Special Law for Venice

On 16 April 1973, the Italian Parliament approved the Law No. 171, known as the Special Law for Venice, which attempted to comprehensively address the various issues related to the protection of the lagoon and the city of Venice, by placing them as objectives of national interest.

Over the years, the law was refinanced and extended and is still in force.

The planned actions are aimed specifically at reducing the level of pollution of the lagoon and waterways of the drainage basin, commissioning, safety and remediation of contaminated sites, redevelopment and industrial conversion of Porto Marghera (the Industrial and Port Area of Venice).

The guidelines for the de-pollution of the Venice Lagoon and its drainage basin (which covers approximately 2,000 square kilometers and includes 108 municipalities) are defined by the "Plan for pollution prevention and remediation of water in the drainage basin of the Lagoon of Venice - Master Plan", which is the regional planning instrument for the implementation of measures aimed at restoration of the lagoon water.

Six areas of intervention are identified, depending on the type of projects funded:

• sewerage system and water treatment area (works for reducing of civil and urban pollution, through the completion of the sewerage system and the improvement of wastewater treatment plants);
• aqueducts area (interventions aimed at the rationalization of withdrawals from rivers or wells of the drainage basin, to ensure a greater flow of the rivers and the reduction of potable water consumption);
• Territory area (interventions aimed at increasing the self-purifying capacity of the rivers of the Drainage Basin);
• Agriculture & Livestock area (with measures to reduce inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus in the lagoon, diversifying crops, revising agricultural practices and irrigation methods, optimizing the disposal of sewage);
• remediation of contaminated sites area (with specific interventions to be implemented mainly in the area of Porto Marghera and other sensitive sites within the Drainage Basin);
• monitoring and experimentation area (interventions aimed at verifying the environmental conditions and the development of pilot projects).

It should be emphasized that the considerable investment, implemented in recent years thanks to the funds of the Special Law for Venice, together with a more effective management of the system of protection, are leading to a substantial improvement of the environmental conditions of the lagoon ecosystem and of the water courses of the drainage basin.