Sicily's water crisis in comparison to the water challenges faced in our region of eastern Netherlands was the focus of a symposium held on January 19, 2026 in the UT's Vrijhof Amphitheatre. Organised by the Climate Centre's coalitons on Drought & Water Scarcity and Climate-proof agriculture, the event centred around the documentary ''Dry Sicily: notes from the climate frontier'' (view trailer). We were honoured to have the screening introduced by the Sicilian director himself, Mauro Mondello, who together with Nunzio Gringeri, made this film to highlight the island's dramatic water situation.
The film tells the story of the combined effects of consecutive years of drought, poor infrastructure and inadequate planning on Sicily. It conveys this through images of empty reservoirs and a scorched landscape together with the words of local farmers, entrepreneurs, regional officials and families. Water rationing is becoming a way of life and the island is threatened with desertification which according to Mondello can be slowed down dramatically if measures are taken now to replace leaking pipes and introduce water-saving measures.
After the film Oleksandr Mialyk, a researcher with the UTs Multidisciplinary Water Management group demonstrated with the help of images and graphs how this situation of water scarcity, i.e. the long-term systematic imbalance between water demand and water supply, could develop on Sicily. Most of the rainfall occurs on the more moutainous north side of the island whereas most of the water use by agriculture and urban settlements takes place in the south. Since 2022 there has been prolonged period of low rainfall, leading to a hydrological drought. The crisis, aggravated by this drought, has a longer history due to a failure to manage water infrastructure and doing away with some of the traditional methods of irrigation, such as reliance on small self-managed reservoirs on farms. Less water-consuming crops include mangos and papaya but abandoning water-intensive olive orchards is a difficult step for farmers. After agriculture and food production, tourism also puts immense pressure on water reserves.
Moderator, Lara Wöhler, also with the Multidisciplinary Water Management group, then led the discussion with Heleen Lansink-Marissen, Environmental Manager Agriculture for the Province of Overijssel, Mauro Mondello and Oleksandr Mialyk together with the audience. The discussion centred on how this situation plays out in Sicily, how it compares to our own seasonal pressures on water, and the lessons that can be learned to improve water management, prevent future shortages, and ensure sufficient water for both natural ecosystems and human use in the Netherlands and other regions.
Certainly the Netherlands experiences relatively little leakage of water with infrastructure being well-maintained. However, like Sicily the situation here in the east of the country is aggravated by a seasonal lack of rainfall. However we have few reservoirs or other means to capture and hold onto water which runs quickly through the region's sandy soils into streams and rivers and eventually the sea. Ultimately, water has become an issue because of a failure to reduce use and recycle water for reuse in our activities, aggravated by regular periods of drought or low precipitation. The strength and importance of collaboration in addressing this challenge promoted by Heleen Lansink-Marissen resonated with the audience.
