Po Basin Case study status report (Deliverable D32)
Author
Date
Meri Raggi, Davide Ronchi, Laura Sardonini and Davide Viaggi
April 4th
Contact information AquaMoney Partners
Colophone
This report is part of the EU funded project AquaMoney, Development and Testing of Practical Guidelines for the
Assessment of Environmental and Resource Costs and Benefits in the WFD, Contract no SSPI-022723.
General
Deliverable
D32 Po Basin Case study Report
Deadline
Month 13
Complete reference
Raggi M., Ronchi D., Sardonini L. and Viaggi D. (2007). Po Basin Case study Report, DEIAGRA, Università di
Bologna, Italy
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Content
1. General case study characteristics
1.1 Location of this area
1.2 Geographical characteristics
1.3 Water system characteristics
1.4 Characterisation of water use
1.5 Major water quality and environmental problems
2. Pressure impact, and risk analysis with regards to the WFD environmental objectives
2.1 Significant pressures impacting on water status
2.2 Impacts on surface and groundwater bodies
2.3 Water bodies at risk of not achieving a good status
2.4 Diagnosis of water quality and ecological issues
2.5 General trends and future pressures
3. Policy issues
3.1 Water management framework and major issues
3.2 Information sources and stakeholder involvement
4. ERC analysis and methodological issues
4.1 Proposed methods and tools for the valuation of ERC
4.2 Methodological issues
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Summary
This document reports the Po basin description. Po basin is one of the most large basins in Europe, covering an area of
74000 Km2. Total water resources in the basin amount at 80 billions of m3/year.
Surface water quality is affected by various problems. Both in Appenines river basins (mainly irrigation use) and Alps
river basins (mainly hydroelectric use) a flow reduction of the natural capacity is caused by a great number of water
derivations influencing the autodepurative abilities and increasing pollution problems. The surface water pollutions is
mainly due to the excessive organic flow breaking in and that provokes eutrophication problems in rivers with weak
recharge, in lakes and in the Adriatic sea (the most important among environmental problems). Locally, superficial
water quality is influenced by toxic substances of industrial, agriculture or livestock origin (for example: chemical
products and heavy metals).
Groundwater quality is affected by emissions of pollutant substances (the most important are nitrates).
Presently, the WFD is not implemented in Italy. The Italian government approved the decree 152/2006 that
implemented the WFD, but it was basically suspended at the end of 2006 (decree 284/2006), that established to
maintain the previous situation. The present government plans to deal with the implementation of the WFD in late 2007.
Presently water issues are regulated by a number of laws, but mainly by decree 152/1999. Main responsibilities are
centralised and delegated to regions. Each region may produce its own laws and provinces have their responsibilities in
local implementation.
In parallel, basin authorities exist, that deal mainly with flood control. There is not a hierarchy between regional
administration and basin authorities.
ATO are in charge of water distribution for human consumption and industrial use.
Reclamation and irrigation boards are responsible for land reclamation, (local) flood control and distribution of
irrigation water.
Given the shortage of economic studies coupled with the variety of water uses, the Po basin could in principle be
suitable benefit/require any methodologies and tools.
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AquaMoney
Po Basin Case study status report (Deliverable D32)
1.
General case study characteristics
1.1
Location of this area
The Po river basin is located in the North-West of Italy.
Fig. 1.1 Po Basin Area.
1.2
Geographical characteristics
Climate is influenced by the orography of the basin. The climate is typically alpine in the mountain zone, continentalwarm in the flat basin area and Mediterranean on the coast. (Fig. 2.2 annual rainfall mean in RB) Average annual
temperature is around 5°C on high Alps, 5-10°C in medium mountains, 10-15°C in the other zones. Variability of the
temperature is also due to lakes mitigation effects. Average rainfall value is 1.200 mm, unevenly distributed both in
space and time. In fact the higher quantity of rainfall is concentrated in the lake zone, close to higher mountain over
2.000-2.500 msl. About temporal distribution, the maximum rainfall is reached in the spring season. ET is 31 billion m3.
(Tab. 2-3 in RB).
Lithology in the river basin is started from the alpine rocks (end of the third period). The flat area is featured from
sedimentary rocks and alluvional soils.
Po river starts from Monviso mountain at 2100 msl. Po length is 650 km; its basin covers an area of about 74000 km2;
of which 70000 km2 are in Italy (see table 1.1). The basin contains 141 affluents; the most important are Adda and
Ticino, and 450 lakes, though only a few of them have an important area. The slope of the river goes down gradually
from 0.35% to 0.14%. Navigation area is limited (see section 2.2 in RB).
Table 1.1 Value of surface in km2 for the total Basin area.
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Po Basin Case study status report (Deliverable D32)
Po Basin
73.997
Surface in Italy
69.979
Mountain
Plain
40.606
29.372
The main land uses are: urban, agro-forests and uncultivated. Two-thirds of the basin are covered by mountain and hill
and only one-thirds by plain (see Table 1.1). Related to the agro-forest use we could divide the basin in three areas: a)
plain where agriculture is the main activity and relevant areas are characterised by intensive cultivation (rice, grapes,
cereals, vegetables, fruits) and livestock production; b) mountains, the pre-Alps areas are covered by forests, pasture
and grassland; Alps is characterized by wide ice valleys, some of them cultivated; c) reclaimed lands include the
province of Ferrara, Rovigo, Ravenna, Parma.
Water-related ecosystem in the Po basin could be divided in three main groups: High Po, Medium Po e Low Po.
High Po:
- Crenon (springs vegetation and other zoocenosis)
- Epi and metarhithron (hydrophilic vegetation and ichthyic fauna)
- “Torbiera” (altitudinal vegetation and fauna composed by insects, shellfishes, nematodes)
- Risorgive, fontanili and marcite (springs) (vegetation derived by ice and ichthyic fauna)
Medium Po (from Torino to Ticino):
- Cave (igrophilic vegetation and wetland essence, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, etc.)
- Risorgive, fontanili and marcite (springs) and epipotamon (igrophilic forest, bed vegetation, shellfishes and green
frogs)
Low Po (from Ticino to Pontelagoscuro):
- Cave (quiet water vegetation, sponges, polyps, etc.)
- Risorgive, fontanili and marcite (springs) and metapotamon (quiet water vegetation, sponges, polyps, etc.).
1.3
Water system characteristics
Total water resources in the basin amount at 80 billions of m3/year. Water abstraction from surface water bodies is
about 25,1 billion cubic meters per year and 5,3 billion cubic meters from groundwater. A detailed water balance is
proposed in the following figure 1.2. (in million m3).
Urban runoff is unmeasured, but important in drought seasons in some areas for irrigation. It goes only partially through
wastewater treatments and can cause water quality problems. Wastewater treatment is compulsory in principle, but is
actually absent or hardly working in many important towns. Desalinisation is not relevant. A big emphasis is given now
to water reuse (through incentive policies), though it is almost irrelevant in practice.
The flow rivers are feed by glaciers on the Alps and by rainfall and groundwater on the Appennines
Lakes have an important role in particular in Lombardia where the main lakes of the basin are located.
Delta length is 25 km and its structure is variable in time and in space. In this area there are wetlands as the dominant
feature.
Groundwater is an important source throughout the plain area.
The river flow is characterised by important pieces of artificial tracts, for about 375 km (from Tanaro to Po di Goro).
Some sub-basins are used for energy. Artificial reservoirs along all rivers are exploited for several uses (flood control,
etc.). The hydrographic network is affected by flows from treatment facilities in Emilia Romagna. CER canal transports
water to the neighbouring Reno basin.
There are 32 water bodies, not all of them have good or sufficient water quality. Pollution problems affect mainly
Lambro, Olona, Parma and Panaro rivers.
According to the WFD definition, the Lambro-Olona basin could be considered HMWB (Section 1.5 pag. 27 RVEBP conclusion).
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Po Basin Case study status report (Deliverable D32)
Fig. 1.2 Water Balance in million m3.
Groundwater
Abstraction: 5.300
Surface water
Abstraction:
25.100
16000
2300
8000
187
0.4
2000
Capt./ distribution
NACE 41
29
700
267
Agricultural
and livestock
NACE 01
1470
Industry
Extraction
and
manifacture industries
NACE 10-39
Electricity, gas,
etc…NACE 40
Other
industrial
uses NACE 02,
42-99
Civil
NACE 70
1537
lost
Other uses
1470
Fonts
75
AdBPo
Depuration
NACE 90001
Urban run.off
ISTAT
IEFE estimate
Surface water
1.4
Characterisation of water use
In table 1.2 water uses and services are reported, divided by socio-economic sector.
Sector
Table 1.2 Uses and services of water by sector.
Uses & services
Household
Drinking, cooking, washing and other household uses
Industry
Manufacturing, thermoelectric cooling and others industrial uses
Agriculture
Irrigation of crops, livestock watering, aquaculture
Energy
Hydroelectric generation power
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Po Basin Case study status report (Deliverable D32)
Recreation
Irrigation of parks and golf courses, swimming, boating, maintenance of biodiversity, etc.
816 areas of different kinds are considered protected under EU and/or Italy law (national or local park, etc.) (Tab. 7-2 in
RB for a complete summary). The surface of protected areas is about the 15% of the basin. Many protected areas are
characterised for their aquatic environment (e.g. the Po delta).
Environmental flow requirements (EFR) are not well defined in Italy. In fact, the decree 152/99 underlines the
importance of EFR but there isn’t a unique criteria: For example, in Lombardia region the EFR is taken equal to 10%
of annual average natural capacity (SPL sec 4.1.4 ). In general there is a EFR deficit between May and September in
Emilia Romagna. Planning documents provide for assuring the EFR in 2008 for all basin rivers. Given the weak
definition and uniformity, EFR tends to be an important source of conflicts.
Key planning documents are PTA (Water Protection Plan) made by the region and PB (Basin Plan) made by basin
authorities.
The existing laws already mention cost-benefit studies as a desirable option, particularly for very important issues. On
this basis and anticipating the WFD, some regions are including economic studies within their planning documents,
mainly in relation to very specific and localised problems. References are informally made to WFD-related documents
(e.g. WATECO).
However, to date, a comprehensive economic analysis of water use related to the Po basin has not been done yet. There
are some specific and local analyses done by some regions and reported in their PTA. The available economic analyses
are usually based on an analysis of cost for water provision and treatment. In some areas, e.g. Lombardia region, a
“full” cost for water has been calculated taking into account depreciation costs of new infrastructures. This information
is generally used to allow a rough evaluation of cost recovery. Resource and environmental costs are mentioned in some
documents (e.g. PTA Piemonte), though the origin of their calculation is unclear.
Population has decreased in the last years, about -1,5% each year. In many areas, people move from mountains to urban
area, that gives rise to concentration of human pressure. At the same time, in other areas population flows from city
centres to surrounding settlements. Industry sector is more or less stable; while the total farms number decreases, but
those remained increase their dimension. Irrigable agricultural area is increasing, while irrigated area is decreasing.
1.5
Major water quality and environmental problems
Surface water quality is affected by various problems. Both in Appenines river basins (mainly irrigation use) and Alps
river basins (mainly hydroelectric use) a flow reduction of the natural capacity is caused by a great number of water
derivations influencing the autodepurative abilities and increasing pollution problems. The surface water pollutions is
mainly due to the excessive organic flow breaking in and that provokes eutrophication problems in rivers with weak
recharge, in lakes and in the Adriatic sea (the most important among environmental problems). Locally, superficial
water quality is influenced by toxic substances of industrial, agriculture or livestock origin (for example: chemical
products and heavy metals). Groundwater quality is affected by emissions of pollutant substances (the most important
are nitrates). Another problem is the subsidence, caused by excessive abstraction of groundwater.
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Po Basin Case study status report (Deliverable D32)
2.
Pressure impact, and risk analysis with regards to the WFD
environmental objectives
2.1
Significant pressures impacting on water status
The main pollutants are phosphorous (P) and nitrogen (N). In the next table (2.1) the sources of pollution are showed,
agriculture is the main non-point pollution source, while the others are mainly point (livestock is point/diffuse).
Agriculture represents the most important source of pollution in Po river basin (table 2.2).
Table 2.1 Contribution in tons per year of N and P for each sector.
Underground
contribution
Surface contribution (t/year)
(t/year)
Source
N
P
N
P
Household 6.202
427
1.251
94
Industry
1.382
6
Livestock 5.668
351
4.605
12
Agriculture 32.875
1.708
24.223
114
Total
46.127
2.492
30.080
219
Table 2.2 Contribution in percentual of N and P for each sector.
Surface contribution
Underground contribution
Sector
N
P
N
P
Household 13,45%
17,15%
4,16%
42,74%
Industry
3,00%
0,24%
Livestock 12,29%
14,09%
15,31%
5,34%
Agriculture 71,27%
68,52%
80,53%
51,92%
Agriculture is by far the main sector abstracting water (table 2.3).
Table 2.3 Abstraction of water for each sector.
User groups
Volumes derivated in Abstraction from
millions of m3/year
Surface water
Groundwater
Household
2.500
20%
80%
Industry
1.537
20%
80%
Agriculture+livestock 17.700
83%
17%
Total
63%
37%
21.737
However, most water is unmeasured and its contribution to water abstraction is largely an uncertain estimate
(particularly for groundwater). On the other hand, it is claimed that the distribution of water through irrigation also
produces environmental benefits. The energy sector is not included in table 2.3, as it does not cause additional
abstraction. However it severely affects water flows, particularly during summers. It can become a problem when water
left to flow is insufficient to guarantee the EFR. The total abstraction in Po basin is 21.737 millions of m3/year, about
25% of total water available in the basin.
In both mountainous and plain areas water flow is largely regulated through stream maintenance, artificial canals, water
drainage and water lift to the sea level from the lower areas. The water management is regulated by Reclamation and
Irrigation Boards. They manage various morphological-related facilities such as expansion ponds, canals’
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Po Basin Case study status report (Deliverable D32)
waterproofing, and flood activities needed for irrigation use, etc.. Expansion cases in the basin are addressed to control
a river flow to prevent flooding.
An important issue is the impact of urbanization on the speed of runoff that leads to growing problems in flood control.
Measures are being taken to compensate with small ponds attached to new building areas.
Fig. 2.1 shows the groundwater quantity situation in Po river basin, derived both natural availability and human uses.
Fig. 2.1 Groundwater classification: quantitative state.
A.I. = Anthropic Impact. „ class A (A.I. null/negligible; balance of hydrogeologic assessment, sustainable use on along period), „ class B (A.I.
reduced; light unbalance of assessment, sustainable use on along period), „ class C (A.I. significant; unsustainable use on along period), „ class D
(A.I. null/negligible; insufficient natural water potentiality).
2.2
Impacts on surface and groundwater bodies
Water bodies in the Po basin are classified according to five classes. Most of the municipalities rest in the intermediate
level and only a minor number are in the upper class (tables 2.4-2.7).
Table 2.4 Distribution of nitrogen pollution in surface water.
Water quality for nitrogen pollution
Class N° municipalities % on total
1
156
5%
2
957
29%
3
1136
35%
4
755
23%
5
247
8%
Table 2.5 Distribution of phosphorous pollution in surface water.
Water quality for phosphorous pollution
Class N° municipalities % on total
1
97
3%
2
1063
33%
3
1205
37%
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Po Basin Case study status report (Deliverable D32)
4
607
19%
5
279
9%
Table 2.6 Distribution of nitrogen pollution in groundwater.
Water quality for nitrogen pollution
Class N° municipalities % on total
1
101
8%
2
303
23%
3
485
36%
4
385
29%
5
68
5%
Table 2.7 Distribution of phosphorous pollution in groundwater.
Water quality for phosphorous
pollution
Class N° municipalities % on total
1
78
6%
2
314
23%
3
570
42%
4
272
20%
5
108
8%
The general pattern is common to all the main pollutants. In fig. 2.2 there is represented the surface water classification
by macro-characteristics pollutant level.
Fig. 2.2 Surface water classification: macro-characteristics pollutant level (MPL).
MPL: z very poor z poor z sufficient z good very z good
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Po Basin Case study status report (Deliverable D32)
2.3
Water bodies at risk of not achieving a good status
Water bodies with a “very poor” quality status risk of not achieving a good status. This bodies (SECA = 5, ecological
state of water body) are:
-Borbore (Vezza d’Alba) Boriacco, Naviglio Canal, Canalazzo Tassone, Chisola (Volvera), Cinghio (Gaione-Parma),
La Grua (Borgomanero), Lagna, Lambro, Lovassino, Mella (Castelmella), Olona (Rho), Tepice e Terdoppio novarese
(Cerano).
2.4
Diagnosis of water quality and ecological issues
Water quality standards and objectives in the perspective of WFD have not been established. However, a classification
of water bodies and some water management objectives are established.
Water quality conditions are critical especially in some areas. Only two regions, close to mountains, have all the rivers
in a sufficient or good condition (i.e. Valle D’Aosta and Trentino). In several areas in other regions the actual situation
differs from the standard. A quality standard classification is given also for groundwater; many qualitative problems can
be found near by big cities and industries in the north plain area.
2.5
General trends and future pressures
See 1.4. In addition to human pressures, an important concern is climate change. In the recent years, poor rainfall and
snowfall in winter have become an issue, as they do not allow recharge, with consequences during summer. The
predicted un-availability of water worsens scarcity problems due to strategic storage in the upper areas (big lakes, and
Piemonte), particularly to guarantee availability for production of electricity during summer.
3.
Policy issues
3.1
Water management framework and major issues
Presently, the WFD is not implemented in Italy. The Italian government approved the decree 152/2006 that
implemented the WFD, but it was basically suspended at the end of 2006 (decree 284/2006), that established to
maintain the previous situation.
The present government plans to deal with the implementation of the WFD in late 2007.
Presently water issues are regulated by a number of laws, but mainly by decree 152/1999. Main responsibilities are
centralised and delegated to regions. Each region may produce its own laws and provinces have their responsibilities in
local implementation.
In parallel, basin authorities exist, that deal mainly with flood control. There is not a hierarchy between regional
administration and basin authorities.
ATO are in charge of water distribution for human consumption and industrial use.
Reclamation and irrigation boards are responsible for land reclamation, (local) flood control and distribution of
irrigation water.
The issue of water rights touches several levels in the Po basin.
At the interregional scale, there is an issue of quantitative water rights, as a larger amount of water is used by upstream
regions (Piemonte, Lombardia).
In analogy, Lombardia is responsible of a large share of pollution, which affects downstream regions and the Adriatic
sea.
Along rivers streaming from the alps, the right to retain water in dams for electricity is an important issue, particularly
during summer.
A property right issue is water abstraction from wells. Though in principle groundwater should be public property
subject to concession, in practice a large number of wells is unregulated.
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Po Basin Case study status report (Deliverable D32)
Scarcity problems follow seasonality: in the summer a lot of areas suffer droughts; the lack of snow and rainfall during
winter and/or autumn increases this problem. Policies under consideration include artificial reservoirs.
Flood risk issues are historically of paramount importance in the basin. Traditionally they include flood defence in the
lower Po valley, during exceptional rainfall event. However, also floods in the bottom part of mountain valley have
become an issue following urbanisation. Several disasters mark the area.
Main quality problems appear in between two regions: Emila-Romagna and Lombardia, due to the bad quality of
Lambro-Olona river. Downstream effects of pollution along the coast are a cause of major concern due also to the
touristic relevance of the Adriatic sea area.
The area of the delta is deeply affected by the problem of subsidence. This is partly related to the gas abstraction made
around ’40-’50. Presently the main cause is groundwater abstraction. Subsidence produced problems related the
reclamation actions, flooding and harbour infrastructures. (Subsidence sec. 5.5 of the RB)
Water efficiency is an issue, also in relation to water scarcity problems. Main concerns regard in house misuses,
percolation and evaporation from canals and leakage from pipes. Policy actions concerns information as well as
infrastructure renovation.
3.2
Information sources and stakeholder involvement
Information are produced by several stakeholders, that create a large heterogeneity in standard and timing of data
related to the different information source: Basin Authority, Reclamation and Irrigation Boards,, Local institutions,
Regions, ATO (Ambiti Territoriali Ottimali - Optimal local place), ARPA (Agenzia Regionale Protezione Ambiente –
Regional Agency Protection Eviromental), Mountains Communities and the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT).
4.
ERC analysis and methodological issues
4.1
Proposed methods and tools for the valuation of ERC
Given the shortage of economic studies coupled with the variety of water uses, the Po basin could in principle be
suitable benefit/require any methodologies and tools.
On the basis of existing knowledge and policy agenda, likely priorities would be:
• Evaluation of perceived benefits of water quality improvements; given the scale and the complexity of
analysis, stated preferences methods (CVM, choice experiments, etc.) would be preferred, while revealedpreferences methods (travel cost, hedonic methods, etc.), though feasible, would produce very partial and
locally related info on value. CVM exercise should be designed in order to be adapted to support value
transfer; existing CVM exercise are too localised and peculiar to support any intra-basin transferability.
• Agricultural math programming economic models to assess impact related to agriculture; in this field many
localised experiences have been made and the issue of upscaling, value transfer or territorial model should be
dealt next;
• Inter-basin benefit transfer would have a lot of interest for short term response to decision making problems;
however, at the present state of knowledge, testing the reliability of transfer would be very difficult.
• Hydrological models and meteo info are relatively well developed; however connection to economic info is
weak and not always trustable. Given to the complexity of the basin, such a task may be thought of only for
smaller basins.
• Avoidance cost are the most common information used up to now in economic analysis of water uses, derived
from municipal wastewater treatments
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Po Basin Case study status report (Deliverable D32)
4.2
Methodological issues
The main methodological issues are:
• Lack of legal framework for the application of WFD in the area; this makes the policy agenda, commitments
and info flow substantially disconnected from the issues to be studied.
• The complexity and variety of the basin in terms of sub-basin, different environmental conditions etc.
• Different distribution (areas, population) of costs and benefits (e.g. Lombardia polluting Adriatic see) that also
reflects in areas out of the basin
• Poor basis for economic information and discrepancies with administrative boundaries
• Population, economic sustainability of the main sectors and technologies are changing dramatically
• As a consequence of the above, there will be at least three sources of uncertainty:
o Poor information basis (technical and economic)
o Dynamics of sectors and trends depending on a variety of scenario variables
o Quality and quantity objectives
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Po Basin Case study status report (Deliverable D32)
References
ARPA Emilia-Romagna, 2005. Valsat, valutazione della sostenibilità ambientale e territoriale. All’interno del piano di
tutela e uso delle acque. (VER)
Autorità di Bacino del Po, 2006. Caratteristiche del bacino del fiume Po e primo esame dell’impatto ambientale delle
attività umane sulle risorse idriche (Characteristics of the river basin of the Po river and first examination of
environmental impact of the human activities on the water resources). Italy. (RB)
Massarutto, A., Basoni, A., De Carli, A., Lodi, A., Paccagnan, V., 2007. Studio di fattibilità concernente lo sviluppo
dell’analisi economica dell’utilizzo idrico a scala di bacino del fiume Po così come prevista dalla Direttiva
2000/60/CE (Feasibility study concerning the development of the economic analysis of water use to scale of Po river
basin like previewed from Directive 2000/60/EC). IEFE, istituto di economia e politica dell’energia e dell’ambiente,
Università commerciale Luigi Bocconi, Italy. (RVEBP)
Massarutto, A., Basoni, A., De Carli, A., Lodi, A., Paccagnan, V., 2007. Studio di fattibilità concernente lo sviluppo
dell’analisi economica dell’utilizzo idrico a scala di bacino del fiume Po così come prevista dalla Direttiva
2000/60/CE, attività integrativa (Feasibility study concerning the development of the economic analysis of water use to
scale of Po river basin like previewed from Directive 2000/60/EC, integration activity). IEFE, Istituto di economia e
politica dell’energia e dell’ambiente, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, Italy. (RVEI)
Regione Emilia-Romagna, 2005. Piano di tutela e uso delle acque. (RER)
Regione Lombardia, 2005. Piano di tutela e uso delle acque. (SPL)
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