ACTIVITY

Institutional duties
The Consorzio di Bonifica Adige Bacchiglione formed by the Deliberation of the Veneto Regional Council No. 1228 of 07/03/1978, is governed by the statutes adopted with the board deliberations No.12 of 23.04.79 and approved by the Veneto Regional Council with law No.6324 of 06.12.79.
The Consorzio, a legal state body according to art.862 of the Civil Code, is a pubblic body according to the aforementioned laws, the Regional Law No.9/83 and subsequent laws, the R.D. No.386 of 1904, the Law No.183/89, the Law No.36/94 and the D.G.R. No.506 of 31/1/89 for the General Land Reclamation and Rural Territory Protection Plan, the Regional Law No.1/91, the Regional Law No.25/96 and the execution regulations of the Regional Territorial Co-ordination Plan of 25/10/89 par.5.2.9 which are summarized as follows:
- protection, maintenance and modernization of land reclamation and drainage works;
- remove situations de facto that prevent the complete hydraulic safety of the land and the regular discharge of water by placing necessary protection to avoid or at least limit the damage caused by continuous extraordinary and adverse atmospheric events;
- protection of natural resources, regulate old water concessions even with a multiple purpose, ensure new water supplies for irrigation use and prevent water pollution.

The Consorzio in particular provides for the following:
- preparation and updating of the General Land Reclamation and Rural Territory Protection Plan in coordination with the regional programme, the urban instruments in force as well as the Agricultural Development Area Plans;
- its own participation in elaborating the urban and territorial plans as well as the plans and programmes of the defense of the environment against pollution;
- realization of the drainage works and all other public works regarding the drainage territory, within the competence of the State, of the Region or other territorial bodies entrusted with its management;
- maintenance and running of the drainage works as well as other consortium works;
- control over the fulfilment of the instructions of the General Drainage Plan and Rural Country Planning;
- the task, on behalf of and upon the request of the owners concerned according to art….. of the Regional Law No.3 of 13.01.1976, of the realization and maintenance of the obligatory private drainage works and of all the other works particularly regarding only one river bed or common to several beds which are necessary for discharging water to complete the functionality of the irrigation works and nevertheless in order not to jeopardise the adequate performance of these public drainage works;
- assistance to associates in the transformation and management of each of their company's production system as well as on behalf of and upon the request of the associates concerned assistance in planning and carrying out land improvement works and attaining the relative measures;
- the assumption, according to and on account of the laws in force, of the operations of land improvement as well as of water for irrigation with the observance and benefit of the relative particular laws.
It is also necessary to point out the double intervention of the legislation with the outline law on land defence (Law No.183 of 18/5/89) which has made the drainage consortiums one of the main institutions for the realisation of the aims of land defence, the decontamination of the waters, the use and management of the water network for rational economical and social development and the subsequent protection of the environment.
Then, the outline law on water resources (Law No.36 of 5/1/94) confirms the fundamental role of the drainage consortiums in the management of water mainly used for irrigation and which have also been given functions for multiple use with reference to the realization and management of plants for agricultural use of discharge water.
The Consorzio has its own head office in Padua in Via E. degli Scrovegni No.29 and has 2 Operative Centres in the territory, one in Correzzola (PD) and one in Pernumia (PD).

The administrative and controlling bodies of the Consorzio are:
- the Board;
- the Council;
- the President;
- the Board of Revisers.

The Board is composed of:
- thirty members elected by the meeting of the owners of properties within the territory of the Consorzio according to the Regional Law no.3 of 13/1/76 and successive laws;
- a Representative of the Province of Padua;
- a Representative of the Province of Venice;
a Representative of the Veneto Region.

Activity carried out
According to the standards in force, the Consorzio provides for the running and maintenance of the hydraulic works under its management with its own staff of employees structured according to its own Variable Organization Plan as provided by the National Work Contract for Land reclamation Consortiums; as the Consorzio allocates only a limited part of the maintenance works on contract to specialized companies.
The running and maintenance form a particularly complex sector of consortium activity on account of the articulated hydraulic system and the works, handed over by the government, being out-dated.
The hydraulic network extends over a total length of 650 km along which there are 34 water pumping stations and 85 pumps.
The total maximum lifting capacity is 140 m3/s, whereas the volume of water discharged yearly is an average of 200 million m3.
The management costs are covered according to the law by economical resourses from the contributions of properties within the territory.
The contributions are determined according to a division plan (adopted by the deliberation of the Consortium Council No.83 of 8/4/83 and approved by D.G.R. No.5201 of 2/10/84) relating to the benefit gained by each property from the drainage activity.
The Region contributes an amount of about 5% of the consortium's balancing sheet to the running costs of the public drainage works.
According to the laws in force, the Consorzio provides for the planning of the General Land Reclamation and Protection of Rural Territory Project, takes part in drawing up the territory and town plans and plan for the defense of the environment against pollution, carries out the land reclamation works and other public state or regional works held in concession, carries out the maintenance and running of the public land reclamation and drainage works, sets up a hydraulic police surveillance in the territory for the works within its competence, carries out private works according to art.23 of the Regional Law No.3/76, and helps the associates providing them information on production systems and land improvement.
In case of emergency, there is a 24- hour staff warning system operational for some time at the Consorzio and which is constantly improved and potentialized.
In case of emergency, the staff can be activated with urgency using if necessary the services furnished by the specialized companies o by seasonal workers.
A close-set radio network allows information and orders to be transmitted over all the drainage area and communication with the office and various operational centres, This network has been completed with mobile phones.
An executive project has also been drawn up, already financed and awaiting the approval of the Region, for the installation of a complex network of hydraulic data survey connected to the Meteorological and Hydrological Experimental Centres in Teolo for rainfall forecasts and management of the hydraulic works which contemplates telecommunication links with the engineers, the water authorities, etc.

Consistency of the works
The discharge network within the competence of the consortium is 650 km long.
Only 2,985 out of a total of 49,037 hectares of the territory is discharged naturally, the remaining 46,052 hectares are only discharged mechanically or in both ways.
As previously indicated 37 water pumping stations with a total of 96 pumps have been installed in the hydraulic drainage network.

Efficiency of the works held in management
The present hydraulic discharge network used was achieved mostly between 1920 and 1930 and has evolved from the pre-existing canal works carried out over time by single land owners, consortiums established by the Republic of Veneto and monastic orders.
A part of the present lifting plants comes from the modernization of those carried out in the second half of 1800 and a part has been erected in the 20's.
Only a poor number was built in the last post-war period.
Furthermore, several hundreds of check gates are used in the hydraulic network.
Total efficiency is reduced by the general conditions of obsolescence of the machines and of the gates.
The territory of Consorzio Adige-Bacchiglione has the most hydraulic disadvantages of all the territories discharging into the Venice Lagoon.
Indeed, the presence of the Euganean Hills with torrential brooks, the fact that about 50% of the drainage territory is at sea level and that 90% of the water carried by the Consorzio is discharged into the Venice Lagoon strongly conditioned by the variability of the tides, endanger the effective discharge of rain water.
Moreover, the unsettling of the country planning due to uncontrolled urbanization and cement building, the change of technical skills, the deterioration of the private discharge network and the lowering of the grounds increase further the inadequacy of the hydraulic works in management from the Government and by now 70 years old and undersized compared to the present country planning.
The hydraulic safety is also endangered by the presence of embanked canals and river whose waters are pensile for long stretches with respect to the territories they cross. This refers to the rivers: Adige, Bacchiglione, Gorzone, Bisatto and to the canals: Canale dei Cuori, Altopiano, Rebosola, San Silvestro, Canal Morto, etc.
For example, the rainfall in December 1992 and May-June 1995 and the subsequent flooding of many thousands of hectares must remind us all that the consortium territory is hydraulically at risk and that the only solution for reducing this serious risk is a consistent financial intervention of the government together with a more rational territorial planning by the appointed bodies.