparency Marine eelgrass Disappearence of animal and plant species is an useful indicator. The decrease in eelgrass is particularly serious as it is important for the biodiversity of the Lagoon. Plant Species Bird Species

16 Environmental quality The objective behind interventions for environmental quality aims at combating the factors contributing to the deterioration of the lagoon ecosystem, dividing them into: erosive processes different types of water and sediment pollution. In order to achieve this objective it is necessary to restore or defend typical morphological features within the lagoon and to reduce the pollutant substances.

17 Information Exchange There is need for: Much better information within the international scientific community about management solutions to the environmental problems, including evaluation of those solutions already proposed (eg. the mobile barriers at the entrances to the lagoon) A more coordination and cooperation among the decision takers, of the nature of the problem, the prognosis, the possible solutions and hierarchy of risk

18 Legislation! Law 798 of 1984 (defence of all inhabited centres of the lagoon from high water and hydrogeological restructuring of the lagoon): interventions which act on the physical structure of the lagoon; interventions which protect urban lagoon centers with local defence works; interventions at lagoon inlets which temporarily interrupt communication between the lagoon and the sea.! Special Law for Venice The requirement for water quality are more strict than other water surfaces in Italy! National Law for Water Protection Updating of the special Law; requirements of depuration plants

19 High Water events/1 The occurrence of the phenomena of high water is mainly connected to two factors which affect, sea level: 1. The temporary rise in sea level because of the combination of the astronomical tide and the meteorological factor 2. The lowering of ground level with respect to mean sea level, because of the effects of the two long term factors of eustatism and subsidence. High water occurs for the most part during winter months (about 80% of the occurrences are from October and February), that is when the cyclonic perturbation and low pressure are more frequent, with an average duration of about 3 hours.

20 High Water events/2

21 High water protection system/1 < Flood Barriers

22 High water protection system/3 < Cross section of floodgate housings and foundations.

23 High water protection system/2 The mobile flood barriers are made up of lines of flap-gates built into the inlet canal beds. They are "mobile" because in normal tide conditions they are full of water and lie in their housings built into the inlet canal bed. When tides exceeding 100 cm are forecast, an emission of compressed air empties the flap-gates of water until they emerge. In this way, it is possible to temporarily isolate the lagoon from the sea blocking the flow of the tide. The inlets remain closed for the duration of the high water and for the time it takes to manoeuvre the flapgates (on an average a total of 4.5 hours).

24 High water protection system/4 When the mobile barriers are not operational, there will no reduction in the volumes of water exchanged between sea and lagoon. The lagoon inlets will be closed only when tides above established height (+ 110 cm) are forecast (an average of 5 times a year). Permanent effects with the risk of irreversible damage to water volumes exchanged between the sea and lagoon and thus on water quality would however occur if permanent measures were implemented at the lagoon inlets to reduce the depth (raising of the sea bed) or create obstacles to the entering tide. The Mo.S.E. system could be realized in eight years from the time of the assignment of the work (2003)

25 The International Relations and European Affairs Department

26 International Relations and European Affairs Department The International and European Affairs Department is responsible for the development of European and International projects which foresee the involvement of the City of Venice. The Department is divided in three Offices corresponding to three main fields of action: EUROPEAN AFFAIRS INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS The European Affairs Office is responsible for the planning and the management of EU funded projects through: Information related to EU opportunities for funding: Infoeuropa web-site Identification of EU funded Programmes Technical support of the departments of the Municipality in planning and managing the projects Support for the creation of local and international partnerships Relations with the European Commission s DGs

27 International Relations and European Affairs Department The main activity of the International Relations Office consists in planning and managing international cooperation projects with local authorities, private actors and NGOs in order to make the city an active partner in decentralised cooperation programmes of the EU and the UN. Its main strategic geographical areas are: South Eastern Europe Latin America Mediterranean Asia (with particular reference to India, China and the Far East) In particular, the City of Venice has been involved in several Asia Urbs projects

28 Asia Urbs Projects AUROVILLE I: Creation of a research centre, town planning and urban management for the city of Auroville (India). AUROVILLE II: Dissemination of the best results achieved in the projects carried out with the ASIA URBS funds ( ). PHNOM PEHN: Supporting the city of Phnom Penh (Cambodia) in the definition of its urban planning policy after the city reconstruction ( ). SUZHOU ECOLOGICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT: Implementation of presorting of waste and increasing of recycling in Suzhou (China). KHLONGS (Thailand)

29 Water management in Khlongs (Thailand) Name of the project Klongs Water Remediation in Bangkok and Samut Prakarn Year of submission 2001 Conclusion date 2003 Leader City of Wien Partners City of Venice; City of Horsens (Dk); City of Bangkok, City of Samut Prakarn (Thailand) Activities Analysis of overall hydrogeological and urban systems (water conditions, agriculture conditions, healthcare situation, information); development and establishment of innovative water management, agriculture and healthcare systems with the aim of fighting pollution and improving life conditions of people living along the Klongs area in Bangkok and in the Samut Prakarn Province.