The European Commission has unlocked resources for over 230 million euros intended for improving the integrated water service in Sicily. The decision came after the Region completed and approved all nine plans of the optimal territorial areas (Ato), thus satisfying the “qualifying condition 2.5 updated planning of the necessary investments in the water sector and in the waste water sector” of the Sicily FESR 2021-2027 regional program. This is a necessary prerequisite established by the European Union so that the projects can be considered suitable for funding. Without his satisfaction, it is not possible to access the resources of the structural funds.
This important milestone allows the acceleration of the interventions aimed at improving the management of the water service integrated in the island mainly aimed at recovering the losses of the aqueducts and the purification of the waste water of the agglomerations in the infringement procedure. The plans of the area are programming tools that define the investments necessary to improve the integrated water service in each territory, identifying the intervention priorities for the management of drinking water, the distribution networks and the purification of waste water. Their approval is the result of a joint work that has seen various branches of the regional administration engaged for two years.
The FESR Sicily 2021-2027 regional program, with particular attention to priority 2 (“a greener Sicily”), provides actions aimed at achieving the objectives of the Green Deal and climatic neutrality by 2050. Action 2.5.1, “interventions for the improvement of the integrated water service in all segments of the supply chain”, has a total financial allocation of over 47 million euros, intended for fundamental interventions in the sector. Water.
The initiatives already in progress or in the start phase includes projects aimed at optimizing the use of existing water resources, the creation of new public works and the acquisition of essential goods and services for the efficiency of the system. The Region has already published public notices for over 150 million euros dedicated to water and purification services, demonstrating a strong acceleration in the use of European resources.
The satisfaction of the qualifying condition 2.5 now opens the way to a full operation of European funding in a strategic sector, with direct benefits for the quality of life of the Sicilians and for the protection of the environment.