BRACCIANO - Water levels remain worryingly low on Lake Bracciano despite recent heavy rainfall, prompting fears of another drought in Rome this summer, with utilities company Acea appealing the ban on siphoning off the lake’s water to supply the city.

 The lake is suffering from a water crisis and has been for well over a year now. The water is receding, with great swathes of beach appearing where instead there should be lake. The consequences of such a fall in water level are serious, for everything from the ecosystem and biodiversity to tourism. According to Bracciano Smart Lake (https://braccianosmartlake.com/timeline-2/), the website set up specially to monitor and raise awareness about the crisis, on March 19 the level of the lake stood at -162 centimeters, approximately 40 centimetres less than a year ago.

 One only has to visit the lakeside town of Trevignano Romano to see the stark reality. In some parts where the water has retreated the beach has grown by 10-15 metres, if not more, leaving the jetty of La Vela bar rising up out of dry land. Long gone are the days when the owner used to moor his sailing boat to the jetty posts.

 In summer 2017, the water level was so low that there were days when the tourist boat running from Bracciano’s lakeside area to the towns of Trevignano and Anguillara was unable to operate. Locals, very protective of our lake, would argue however that tourism is not the greatest casualty.

 Lake Bracciano is a rich source of flora and fauna, including the endemic algae Isoëtes Sabatina (as far as we know, not to be found anywhere else) and plentiful stocks of fish such as pike, perch, tench, whitefish and eel.

 According to Loreto Rossi, Professor of Ecology at Rome’s La Sapienza University, the disruption caused to the ecosystem by the dramatic fall in water level has even seen tomato plants sprouting on a shoreline that was until recently underwater.

 It is bad news for floating vegetation and has led to traditional species of fish facing competition from invasive species (https://www.wired.it/scienza/ecologia/2017/09/01/lago-di-bracciano-ecosistema-rischio/); even the lake’s self-purifying capacities have been affected. However, you do not have to be a scientist to note the changes: stretches of sickly green weed can be spotted near the shore and even the swans are a rarer sight now.

 It would be tempting for regional authorities to abdicate any responsibility and place the blame on global warming, that easiest of environmental scapegoats. It is true that warmer summers are leading to increased evaporation levels, to which the tramontane wind from the north also contributes out of season (https://www.lagone.it/2018/02/20/lago-bracciano-prelievi-interrotti-lago-scende/).

 However, as with so many environmental crises, in the case of Lake Bracciano the situation is severely exacerbated by human interference. Only 32 kilometres from Rome and the Lazio region’s second largest lake, for years Lake Bracciano has been treated as a reservoir by the utilities company Acea, providing eight percent of Rome’s water supply.

 However, in a state of affairs typical of Rome’s crumbling public services, the New York Times reported in July 2017 that Acea’s system “has become so decrepit that about 44 percent of water is stolen, spills out underground or pools onto the street” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/27/world/europe/rome-water-shortage.html.

 In summer 2017 various measures were introduced to combat the alarming rate at which the lake was receding and the threat of drought in Rome. Acea promised to repair leaky pipes, the city of Rome switched off the “nasoni” drinking water fountains (previously a godsend to tourists suffering in August temperatures) and water pressure was reduced during the night. The Vatican even cut the water supply to 100 of its fountains in solidarity, including Bernini’s famed Baroque masterpiece in St. Peter’s Square. But this was only a drop in the proverbial Bracciano ocean.

 These measures made little difference on both an environmental and a political front. The water level continued to fall and the administration of the Five Star Movement mayor, Virginia Raggi, continued to be plagued by accusations of poor management.

 Of course, allowing Rome’s nearly 3 million residents to go thirsty is hardly a vote-winner, hence Raggi’s support of Acea’s siphoning off water from the lake. But following its success in the recent general elections, where it took 32.3 percent of the vote, the Movement is riding on a wave of populism and popularity. Surely Raggi can now afford to recognize the need for alternative water solutions in Rome and support the Lazio Region’s ban on Acea using Lake Bracciano as a reservoir?

 Her failure to do so and last summer’s drought in Rome seem to confirm two already-suspected political realities: that the Five Star Movement’s lack of experience mean they are incapable of smooth governance, and that Rome itself is ungovernable.

 The future of the lake remains precarious. Despite the unprecedented snowfall in February and heavy rains in March, the lake has only risen 15 centimetres in the last month and even so, experts say it will take several years for the damage to the ecosystem to be reversed and for the lake to return to its former levels. With the hot summer season approaching, the threat of increased evaporation and a thirsty capital looms once again.

 The importance of meeting the water needs of Rome’s inhabitants cannot be denied. However, we must also respect and sustain the resources that in turn sustain us. Unfortunately, Acea’s appeal on Feb 24 to overturn the Lazio Region’s ban on collecting water from Lake Bracciano means the battle continues.