Evolution of Water Legislation

Abstract

The chapter refers to the development of Italian water legislation during the last century in order to identify the main innovative principles which were introduced in water management and soil defense fields, recently also under the pressure of the European Directives. The evolution of Italian water legislation has been affected by the ongoing acceptance of a few general principles, namely, (i) the growing role of the state in regulating private access to water uses and in planning the allocation of water resources among various sectors; (ii) the need to face pollution of water bodies, in order to guarantee human health and environment protection: (iii) the choice of a comprehensive approach in the river basin planning, including water resources use, water quality improvement and flood defense; (iv) the effort to assure good quality levels of municipal water services by an efficient management; and (v) the shift from structural to nonstructural measures. Some of these innovations can be considered as a consequence of the increasing awareness of the need to protect ecosystems and to preserve the rights of future generations, as well as to improve access to information and increase participation of citizens and stakeholders in the decision-making process. When dealing with defense from water-related disasters, there is a rising need of a more coordinated effort to face the risk of extreme hydrological events. Finally, the reasons for a poor implementation of plans required by European Directives are discussed, and some necessary changes in water legislation to adapt water management to the expected changes of society and climate are identified.