An old Sicilian proverb states: “When water flows into two springs, one will remain dry – that’s how it happens.” And the inhabitants of the small town of Troina, located in the heart of Sicily and suffering from a long and unprecedented drought, probably understand the meaning of this proverb better than anyone.

When local authorities ordered the little water left in their dam to be shared with villages in another province, they sprang into action and, on November 30, seized the distribution centerpreventing access to third parties.

“It’s a war between the poor – we know it», 66-year-old Salvatore Giablanco, owner of a tourist business in Troina, tells the Guardian. “But we had no choice. The dam is drying up. We find it difficult to find water for ourselves. I had to cancel many reservations due to the lack of water. If we have to share what little we have with other cities, then we will all run dry.”

Serious water shortage crisis in Sicily

Sicily is facing the most serious water crisis in its history. Today, the largest and most populous Mediterranean island, where a European record temperature of 48.8 degrees Celsius was set in 2021, is at risk of desertification.

The water in barrier Ankipa has declined rapidly, so in late November, regional authorities ordered water from the dam to be used temporarily to power some towns in Caltanissetta province, which are also struggling with drought.

This decision caused the “water war”as reported by the local press.

For three days, hundreds of residents from municipalities that depend entirely on this dam for their water supply occupied the distribution center.

At least once a week, the inhabitants of Troina, faced with the lack of water, go to another area, to an old trough and fill containers with water as the Ankipa dam, as they say “it has turned into a mud puddle. The minimum water that reaches our taps is yellow or brown.”

“We can’t drink the water or cook with it. We come and wait in line for hours to fill the containers. If God put his hand in it and it rained and we had an abundance of water, we would share it with other cities. But here it hasn’t rained in months and it hasn’t snowed in two years. And it’s something that would help fill the dam with water.”says a resident.

Another resident tells the British media that he has no intention of paying any water bills. “I will pay when I don’t have to buy emergency tanks to secure water for my customers.”

“In all my life, I have never seen such a serious water crisis in Sicily»says a 62-year-old woman in turn. “We had a water shortage in the summer. But now winter is approaching and we are still filling buckets from an old trough,” he continues.

Troina is the site of a historic battle that took place during World War II that resulted in extensive damage to the city. It is among the hundreds of cities in Sicily that are in danger of disappearing in the coming decades.

In 2021, in an effort to revive the community, Troyna adopted a strategy that has become fashionable in the South: to sell, or essentially give away, abandoned houses to anyone willing to move in—the symbolic price of a house: 1 euro.