Environment

Reclamation in Veneto

Water, land, essential reclamation. A trip to the Po Delta

The drainage of the reclamation consortia in eastern Veneto allow man to live and work in a territory that, without intervention, would return to being a swamp

30/05/2023

Milva Andriolli, editing by Anna De Zen

The vast environment of the Po delta, and much of the territory of eastern Veneto, are the work of man, who for many centuries has worked to make these lands livable by tearing them from the water. Without human intervention this ecosystem, which is largely artificial and below sea level, would disappear, returning to being an unlivable swamp.

80 dewatering machines

The 80 draining machines of the Eastern Veneto reclamation consortium work every day to keep more than a thousand urbanized km2 and 35 linear beaches from Jesolo to Bibione dry, protecting residences, agriculture, production and tourism.

Tower of Fine

The plants are located in historic buildings of the '20s, such as Torre di Fine in Eraclea, or in other more modern ones, such as Valle Tagli in Caorle, built after the flood of '66, which discharges 30 thousand liters of water into the sea per second, with 5 pumps equipped with 500 kilowatt motors each. Without these pumps, much of eastern Veneto would end up underwater again.

In the service the interviews with Giancarlo Mantovani, director of the Consorzio di Bonifica Delta Po; Erika Grigoletto, Head of the Planning Office of the Eastern Veneto Reclamation Consortium; Daniele Stefanetto, electrician of the Consorzio di Bonifica Veneto Orientale