Sink or swim for Venice, according to report

A lot of the problem says the Venice report is the projected transport hub at Marghera, on the edge of the Venetian Lagoon. This will provide a much-needed surge for the economy in the mainland, but the 13m dredging between the Malamocco inlet and Marghera that is needed to make the port economic and attractive to the bulk carriers, might well tip the delicate balance of Venice quite literally into the water.

‘It is precisely these deep channels that over the years contributed, with other environmental factors, to the degradation of the lagoon and the chronically raised water levels in the city,’ says Anna Somers Cocks in an introduction to the Venice report.

She goes on to say that this is being ignored by the authorities who say that the new MOSE system (Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico) will be able to mitigate the effects of any dredging. This defence consists of rows of mobile gates able to isolate the Venetian Lagoon from the Adriatic Sea when the tide pushes the water level above a metre.

Ms Somers Cocks says that this ‘confuses the role of MOSE in defending Venice from flooding events with the question of the degradation of the lagoon.’