The annual meeting of the Lake Bolsena Association, held on August 27 at the Caminetto in Montefiascone, was very well attended. Representatives of the association informed about the work accomplished over the past year.
Opening the meeting, President Enrico Calvario recalled the work of longtime president Piero Bruni. He thanked the Association’s volunteers for their significant work, the “L’ago di Capodimonte” Embroidery Group, whose donations enabled the printing of several publications, and the farms of the Lake Bolsena Biodistrict, which provided local organic produce for the aperitif.
The first presentation, by Dr. Caterina Cossio, director of the Water Resources Unit, Northern Area, of ARPA (Regional Environmental Protection Agency) Lazio, was particularly important. She reported on the numerous activities conducted by the Agency and highlighted how the Lake Trophic Level Index for the Ecological Status (LTLeco), determined by three key parameters (total phosphorus concentration, surface water transparency, and dissolved oxygen concentration in deep water), for our lake changed from “good” (in the three-year period 2021-2023) to “sufficient” (in the two-year period 2024-2025), demonstrating a worrying trend of deterioration.
This negative assessment is consistent with the results of the monitoring carried out by the Association in collaboration with the CNR IRSA of Verbania Pallanza, presented in the subsequent intervention by Dr. Enrico Calvario and Dr. Georg Wallner (see illustration and our news here).
With the aim of stopping the undeniable trend of degradation, the association identified concrete safeguard measures a few years ago (see here). Their timely implementation requires effective coordination between all technical, local, regional, and state bodies (municipalities, basin authorities, ARPA, and the Region), the associations operating on the lake, and the Biodistrict, with their various competences and functions.
Equal attention deserves the protection of the lake’s precious water resource through correct management of the lake level, where the association notes significant deviations from the current regulations, established in Regional Government Decree 162/2016 (see here).
Dr. Imola Bellavita, biologist, highlighted the serious critical issues resulting from the warming of the lake’s waters, affecting the biology and viability of some important fish species, presenting practical proposals to address them.
Professors Rina Onorati and Carla Carsetti illustrated the extensive activities conducted by the educational team in the area’s schools. Commenting on this presentation, Professor Rosaria Faina, head of the Paolo Ruffini Comprehensive School in Valentano, expressing strong appreciation for the educational activities conducted by the Association, emphasized the significant involvement of the participants and proposed including a focus on career opportunities in the sector, from land conservation to sustainable tourism, in future training modules.
The allotted time was not sufficient to address all the questions and comments from the audience, whose discussion continued during the excellent aperitif. We thank Mrs. Margherita and her staff for their hospitality and for their great commitment in preparing dinner for approximately 50 people using only organic and local products from farmers in the Lake Bolsena Biodistrict.
The meeting reports can be downloaded here.
