The causes that have led to the significant drop in the level of Lake Trasimeno have recently been examined, and a possible path has been identified that will be explored in a special session of the control room that will be convened at the Italian Ministry of the Environment.
These causes include the very low rainfall in spring and summer and the increasing use of water for irrigation purposes.
As part of the European LIVERUR Project, we also talked about how to contain this consumption through greater crop rotations and the recovery of waste material for mulching and evapotranspiration containment purposes.
Also in this case we can talk about the circularity of resources starting from the recovery of waste from crop processing, crop residues, residues from pruning and plant felling interventions.
Limiting water losses due to evapotranspiration by mulching wood fibers would thus make a major contribution to the lower lowering of the lake level.
Many of LIVERUR’s stakeholders are interested in this technique, especially vegetable and nursery plant producers.
Commonly used materials for natural mulching include:
- Mowing of lawns (land around the lake surface and inland areas)
- Shredded pruning residues (vineyards, olive groves, orchards, trees in green areas, etc.)
- Shredded fern fronds (wooded areas)
- Cereal straw (wheat, barley)
- Dry leaves of conifers (e.g. pine needles) or deciduous trees (e.g. maple or oak)
- Shredded coniferous bark (hilly areas of the Municipalities of Trasimeno)
- Mosses or peat moss (wooded areas)
- Sawdust and wood chips (wood industry)
It will be the task of the technicians of the Trasimeno Area to disseminate these techniques also based on circular economy principles, identifying:
– Farms with crop residues divided by type and quantity (cereals, vineyards, olive groves, woods)
– Potential recovery and valorization systems of by-products and crop residues
– Machinery necessary for the recovery and transformation of plant material (shredders, chippers, etc.)
– Vertical and horizontal processing inside and between the farms and inter-company connection
(Written by Paolo Burini – UCT)
