Water Crisis In Sicily: A Threat To Tourism And Agriculture

Perched on a hill on the Italian island of Sicily, Agrigento is a heritage tourist’s paradise. Beneath the archaeological wonders and relics of its Valley of the Temples lies an ancient, maze-like aqueduct system that still captures water today. However, the aqueduct, along with others built in modern times, is running dangerously dry. Small hotels and guesthouses in the city and along the coast are being forced to turn tourists away, unable to guarantee basic amenities like flushing toilets or showers after a hot day out.

In February, Sicily began enforcing water restrictions, declaring a state of emergency amid a relentless drought. Leaky, aging infrastructure has only worsened the shortages, severely impacting both tourism and agriculture—two sectors crucial to Sicily’s economy. 

Rationing is now in place for over one million people across 93 communities, with some having to cut water consumption by up to 45%. Taps run dry according to schedule, and the supply is often shut off completely overnight. Ensuring enough drinking water has become a daily challenge.

On travel forums like TripAdvisor, tourists are questioning whether it's worth visiting the affected areas. Hotels are warning clients about potential shortages and assisting visitors in rebooking elsewhere on the island where restrictions are less severe.

At the Le Cinque Novelle bed and breakfast (B&B) in central Agrigento, where restrictions are tight, owners have installed filters on showers and sinks to save as much water as possible, but guests often complain. “People rightly ask us for reassurances before coming, but we don’t know what to say,” Giovanni Lopez, the B&B owner, told CNN. “The situation is quickly impacting the entire tourist accommodation sector, risking serious economic consequences, given that tourism is a sector almost everyone in this part of Sicily relies on.”

The Sicilian regional government has requested subsidies from Rome to import water from the mainland, but no concrete plan has materialized. Italy’s tourism minister, Diana Santanchè, suggested spreading out the tourism season to avoid the peak summer months when water problems are worst.

Summers in Sicily are becoming unbearable. Last year, severe wildfires forced tourists to evacuate or postpone their visits, and now drought-triggered water shortages add to the worry. Human-caused climate change is heating Europe faster than any other continent, with Sicily at the center of this change. Europe’s temperature record was broken in Syracuse in August 2023, reaching 48.8 degrees Celsius (119.8 degrees Fahrenheit).

Other parts of Italy are also experiencing drought, but Sicily’s is considered "extreme," the highest level, according to the Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA). Less than a quarter of the usual winter rain fell across the island, leaving around 20% of underground aquifers in a state of "water scarcity."

Marco Maccarrone, owner of Caico Trattoria e Cantina in Agrigento, says the island is being left to fend for itself. “The summer season is upon us, and we are worried. No one has given us alternative solutions to the water tankers that we are paying for ourselves,” he told CNN. “This risks destroying the only resource we have: tourism.”

Maccarrone, who has lived in Agrigento’s historical center for 20 years, complains that the water flow is painfully slow. “In half an hour, we can’t fill a single pot,” he said.

Hotels must maintain a certain amount of water reserves relative to their capacity, explained Nicola Farruggio, president of Sicily’s Hotel Federation. This means they also have to buy water from the mainland. Smaller establishments, including family-run hotels and B&Bs, often can't store enough water to meet the requirements and are subject to the same strict rations as residential buildings.

Francesco Picarella, head of Agrigento’s Hotel Federation and a hotel owner, says years of ineffective governance have exacerbated the issue. There has been talk of rebuilding the water network since 2011, but little progress has been made. “Today’s problem is the result of a failed water management policy that has been ongoing for 20 years,” he said. “The hotels with their own reserves somehow compensate; the B&Bs in the historic center are in extreme difficulty.”

Reservoirs are drying up due to lack of rain and leaks. In response to CNN’s request for comment, the Sicilian regional government pointed to a study outlining plans to drill new wells, build more pipelines, and revive aging desalination plants. However, the report also states that Sicily has not received sufficient funds from Rome to carry out its plans.

The local federation of B&Bs noted that this should have been a golden year for Agrigento, which was named the Italian Capital of Culture for 2025. Instead, word of mouth about the water crisis threatens to ruin the season. Visitor numbers increased by 24% in 2023 compared to the previous year, according to Picarella. Sicily's tourism ministry expected over 2% more visitors than last year after many postponed their trips due to wildfires.

The situation is equally dire for farmers. At an organic farm near Caltanissetta in central Sicily, goats are drinking muddy sludge where a pond once was. Luca Cammarata, the farm owner, said the drought means grass for grazing is also scarce. He’s never seen Sicily so dry. Farmers like Cammarata face the devastating choice of culling their herds or letting them die of starvation or dehydration. Citrus farmers are also struggling, with famous Sicilian oranges shriveling on their trees due to lack of water. Reservoirs used for irrigation around Mount Etna now hold about half the usual amount of water, and without summer rain, they will drop to around 25%, according to the ANBI Observatory on Water Resources.

Overdevelopment of urban centers and farms has reduced natural wetlands by 20%, worsening the problem, ANBI said. Sicily’s regional president, Renato Schifani, stated that the island’s losses, between crops, empty reservoirs, and dying livestock, have already topped €1 billion. This does not even account for the potential loss of tourism dollars as tourists rebook in less affected areas.

For communities in places like Agrigento, the losses are devastating. Cammarata’s livelihood—his 300 goats, 160 head of cattle, and dairy operation—is at risk. “The consortium used to guarantee water rotation every five or six days,” he said, referring to a farmers' representative group. “Now they can no longer tell us if and when they will open the taps.”

The solutions are complicated, even for an island surrounded by water. Three desalination plants that could clean Sicily’s seawater for drinking, sanitation, or irrigation have been closed for over ten years. Reopening them or drilling new wells will take time. And time is yet another thing the island is running out of.