Abstract
This chapter rethinks the evolution of water management and protection in Italy prior to the implementation of the water Framework Directive by focusing in particular on the institutional setting. In fact, the evolution of the Italian system of water governance represents quite an interesting case that triggers a number of questions about the openness, participation, accountability, effectiveness and coherence of the national institutional and legislative framework. The main phases that marked water governance in Italy are analysed: from the 1930s when the earliest measures in the regulation of the Italian water sector may be traced to the end of the 1970s; from the mid-1970s, when Law 319/1976 was approved, to the beginning of the 1980s, when Italy adopted a number of measures for water and environmental protection mainly linked to the implementation of EU water directives (e.g. the Drinking Water Directive 80/778/EEC); and then the adoption of Law 183/1989 on soil protection that brought about some significant innovations in the system of water governance, more specifically, the establishment of new public administrative structures associated with hydrographical basins for water resources planning; the new phase opened in 1994, when Law 36/1994 was adopted by envisaging a comprehensive reform of the water management system through the establishment of the Integrated System of Water Management; and finally, the implementation of EU Directives 91/271/EEC and 91/979/EEC by Legislative Decree 152/1999 which also defined the safeguarding of water quality by identifying the minimum environmental status as well as the quality status for waters with specific uses.