Can Venice be Saved ?

The city of Venice has a great history (and that is putting it mildly) as an financial power, maritime power, trading power and as a world centre for culture and arts. Over the centuries, Venice has played all these roles, while its main focus today is tourism, culture and arts.

I have traveled to Venice several times, with each I visit I am drawn closer to and further appreciate Venice.
Like many people from all parts of the world, I am worried about the future of Venice, one of the great wonders of the world. In fact, Venice and its lagoon is a  UNESCO World Heritage site.

Venice is located in the north-eastern part of Italy, in the wealthy Region of Veneto. Veneto is one of  20 regions in Italy and has a population of 4.8 million people. To better understand the situation, you should know that in Italy, a Region is similar to a Canadian Province or U.S State, and a Province is similar to a Canadian County. Their are 7 provinces in the Region of  Veneto. The City of Venice itself has a population of some 270,000 people. Only 30% live on the Venetian Islands in the lagoon (which we all presume to be Venice), some 70% of the city residents residing on the mainland part of Venice.

Thre are two big things going on in and around Venice that we should know and be concerned about. One is the "Moses Project". As we all know, Venice is subject to flooding or "acqua alta", as they say in Italian. In December 2008, Venice experienced the deepest flood in over 20 years, which put 95% of the city under water.

The simplest description of the "Moses Project" I have found is the following:

• "A huge structure (composed of 79 steel dams) is being strung from thousands of steel stakes where the floodwaters enter the lagoon from the Adriatic Sea. These dams are each 30 meters high and 20 long, and they will be raised into position every time a high tide threatens the city. The project is expected to cost in excess of 5 billion Euros, with annual maintenance at about 9 million Euros after completion in 2013. Obviously the intention is to hold back the water – but there is concern about the effect this will have on the fragile ecosystem."

The "Moses Project" is proceeding, albeit very slowly, and is now scheduled for completion in 2014. Hopefully, this will stop the flooding and any environmental consequences from the massive construction of the dams will be minimal.

The other big situation is the proposed mainland port expansion. Italian governmental authorities have plans to expand Venice's port into a huge shipping hub. In the opinion of many, this will endanger the fragile lagoon which the slowly sinking city is built on. This port expansion calls for significant dredging of the lagoon and will allow for more and bigger ships.

The British organization, "Venice in Peril Fund", which was founded in 1966 and is one of many international organizations working to preserve Venice, has issued a report and sounded the alarm bells over what is proposed. In 1951, around 1 million people per year visited Venice, recent statistics indicate the number is now 15 million per year!!

The proposed expanded port will bring in more cargo ships and more cruise liners with more people. None of this should happen without proper studies and management systems to enusure Venice and the lagoon are not further degraded.