Associazione Piazza San Marco
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January 3, 2015

NUMEROUS PAPERS TAKE UP THE PROBLEM OF THE MEDIUM-LOW HIGH TIDES THAT FLOOD ST MARK’S SQUARE

The Associazione Piazza San Marco’s statement on the problem of medium-low high tides that periodically flood the square and would continue to do so even with the Sistema Mose in operation has found widespread consensus not only in the Corriere del Veneto, as we reported in a previous news item, but also in various other papers. The news was widely taken up by the local press such as Nuova Venezia and the Gazzettino, by the national press such as Avvenire and Ansa, and by the Antenna 3 Veneto and Reteveneta television channels. Politicians like Andrea Martella and Pier Paolo Baretta have begun to mobilise, the latter being undersecretary of the Economy, along with the environmentalist and former councillor Gianfranco Bettin. Two aspects in the articles must be pointed out. The first concerns the possibility of keeping St Mark’s Square dry by closing the Mose floodgates at Lido. Indeed, according to the Consorzio Venezia Nuova, ‘raising the floodgates at the Lido inlet earlier than those at Malamocco and Chioggia alone would protect us from high tides of between 80 and 95 centimetres and keep St Mark’s Square dry’. The second concerns the new Special Law for Venice that, still lying in some drawer in Rome, should be taken up again to finance the works to waterproof the Square, planned but never implemented. We shall see whether politicians, administrators and public opinion will finally work as a team to save the most beautiful Piazza in the world.

The article transmitted by Antenna Tre Veneto