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Università Iuav di Venezia
Faculty of Architecture
Graduate Degree Architecture and Sustainability
Research Area Sustainability and Urban Design
Iuav School of Doctorate Studies
blue in architecture 09
Water, Climate Change and Architecture
focus and debate on a uid and sustainable future
First International Symposium
September 24th_27th | 2009
Palazzo Badoer _ Sestiere San Polo 2468 | Venezia
Director and scientic coordinator: Benno Albrecht
Organization: Anna Magrin
Curators of the symposium topics: Erich Trevisiol, Giovanni Mucelli and Claudia Tessarolo, Jacopo Gaspari, Benno Albrecht,
Patrizia Montini and Sergio Pascolo
blue in architecture09 _ symposium proceedings
Edited by: Benno Albrecht and Anna Magrin
Graphic design by: Pietro Tomasi
Layout by: Eleonora Reato
Essays by: Benno Albrecht, Barbara Aronson, Angelo Bugatti, Ugo Cantone, Robert Demel, Vincenzo Ferrara,
Robert Kronenburg, Paola Viganò
and: Giuseppe Baldo - Maurizio Bacci - Andrea Signoretto, Maria Berrini - Orsola Bolognani - Lorenzo Bono,
Sebastiano Brandolini, Elisa Bonetto - Michele Chiariello, Chiara Buffa - Giulia Marabini - Maša Grbic - Vuk
Valter, Tullio Cambruzzi, Tiziano Cattaneo, Carolina Collaro, Francisco J. Del Corral del Campo, Laura Cunico,
Andrea Curtoni - Giulia Mazzorin, Dao-Ming Chang, Adriana De Miranda, Giovanna De Stefani - Maurizio
Borin - Michela Salvato - Davide Tocchetto, Giorgia De Pasquale, Luca Donner, Francesca Guerrucci, Marco
Le Donne, Manfredi Leone - Valeria Scavone - Gaetano Brucoli, Susanna Magnelli, Anna Magrin, Gianfranca
Mastroianni - Giuseppe Ruello - Maria Nicolina Papa - Giusi Lofrano - Nadia Bizzarrini - Simona Voria, Davide
Mattighello, Matteo Melioli, Patrizia Montini Zimolo, Francesco Musco, Elena Orzali - Elisa Dalla Vecchia, Elvira
Pensa, Maurizio Peruzzi, Bojana Puhalo, Simonetta Rossetti, Giuseppe Rossi, Anis A. Siddiqi - Soua A. Siddiqi,
Erich Trevisiol - Chiara Odolini, Giambattista Zaccariotto - Marco Ranzato - Sybrand Tjallingii, Wolfgang Voigt,
Andreina Zitelli - Stefano Boato - Edi Valpreda.
2011 Università Iuav di Venezia
ISBN 978-88-87697-650
contents
GENERAL ISSUES | plenary
sessions
Benno Albrecht
Università Iuav di Venezia | Venezia_I
Blue in architecture: water civilisations and climate change.
Barbara Aronson
Shlomo Aronson Architects – Architects, Landscape Architects and Town Planner |
Jerusalem_IL
Brown + Blue = Green. Man-made landscapes in a world of extremes
Angelo Bugatti
Università di Pavia _ Facoltà di Ingegneria | Pavia_I
New urban environmental and city spaces: optimizing the use of
underground resources
Ugo Cantone
University of Catania _ Faculty of Architecture_Department ARP | Siracusa_I
Actuality of the city of water and sun as urban ecology
Robert Demel
Beuth Hochschule für Technik | Berlin_D
Comparative study on morphological design approaches for designing
sustainable buildings
Vincenzo Ferrara
ENEA _ Ente Nazionale Energia e Ambiente | Casaccia_Roma_I
Adaptation to climate change: a planning process for a changing
environment in Italy
Robert Kronenburg
University of Liverpool _ School of Architecture | Liverpool_UK
Mobile and Flexible Architecture Solutions for Shelter and Rebuilding in
Post-Flood Disaster Situations
Paola Viganò
Università Iuav di Venezia | Venezia_I
Water Designs
plenary session
pp. 1-6
albrecht
plenary session
pp. 1-3
aronson
plenary session
pp. 1-7
bugatti
plenary session
pp. 1-7
cantone
plenary session
pp. 1- 5
demel
plenary session
pp. 1-17
ferrara
plenary session
pp. 1-6
kronenburg
plenary session
pp. 1-7
viganò
TOPIC ONE
climate, water, energy and cities
introduction to topic one
by Erich Trevisiol
Maria Berrini, Orsola Bolognani, Lorenzo Bono, Eriuccio Nora, Marzio
Marzorati
Ambiente Italia s.r.l. | Milano_I
Local climate change competence through integrated urban management
Sebastiano Brandolini
Brandolini Gallizia Architetti | Milano_I
Monte Rosa – A water reservoir
Tiziano Cattaneo
Università di Pavia _ Facoltà di Ingegneria | Pavia_I
Water systems resource as a new energy opportunities for the city
development: composition, technology and architectures
Chang Dao-Ming
Graduate of EMU _ European Master of Urbanism | Milan_I
Pond City: Urban Design And Investigation Of Taoyuan Plain
Carolina Collaro
PhD student at Università Iuav di Venezia | Nova Gorica_SLO
The construction of the Great Project of Regi Lagni Ecological Corridor
Francisco J. Del Corral del Campo
architect | Granada_E
Waterscales. Water: energy and landscape in Granada
Giovanna De Stefani, Maurizio Borin, Michela Salvato, Davide Tocchetto
University of Padova _ Department of Environmental Agronomy and Crop Production |
Padova_I
PAN S.r.l. | Padova_I
Floating owering system to improve water quality and aesthetic value of
water zones
topic one
pp. 1-6
berrini, bolognani,
bono, nora, marzorati
topic one
pp. 1-2
brandolini
topic one
pp. 1-8
cattaneo
topic one
pp. 1-11
dao-ming
topic one
pp. 1-9
collaro
topic one
pp. 1-8
del corral
topic one
pp. 1-7
de stefani, borin,
salvato, tocchetto
Francesca Guerrucci
PhD student at Università “G.D’Annunzio” di Chieti-Pescara | Pescara_1
Dubai’s Hydrodystrophies
Francesco Musco
Università Iuav di Venezia | Venezia_I
Local Governments responding to Climate Change: addressing
mitigation and adaptation in small and medium sized communities
Elena Orzali, Elisa Dalla Vecchia
Università Iuav di Venezia | Venezia_I
Padova-Venezia: Water management in the territory’s transformation
Elvira Pensa
Politecnico di Milano _ Dipartimento B.E.S.T. | Milano_I
Water scenarios in the future of Milano
Erich Trevisiol, Chiara Odolini
Università Iuav di Venezia | Venezia_I
IWRM and climate change
introduction to topic two
by Giovanni Mucelli and Claudia Tessarolo
Giuseppe Baldo, Giorgio Bacci, Andrea Signoretto
Studio Baldo | Spinea_Venezia_I
Project and ood risk control in Venice “terraferma”. Bissuola study
case
Marco Le Donne
AECOM | Abu Dhabi_UAE
The search for a hybrid ecology between waterscape and city - an
alternative strategy for the conceptual design of urban waterfronts
TOPIC TWO
climate change and ood strategies
topic one
pp. 1-10
musco
topic one
pp. 1-7
orzali, dalla vecchia
topic one
pp. 1-10
pensa
topic one
pp. 1-11
trevisiol, odolini
topic one
pp. 1-7
guerrucci
topic two
pp. 1-11
baldo, bacci,
signoretto
topic two
pp. 1-8
le donne
Susanna Magnelli
Università degli Studi di Firenze _ Dipartimento di Urbanistica e Pianicazione del
Territorio | Firenze_I
Water and design
Giambattista Zaccariotto
Università Iuav di Venezia | Venezia_I
Marco Ranzato
Università di Trento _ Dipartimento di Urbanistica | Trento_I
Sybrand Tjallingii
Delft University of Tecnology _ Department of Urbanism | Delft_D
Water sensitive design tools for urban landscapes
Andreina Zitelli, Stefano Boato
Università Iuav di Venezia | Venezia_I
Edi Valpreda
ENEA _ Ente Nazionale Energia e Ambiente | Bologna_I
Adaptation to climate change: land, social and environmental
processes in the Northern Adriatic Sea area
introduction to topic three
by Jacopo Gaspari
Chiara Buffa, Giulia Marabini, Maša Grbic, Vuk Valter
Living Devices Lab | Venezia_I
Living devices: spreading spaces, seeds and sediments along the Po
River
Giorgia De Pasquale
PhD student at International PhD program Villard d’Honnecourt | Roma_I
Stone on stone
TOPIC THREE
architecture in a no-water world
topic two
pp. 1-5
magnelli
topic two
pp. 1-8
zaccariotto, ranzato,
tjallingii
topic two
pp. 1-10
zitelli, boato, valpreda
topic three
pp. 1-7
buffa, marabini, grbic,
valter
topic three
pp. 1-6
de pasquale
Luca Donner
Donner & Sorcinelli Architetti | Silea_Treviso_I
Breathing House, Qanat Villa and Heart-Shaped Micro-City Masterplan,
case studies in Saudi Arabia
Bojana Puhalo
Graduated at Università degli Studi di Firenze | Mostar_BiH
Restoring of hidrological balance
Anis A. Siddiqi, Soua A. Siddiqi
University of the Punjab | Lahore_PK
Urban sprawl in Pakistan and architects’ role in the war against a
waterless world
introduction to topic four
by Benno Albrecht
Elisa Bonetto, Michele Chiariello
Trevisoservizi S.r.l. | Treviso_I
New technologies for water and cost saving in irrigation for urban areas
Tullio Cambruzzi
Insitute AATO Laguna di Venezia | Venezia_I
Water and the store of knowledge: widenings on the memory of water
Andrea Curtoni, Giulia Mazzorin
Graduated at Università Iuav di Venezia | Venezia_I
Y
Manfredi Leone, Valeria Scavone, Gaetano Brucoli
Università degli Studi di Palermo _ Dipartimento Città e Territorio | Palermo_I
Small lakes and reservoir in the hills of Sicily. Mantain, save and
recover rural landscape
TOPIC FOUR
liquid ethics
topic three
pp. 1-7
donner
topic three
pp. 1-6
puhalo
topic three
pp. 1-8
siddiqi, siddiqi
topic four
pp. 1-5
bonetto, chiariello
topic four
pp. 1-5
cambruzzi
topic four
pp. 1-16
curtoni, mazzorin
topic four
pp. 1-9
leone, scavone,
brucoli
Anna Magrin
Università Iuav di Venezia | Venezia_I
adaptive strategies for amphibian territories
Gianfranca Mastroianni, Giuseppe Ruello, Maria Nicolina Papa, Giusi
Lofrano, Nadia Bizzarrini, Simona Voria
Ingegneria Senza Frontiere | Napoli_I
Conter-streaming water: the travel of Ingegneria Senza Frontiere
Peruzzi Maurizio, Emanuela Lozza
Associazione Cristallizzazione Sensibile | Milano_I
The shape as expression and measurement of the quality
Giuseppe Rossi
Università degli Studi di Catania _ DICA_Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile e
Ambientale | Catania_I
Integrated Water Management and Ethics
introduction to topic ve
by Patrizia Montini Zimolo and Sergio Pascolo
Laura Cunico
Graduated at Università Iuav di Venezia | Verona_I
“You be the improvement that you see in the world” (M. Ghandi)
Adriana De Miranda
PhD in History of Islamic Art and Architecture _ University of London | Milano_I
Water in Islamic architecture
Davide Mattighello
PhD student at Università degli Studi di Udine | Udine_I
Water towers, landscape, plan and utopia. From the aesthetical to
political and vice versa
TOPIC FIVE
amphibian architecture
topic four
pp. 1-6
magrin
topic four
pp. 1-5
mastroianni, ruello,
papa, lofrano,
bizzarrini, voria
topic four
pp. 1-7
peruzzi, lozza
topic four
pp. 1-10
rossi
topic ve
pp. 1-9
cunico
topic ve
pp. 1- 6
de miranda
topic ve
pp. 1-4
mattighello
Matteo Melioli
Terry Farrell and Partners | London_UK
THAMES ESTUARY 2100 PROJECT, London, the UK
Patrizia Montini Zimolo
Università Iuav di Venezia | Venezia_I
Upside down. The shape of water mobility in 21st century Venice
Bojana Puhalo
Graduated at Università degli Studi di Firenze | Mostar_BiH
Amphibian architecture in Venice
Simonetta Rossetti
Università degli Studi di Trieste _ Dipartimento di Progettazione Architettonica e
Urbana | Trieste_I
Sea organ & monument to the sun. Zadar: an architectural experience
“in between”
Wolfgang Voigt
Dr.-Ing. habil. Wolfgang Voigt | Frankfurt_DE
Lowering the Mediterranean, Redistribution of Water and Land: The
Atlantropa Project of the 1920s
topic ve
pp. 1-5
melioli
topic ve
pp. 1- 4
montini zimolo
topic ve
pp. 1-9
puhalo
topic ve
pp. 1- 7
rossetti
topic ve
pp. 1- 2
voigt
notes
topic four
author | aliation
keywords
1
blue in architecture 09_
PROCEEDINGS_IUAV Digital Library
SMALL LAKES AND
RESERVOIRS IN THE
HILLS OF SICILY.
MAINTAIN, SAVE AND
RECOVER RURAL
LANDSCAPE.
Leone, M.1
Scavone, V.2
Brucoli, G.3
1Dipartimento Città e Territorio, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Italy
manfredi.leone@unipa.it
2Dipartimento Città e Territorio, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Italy
valeria.scavone@unipa.it
3Dipartimento Città e Territorio, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Italy
gaetano.brucoli@libero.it
Rural landscape,
Sicily,
lakes,
sustainability,
landscape ecology,
biodiversity,
water,
drowght
ABSTRACT
In the transition from nomadic to sedentary,
people have tried - for their settlements - the
most plenty of water, and the rst cities were
founded, in fact, along Tigris and Euphrates
rivers, extraordinary water resources in a
particular dry climate.
In the most interior of Sicily, which has always
been characterized by low rainfall, the farmers
- over time - have tried various expedients
for the preservation of rain water in order to
allow its survival and crop.
The use of new technologies and materials
has resulted in recently hard impacts for
landscape, while construction of small
dams lled with earth, using natural soil
impluviums and the nature of the land, made
it possible to irrigate thousands of hectares of
agricultural land otherwise ready for drought.
A “sustainable” technique, which resulted in
the last sixty years, a signicant change in the
rural landscape of Sicily.
In a time when the whole country seems to
be threatened - to build indiscriminately
- by excessive consumption of soil, which
will inevitably and irreversibly alter the
environmental balance, the rediscovery of the
landscape value of crops that characterize -
today - the sicilian countryside and techniques
of sustainable conservation of rainwater, it
seems of great relevance for the study and
protection of soil and for the recovery of the
identity of this territory.
This abstract introduce to a multidisciplinary
investigation yet started, which will aim
to assess both technical and landscaping
aspects, both economic and agronomic, and
also ecological proles of this technique to
protect the biodiversity in these specialized
elds. The investigation will aim also to give
an historical perspective and an ex-post
evaluation of interventions in order to lead
to urban planning, landscape and spatial
awareness. A further aim is the design of a
network system which has impacts on the
quality of rural tourism, which emphasizes, as
an example, the interaction with the system
of bicycle routes and footpaths, greenways,
that is being developed in Sicily.
notes
1 | Research proposal
The proposed research project concerns
landscape architecture, hydraulic engineering,
agricultural, natural and biological sciences,
and it deploys developing multidisciplinary
contributions. This research will also include
issues relating to the concept of the ‘territory’
from the viewpoint of a sustainable use by
tourists, and the protection of the landscape
and biodiversity. This use by tourists and the
protection of the landscape will take into
account a desired equilibrium between these
two apparent contradictions.
The idea of developing hillside lakes in Sicily
originated from the development of new
techniques of cultivation on the back of the
modernising industrialization, which took
place in agriculture after the Second World
War. It aimed at oering farmers enhanced
water resources which would facilitate the
implementation of experimental projects and
obtaining hitherto impossible yields.
The climatic conditions of the region of
Sicily, combined with predominantly arid
soils (whose degree of humidity was dicult
to maintain in the dry season) has always
rendered the cultivation of various plants
dicult in the spring/summer period.
Moreover, precipitation tails o sharply with
the arrival of this period. For example, an
increase in the cultivation of vines which
has signicantly changed the hilly Sicilian
landscape in recent years, together with
a considerable increase in land under
cultivation, has increased the demand for
resources, particularly in extended periods of
drought.
Recent studies relating to global climate
change have demonstrated that the need
for irrigation increases exponentially with an
increase in temperature and reduced rainfall,
the result of which is an increase in the rate
of evaporation. In a similar manner, greater
variation in rainfall produces a variation in the
rate of evapo-transpiration, which in turn is
reected in extended periods of drought. In
the absence of the compensating action of
irrigation, this increase in temperature has
a negative impact on agricultural produce
2
and the quality of this produce in terms of
avour and taste.
Furthermore, the impact of increasing
desertication should be taken into account
and, for this reason, Italy is a Member of the
1997 UN programme, which mandated
a National Action Plan in addition to the
implementation of the UN Convention on
Climate Change. Indeed, ENEA studies have
identied the Sicilian provinces of Enna,
Caltanissetta and Catania as areas which
are susceptible to desertication due to
their high level of erosion. Various detailed
studies were also performed in the province
of Agrigento in 2000-2003, particularly
around the town of Licata.
In light of these considerations, this
research group would like to research
a number of issues: i) the data required
to assess the suitability of locating new
water resources by means of hill lakes
with environmentally-friendly constructed
drainage basins; ii) the potential associated
with protecting habitats surrounding pre-
existing lakes, thereby guaranteeing the
biodiversity which these water resources
would enhance; and iii) the identication
and promotion of potential links between
the locations of these drainage basins and
the network of pathways (for cyclists, horse-
riders etc), a project which in Sicily is still in
the planning stages.
2 | Rural town planning
Agricultural, hydraulic engineering and
economics texts of the mid-nineteenth
century in Italy, reveal a gloomy picture
describing a marked economic and
social north-south divide, characterised
by elevated degrees of depopulation
in the interior to the detriment of the
coastal areas, generally related to the
broader problem of the south. Whilst
still topical, this issue presumably
requires long-term planning which
takes into account the true potential
of southern Italy, also linking this to its
agricultural characteristics.
The “apparent antithesis which exists
in the expression Rural Town Planning”
(Chiodi, 1938), and later used by Toccolini
(1987), is still today the title of one of
the courses in the various Agriculture
faculties in Italian universities. Chiodi
stated that this antithesis deals with
“precision”: town planning, conceived
as a science describing the territory,
should deal with the discipline of
agriculture as an economic activity and
as environmental protection.
Relationships between agricultural
matters, and town and regional
planning have certainly improved
throughout these seventy years but
the lack of a multidisciplinary dialogue
persists and its eects are evident. The
physical characteristics of one area are
insucient for determining project
choices, in addition to the economic
and social trends which must be faced,
together with the environmental
constraints of the same area (Toccolini,
1987). It is thus necessary to dene
new paradigms for urban development
where the urban dimension must be
surpassed by seeking an equilibrium
between human settlements, and the
forms and forces of nature. This would
commence with the geography of
areas of study and spaces with which to
rebuild relationships which contribute
to improving knowledge in this eld
and developing future processes of
collective identication. Thus, principles
of multi-purpose could be promoted in
an agricultural landscape, as recently
proposed by the European Union.
3 | Small hillside lakes
throughout recent history
It is from the aforementioned viewpoint
that research regarding the eects of
applying a particular approach is proposed.
This research has probably contributed to
creating the conditions for an economic
revival in several parts of the interior in Sicily.
At a distance of approximately fty years
from the completion of the rst hillside lake
topic four
Leone, Scavone, Brucoli
topic four
notes
3
in Sicily, the proposed research will attempt to
sketch an equilibrium by evaluating how the
improved irrigation of the land has enabled
cultivation, the dierentiation of crops, the
raising of livestock, whilst contemporaneously
contributing to the protection of a rural
landscape and physical culture.
In the remotest parts of the Sicilian interior,
which are characterized by low precipitation,
farmers have always attempted to conserve
water by the simple means of diverting or
saving rainwater. Various scholars have
argued that private water management
consortia already existed starting from the
eleventh century (Cisca, 1928) and that the
local authorities permitted them to divert
waters from rivers for the promotion of
agriculture and industry. In Sicily, where the
eects of climate change caused by excessive
deforestation began to be felt, the oldest dam,
constructed in1563 in Contrada Grotticelli by
the Duchy of Terranova (present-day Gela
in the Province of Caltanissetta) is still to be
found. However, it was necessary to wait until
the early twentieth century for the matter
of water conservation to be subjected to
technical expertise and commented upon by
John Bellincioni, based on various experiments
performed in America (Fairmount Park).
Further improvements in the eld of water
conservation were made after World War II
when the development of building techniques
led to a reduction in costs. Indeed, the
immediate problem to tackle in the new-born
Italian state was that of agriculture, especially
in a region such as Sicily where workers in
the primary sector accounted for 63% of the
workforce. In 1950 the establishment of the
Fund for the South, which sought to promote
economic development in depressed
areas, enabled the construction of schools,
waterworks, sewers, and various public works.
This was performed by means of utilising
its resources with the aim of improving the
quality of life and reducing the phenomenon
of emigration. In this context, policies were
introduced with the aim of mitigating the
devastating eects on the economy of the
island both regarding climate and rainfall
(the latter regarding a period of one or two
topic four
Leone, Scavone, Brucoli
topic four
months and intensity). It was then thought
that the technique of hillside lakes would be
crucial in maintaining water levels, so much
so that individual companies could receive
grants for their construction.
The subsequent abandonment of the use
of hillside lakes to save water was tied to
the development of other sectors in the
economy, but also to the fact that the Italian
state, initially an agent and backer of this
project, later changed the funding criteria.
In 1965 its contribution was greatly reduced,
only recognizing farms located at the lower
reaches of hillsides, excluding inland areas,
and terminating the practice of encouraging
large and expensive public works, drawn
out over time with a high environmental
impact. What have been the consequences
of these policies? Particularly, what were
the results of that policy which introduced
hillside lakes into Sicily, the policy which
became widespread throughout the south
and which has subsequently led to its
abandonment? Excluding the eects in
the economic and social spheres, albeit
relevant, the signicant eects of hillside
lakes on the agricultural landscape will now
be discussed.
4 | Small dams for small
reservoirs for combatting
drought
Given that the recent decline in precipitation
in several southern regions has resulted
in a precarious water supply and that this
phenomenon aects not only the regions
traditionally aected by drought but also
regions like Campania, Basilicata, Molise, it
was observed that such periods of drought
in Sicily further worsened long-standing
problems of the water supply. Thus, we
consider it fundamental in this research
project to identify possible strategies for
dealing with this challenge.
The distinction between small and large
dams is by convention based on the height
and volume of the dam. The Regulations
relating to dams, that is, DPR 1363/59,
updated by the Ministerial Decree of 24
March 1982, is applicable to dams whose
height exceeds 10 m or whose volume
is greater than 100,000 m³. According to
these criteria, most authors currently agree
that we can typically dene ’small dams’ as
those whose height is less than 15 m with
and a reservoir volume of less than or equal
to 1,000,000 m³ (L 584 / 94). Data relating
to such ’small’ dams is, however, lacking,
particularly regarding their quantity and
the institutions with the skills required to
manage the dams. The census of hillside
lakes (Crivellari, 1984), updated in 1978,
identied 8,400 dams (approximately 85%
of those were constructed as a result of
incentives from the Ministero Agricoltura
e Forest”) with an estimated volume of
approximately 225 million m³. The number
of small reservoirs is continually being
updated by the Ministry of Agriculture and
Forestry, notwithstanding the diculties
due to varying denitions, criteria used in
determining the limits of reference relating
to size, and intended use; there currently
exists no complete register.
The possibility of constructing hillside lakes
depends very much on precise and specic
technical aspects, such as the presence
of particular geomorphological features
attributed to impermeable soils or whether
or not the lake can be fed by springs, wells
and/or a catchment area of sucient water
volume, or a mixture of these systems. The
construction of hillside lakes involves the
accumulation of rainwater with which to
intercept the ow of surface water along
the length of the catchment area by a
barrier consisting of a small earth dam. The
edges of the surface of the reservoir are
protected by trees, thus preventing runo
and reducing evapo-transpiration. From a
planimetric point of view, the appearance
of a lake (excluding the side of the dam)
generally assumes a homogeneous and
irregular nature, which can be linked to the
morphology of the site.
This method of accumulation could still
today comprise an eective means against
drought due to: i) the hilly area of Sicily being
approximately 61.4% (that is, excluding the
notes
4
topic four
coastal plains, Mount Etna, the Nebrodi and
Madonie mountains, nearly covering the
whole island); and ii),the clayey nature of the
soils which obviates the necessity to line the
bottom of the reservoir, thereby reducing
costs and minimising environmental impact.
Of the probable proven benets, the practice
of constructing hillside lakes has a lowered
impact on the environment, unlike with the
use of massive, above-ground tanks. These so-
called large tanks are often made of reinforced
concrete, which modify the agricultural
landscape by their marked environmental
and landscape impact, necessitating a water
supply from wells or other reliable sources.
Whilst the practice of constructing hillside
lakes is not strictly sustainable (in that it is not
easily reversible), it does, however, benet
the cultural, economic culture of fauna and
ora so as to oset the impact of the lake. The
practice is certainly insignicant compared
to the impact of large dams which may alter
the microclimate of the area due to the large
surface area involved and substantial disposal
of solid material downstream.
5 | Transforming the country
landscape
Whilst it is evident that human intervention
has produced and continues to produce
changes in the environment and signicantly
aect ecosystem equilbria, it can be noted
that in addition to a negative impact, human
intervention can foster a rebalancing of various
natural or semi-natural systems (for example,
the policy of reforestation, which, if applied
appropriately, maintains forest ecological
systems at an optimum level). Agriculture in
Italy is an example of a fundamentally human
activity, concerning 50% of the 30 million
hectares of land (of the total national territory,
87% is fortunately still farmland, forest
and areas of natural beauty). By means of
appropriate soil management, human activity
encourages a general ecosystem balance
by direct crop management and a marked
interdependence of various organizational
factors relating to agricultural systems with
the surrounding ecosystem, despite the high
risk of the pollution of lakes and ponds.
The country landscape, therefore, forms a
fundamental connection between human
activity and environmental systems,
in which the human capacity to bring
inuence to the land can be expressed in
dierent ways. However, these ways are
based on the need to obtain a balance with
the environmental conditions in which man
lives. It was not by chance that the Cork
Declaration (emanating from the European
Union, promulgated during the meeting
held in Ireland in 1996 and which introduced
the denition of the countryside) began to
exploit the potential of rural areas. Prior
to and by means of Leader Projects, this
Declaration aimed at protecting the values
and production factors which were directly
or indirectly tied up with the countryside.
The Declaration’s objective was to promote
and revitalize the culture of rural areas, under
severe threat of urban and industrial blight,
and the abandonment of the countryside
and socio-economic degradation. Below
are various case studies regarding lakes and
dierent methods of water conservation,
using dierent construction techniques for
varying purposes and with dierent eects.
5.1 | Baiata Lake (author Manfredi
Leone)
In the Trapani plain land, between the
small hills called “Timponi”, a large articial
reservoir was created, “Lake Baiata “; the
small lake is in the municipality of Paceco,
a seventeenth-century town built on the
foundation of a slight rise overlooking
towards the seashore and the system of
Saline (sea salt plants).
The watersheds of the territory of Paceco are
the Lenzi-Baiata, the Birgi and Verderame.
Torrent Baiata originates at an altitude
of 191 m, in the higher Dattilo. It is long
about 23 Km, and for 4 or 5 of its path it
is the boundary line between Paceco and
Trapani. It ows into the Mediterranean
Sea, between the pans of Trapani’s families
named Savona and Calcara. The last part of
this torrent, about 4 km, is called the Canal
Baiata. It follows, after the conuence with
Leone, Scavone, Brucoli
the Canal Xitta just south, the natural bed of
the same stream.
Torrent Birgi enters the territory of Paceco at
an altitude of 82 meters with the name of
River Fittosi. Along the followings 7 Km, at
the 61 m. altitude, remains as administrative
boundary between Paceco and Trapani.
From the altitude of 74 meters on the sea
level, it is called the river Bordino. In this
conuence of three rivers of the same name
from all the slopes of the Costiera Siggiare,
the river takes name of Birgi, up to its
mouth. The basin of the stream Verderame
occupies the lower part of the surface. The
stream, which in the rst part is also known
as Torrent Quasarano, was born in the coast,
it has two separate arms that come together
at altitude 59 meters on the sea level.
Receives no tributaries. The system of all
these streams and torrents consists in ow
almost absent during spring and summer
while during autumn and winter are high
ows, which often result in damaging
oods.
This happens because rainfalls which are
distributed unevenly, the geological nature
of the streams, the conformation of the
beds (or stray or section of water insucient
to fully dispose of ). In 1977 the Consortium
of Birgi was created, a new public authority
charged to contain the devastating oods
of the rivers Lenzi Baiata, use their water
for irrigation in dry periods; the consortium
built a dam on the stream Baiata, in the
east of the town of Paceco , at Via Sapone.
The center of the articial lake includes the
entire area of the reservoir Contrada Costa
di Rame, whose margins are the proportion
considered normal for the lake water level.
The extension of the reservoir continues,
as the level of ood detention normal to
via Sapone and Contrada Baronazzo whose
margins are the limits at maximum water
level. That dam was completed in the ‘80s,
but so far, as evidenced by the Italian Register
of Dams, is not eligible for the maximum
ow and is considered (after thirty years)
an experimental dam; was credited with a
maximum volume of 5 million cubic meters
against 6,7 that the lake could contain.
notes
5topic four
Leone, Scavone, Brucoli
The building of the reservoir has changed
some ancient tracks; a new eucalyptus forest
grew on the banks of the reservoir, outlined
as a natural resource in the urban master
plan. These areas of special environmental
value need to be protected to safeguard the
integrity of the places and wildlife. In these
areas is prohibited any construction of new
buildings and no chang of the existing land
use is allowed.
Since the ‘80s the local community start to
discuss a possible suburban park surrounding
the lake, for use it as an attractor of a portion
of the province of Trapani, which has a very
beautiful scenic resources (the tower on the
coast of Nubia, the salt ), but that does not
stand up to the present confrontation with
competitors highly rated as the same saline
plants, Mothia Island and the Lagoon, the
medieval town of Erice and the Egadi.
Among many diculties and rebounds in
government, in anticipation of the passage
of the tormented land ownership by the
national land policy, in 2005 the City of
Paceco, based on the new Master Plan
design and ideas, has launched a design
competition to develop the Suburban
Park. The competition, regularly hesitated,
should have formed a preliminary project for
nancial support UE and regional resources
called POR 2007-2013, but now everything
has stopped. The scarcity of armative action
has instead left the eld to negative actions,
not even ve years ago have been identied
and seized the edge of the lake four abusive
animal shelters with approximately 1,500
sheeps, whereas between the eucalyptus
trees on the banks, gathered illegal landlls of
municipal solid waste. From the perspective
of the urban landscape the lake Baiata would
be a great opportunity for the city of Paceco,
both as a green urban equipment and as a
place to propose new services to tourism
such as shing or sailing. It is hoped that the
municipality will be able to nd resources to
acquire and manage these assets, and with
the shaft downstream river could be a great
linear park land from the hills to the sea.
5.2 Marchesa lake (author Valeria
Scavone)
In the north-west hills of Sicily, within the
wide boundaries of the town of Monreale,
an age-old farm (identied in the Land
Registry as Figures 142-159) covers a total
area of 334 hectares, at a height of between
200 and 340 meters above sea level. It can
be easily reached via the main road leading
to Camporeale (distant about 10 km) or via
the A19 motorway (distant approximately 8
chilometries). Prior to the implementation
of water projects for irrigation, the farm was
almost entirely given over to arable land,
pasture, with a very small area (26 hectares)
used as vineyards; the latter was to the
detriment of agricultural production.
The construction of the reservoirs occurred in
two phases: in 1974, a small experimental lake
of 20,000 cubic meters was built, at a height
of 7 meters with a small barrier. Thereafter,
between 1977 and 1978, the principal
reservoir of 500,000 m² plus irrigation
system were nalised. A small tributary of
the St Bartholomeo river owed into the 17
m-high dam. After the construction of the
reservoir on the Marchesa farm, vineyards
were planted over an area of approximately
200 hectares, which have proved over
the years to be particularly productive.
Following this positive eect on the crops in
this area, neighbouring downstream farms
subsequently constructed a further 2 hillside
lakes, making a total of about 160,000 m³.
The countryside in this part of Sicily is
also characterized by very intense rainfall
and often aected by storms which are
extremely damaging to crops, even if the
rainfall is limited to two months of the
year, alternating with prolonged periods
of drought. This situation, coupled with
the typical Mediterranean climate of very
high summer temperatures, has led to
there being insucient water for irrigation,
occasionally to the point where planting
was not possible. The main achievement of
the Marchesa lake, nestling in the gently-
sloping, surrounding hills, has been -
instead - the planting of large quantities of
vineyards, optimising the farm’s production
level and characterizing the surrounding
countryside.
The drainage basin of the San Bartolomeo
river (approximately 425 km² and ranked
13th in size as regards signicant bodies of
water) is situated between the provinces of
Palermo and Trapani. The river springs up
around Calatami and is known as “ume
Freddo”. It ows for 50.26 km and, after
joining “ume Caldo”, it ows into the sea
near the beach at Castellammare del Golfo
on the northern coast of Sicily. Specically,
the San Bartolomeo river has been dened
in the Sicilian Water Conservation Plan
(Piano di Tutale delle Acque) as one of
the few rivers, in Trapani, with signicant
discharge. The entire basin covers an area
of 42,501 hectares, of which 36,951 are for
agricultural use (the so-called Supercie
Agraria Utilizzata or SAU). However, of
this latter statistic, only 7,600 hectares are
irrigated by major water resources, the
remaining land receiving water from private
sources.
5.3 | A lake intervention “ante litteram”
Maredolce (author Gaetano Brucoli)
A pioneering example regarding hilly lakes,
like they are now designed and particularly
suited to its characteristics previously
mentioned, is given from the so-called
Maredolce Lake, formerly located in the
south-east countryside of the Palermo’s
plain and that is now largely dried up and
buried.
The most interesting aspect of this artifact
is that it was built during the Norman rule
of Sicily and, in particular, by the initiative
of Roger II between 1130 and 1154, as was
reported by Bishop Romuald, the Salernian.
Benjamin of Tuleda who described it in
1172, named it as Albehira (from Buhayra),
whose literal meaning is “little sea” and with
whom they were given the broad river used
for irrigation.
The lake was built at a site that, as a result of
the intrinsic geological condition, already
before human intervention, must have
been demarcated for a natural form of
water collection, probably a small marshy
depression. The ground on which fell was
notes
6
topic four
in fact composed of a layer of clay (Numidian
Flysch) outcrops on which owed and was
deposited the abundant ow of water arising
from the limestone near the calcareous
bedrock of Mount Grifone.
The principal Human interventions had
concerned in a deepening of the bottom
and in the building of a dam with a thick
approximately of fteen meters on the
downstream; the dam consists of land to
carry from the excavation depth, lined on the
upstream side by a wall built in large blocks
of limestone and was plastered by a layer of
hydraulic plaster (earthenware), as well as the
lake bottom, in order to improve its ability to
sealing.
The lake was devoid of its own catchment
area, which shall ll and its water supply was
largely provided by onlyone Spring (Fawara
in Arabic) of Maredolce that had an historical
water ux around 68.24 l/sec. (8 picks) in
1419 (Bresc), and 69 l/sec. in 1930 (Ministero
Lavori Pubblici); it ows from the bedrock
of Mount Grifone at a height of 35 meters
above sea level, in correspondence with Pizzo
Sferrovecchio and near both the eighteenth-
century church of St. Cyrus and the point
where is today’s beginning of the Palermo-
Messina highway.
The lake had an approximate total area
estimated at around 110,000 sq.m., but part
of the basin was occupied by an island of just
over 20,000 square meters, so its reale liquid
surface should be slightly above the 85,000
square meters, equivalent to a volume of
water that was developed for about 215,750
cubic meters, referring to a hypothetical
depth of about 2.5 meters.
Located at an altitude above sea level
relatively low (between 26 and 30 meters),
Lake Maredolce was pratiucally a plain lake
like other lakes, situated below 100 meters
asl, and made between the 50s and 60s of the
XX century in the provinces of Agrigento and
Trapani.
How even tell the historical sources, the
principal purpose of the lake was related to
the leisure activities of the Norman kings (it
was possible to cross by little boat and there
were also been introduced varied species
of sh), but beside them it maintained an
high importance for the irrigation, as was
evidenced by the nine canalizzations that
irrigated the surrounding agricultural land.
6 | Effects on the environment,
soil and the economy
With suitable planning (particularly
regarding the hydrology), the creation
of a hillside lake can confer considerable
benets to a particular catchment area
and its surroundings, starting with the
productive capacity of the surrounding
land. Excluding the evident benets to
crops, a hillside reservoir implies numerous
positive factors. The function of a re-break
is one of the most important (as testied
in the current literature) but, in terms of
hydrology and land use, the retention of
surface water and run-o control should not
be neglected, the absence of which may, in
conjunction with signicant precipitation,
cause considerable damage to people and/
or property.
From a landscape point of view, the
inclusion of a lake can have a minimum
impact, particularly when built deploying
low-impact construction techniques, paying
attention to the location of the basin and
surrounding natural forms. As regards the
biotic system, the presence of a reservoir
certainly protects biodiversity, as such a
vibrant ecosystem hosts various species
of animal and plants whilst not totally
excluding recreational and tourist uses.
Moreover, the guarantee of an increased
water supply facilitates the planting of
vegetables and orchards on arid and less
than hospitable soils.
Regarding conicts of interests, which can
make the use of this type of multi-functional
lake very dicult, we can recall, for example,
the case of reservoirs whose main purpose is
to supply drinking water: they require such
a level of protection from pollution that
any tourist-related use may be impossible.
The creation of small lakes within a region
characterized by marked variations in
weather from the dry to rainy season can
Leone, Scavone, Brucoli
enhance environmental features (and this
should be demonstrated by research). An
example of these features is the diusion
of specic plant and wildlife habitats,
which require conditions of elevated
humidity provided by bodies of water (for
amphibians, especially migratory birds,
etc.). This intervention can have extremely
important ecological consequences, again
as demonstrated by research, even bearing
in mind a possible decrease in water ow
and related challenges.
As previously mentioned and from an
economic point of view, the presence
of a hillside lake will have an immediate
eect on agricultural productivity. Various
databases have clearly demonstrated
increases in productivity as a function of
greater agricultural capacity, and increases
in company turnover as more valuable
crops can be planted. Increased agricultural
productivity could also lead to an increased
investment in the revitalization of country
towns and villages.
A further spin-o of constructing hillside
lakes is the potential for eco-tourism. The
most pressing challenge for many years in
most Mediterranean countries has been the
necessity of initiating innovative activities
with suitable levels of productivity, especially
in inland, hilly and mountainous regions.
Tourism is one possible way by which to
resolve this challenge, albeit not without
risk: the rst and most preponderant is that
the development of tourism could damage
the natural environment and landscape.
For example, in Tuscany, a model region of
the land-countryside balance for centuries,
farmers’ associations have been established
and Tuscany now welcomes many tourists
whose visits do little or no damage to the
environment. Returning to Sicily, paths or
horse trails along the banks of lakes could
be provided as well as shing facilities and
the purchase of local products. Such a policy
has long been adopted in France, providing,
for example, tourist products such as wine
and milk routes. This is in addition to other
similar initiatives undertaken in maintaining
rural areas in the Mediterranean, which are
notes
7topic four
Leone, Scavone, Brucoli
currently experiencing great economic and
social challenges.
7 | The planning of water
resources
There currently exists in Sicily the Water
Protection Plan (Piano di Tutela delle Acque)
of December 2007 which deals with the
analysis of the quality of various important
water sources: surface water, groundwater
and coastal marine waters. The Water
Protection Plan species the measures to be
taken in protecting and improving the quality
standards of these waters
The General Regulatory Plan for Supplying
Water (Piano Regolatore Generale degli
Acquedotti), updated in 2006, deals with
specifying which water resources can be
used for domestic purposes and identifying
further sources. The Plan also species the
resource/requirement ratio. The activities
of the Integrated Water Services (SII) are
assigned to nine Authorities (Autorità
d’Ambito Ottimale or ATO), whose sphere
covers that of the Province, and it provides
water for domestic use. The Regional Waste
and Water Agency (Agenzia Regionale dei
Riuti e delle Acque or ARRA), established
by LR no.19 of 22/12/05, has amongst other
responsibilities, the management of major
infrastructure for irrigation (ie, dams and major
pipe irrigation complexes), while the eleven
Bonica consortia (9 provinces, excluding
Gela and Calatagirone) only deal with smaller
irrigation networks, thus favouring the private
companies of the consortia.
From this complex regulatory and institutional
framework we can deduce, rstly, a divide
between water for domestic and irrigation
uses and, secondly, the fact that small private
reservoirs(the topic of this paper) are currently
not taken into consideration at all, and this
has not insignicant eects on improving
irrigated land. The awareness that water
resources must be managed for multiple uses
in an integrated way exists in all advanced
countries, whether they comprise surface
water, groundwater and waste-water; each
should not be considered as a separate entity
and their conservation must be compatible
with soil conservation environmental
protection.
In this regard, the recent Piano di Sviluppo
Rurale Sicilia of 2007-2013, nn.214 and 216,
makes explicit reference to the fact that we
must combat in every way possible and
limit the processes of desertication, and
an important role must be assigned to the
management of “integrated and sustainable
water resources”. The following require
particular attention: the screening and
quantitative and qualitative conservation of
water resources, the containment of waste,
the eective maintenance and regulation
of water plants, appropriate and ecient
technical and administrative management,
the implementation of a plan for distributing
water resources to the various consumers,
also avoiding conicts of interest. The basic
premise of this document, shared by its
authors, is that development – intended as
progress – plays a fundamental role with
water.
This apparent increasing interest in
integrated management and sustainable
water resources and preventative actions,
which constitute a policy of protection,
highlight the relevance of the proposed
research, as outlined in this paper. It will,
thus, be useful to assess whether, rather
than constructing large bodies of water,
would it be more appropriate to build
hillside lakes. Doing so would confer the
benets of an enhanced water supply, in
addition to fullling a re-break function by
using rainwater at source without exploiting
valuable resources, such as drinking water
(sometimes used for lling vasconi (large
water containers). Other benets of hillside
lakes would be the irrigation of specialised
crops, sustainable tourism and sh farming.
If these were encouraged in urban-forested
areas, the lakes would play a defensive role
as regards urban centres by functioning
as re-breaks; if they were planned
sympathetically, they could be constructed
in harmony with the landscape, integrating
into the landscape over time. The research
outlined in this Paper will aim at assessing
the survival and promotion of hillside lakes,
thus contributing to the development of
the land, given that farming areas are the
bearers of historical value and cultural
identity (Magnaghi, 1998).
8 | Conclusion
The areas in Italy considered at risk of
desertication are located in the southern
part of the peninsula and islands. This
phenomenon certainly constitutes an
environmental emergency, so much so as
to aect the socio-economic development
of these regions. As a part of this process,
the deterioration of water resources is an
indicator of the phenomenon, interpreted
as the degradation of the landscape
and the productive system of the area.
The management of water resources,
in environments periodically subject
to drought – such as those in Sicily -
requires a multidisciplinary and integrated
approach. The productive activities of man
in the countryside must converge with
environmental, social, economic town
planning, architectural, historical and
cultural values.
Within the perspective of an environmental
policy of preserving, protecting and
improving the quality and sustainable
use of water resources, the aims of the
research, proposed in these pages, are
to study the possible promotion of a
particular accumulative practice at the
expense of others, which are deemed to be
less environmentally sustainable and with
greater impact in terms of the landscape.
Environmental, territorial and landscape
policies, integrated with those economic
and industrial could encourage Sicily to
be competitive. Such a result would be
brought about by combining the protection
and enhancement of natural resources,
the preservation of the landscape and
rural development, thereby limiting the
inappropriate use of lands which would
lead to an irreversible alienation from the
land.
notes
8
topic four
Leone, Scavone, Brucoli
Figure 1. Regional map where can you nd the two hills lakes, Marchese countryside.
Figure 2. Altitudes in the South of Italy, from: ISTAT (2009)
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notes
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Leone, Scavone, Brucoli