Orbetello Lagoon restoration

The Orbetello Lagoon covers 2,525 hectares and has an average depth of approximately 1 m. It is made up of two connecting pools, known as Ponente (West) and Levante (East). It is linked to the sea by way of a canal at Ponente (Nassa) and another at Levante (Ansedonia), while a third outlet in Ponente links it to the river Albegna (Fibbia). The Orbetello lagoon, together with all the surrounding wetlands, is highly important not just from an economic viewpoint, but also on a naturalistic and conservation level. In fact, it has been defined as an SCI (Site of Community importance) and a ZPS (Zone di Protezione Speciale – special protection area) and classified as a wetland of international interest in accordance with the Ramsar Convention. A part of the Ponente lagoon and the Giannella sand hill are included in the Orbetello Lagoon State Nature Reserve.

The Orbetello Lagoon covers 2,525 hectares and has an average depth of approximately 1 m. It is made up of two connecting pools, known as Ponente (West) and Levante (East). It is linked to the sea by way of a canal at Ponente (Nassa) and another at Levante (Ansedonia), while a third outlet in Ponente links it to the river Albegna (Fibbia). The Orbetello lagoon, together with all the surrounding wetlands, is highly important not just from an economic viewpoint, but also on a naturalistic and conservation level. In fact, it has been defined as an SCI (Site of Community importance) and a ZPS (Zone di Protezione Speciale – special protection area) and classified as a wetland of international interest in accordance with the Ramsar Convention. A part of the Ponente lagoon and the Giannella sand hill are included in the Orbetello Lagoon State Nature Reserve.

Over the past thirty years, this system has witnessed a considerable rise in eutrophication (namely the overabundance of nitrates and phosphates in an aquatic environment), which over time has brought about qualitative and quantitative changes to the structure of the plant and animal populations. Between the Seventies and the Nineties, the large quantities of algae produced in this system caused rapid decline and a reduction in the levels of oxygen beneath the water surface.

In April 1993, the Ministry for the Environment asked the Ministry for the coordination of Civil Protection to carry out an initial intervention. The operations by the various Commissioners that held office between 1994 to the present day have sought to implement water renewal by using water-scooping machines to pump seawater into the lagoon at the canals, internal circulation, the removal of eutrophic wastewater from the lagoon and the collection of the microalgae.