Lake Garda Algae Issue: New Cleaning Boat Funded for Rapid Action
The issue of algae on Lake Garda is a current and concerning topic. It has been discussed, and will continue to be discussed in the future, in efforts to address and resolve a problem that in recent years has caused alarm among both tourism operators and environmental protection officials.
In recent days, a summit held in Peschiera between the regional assessors for the environment Nicoli Cristiani and Giorgetti confirmed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two bodies, with a commitment to allocate funds for the purchase of a algae-cleaning boat to be used on the lower Garda, especially between the towns of Sirmione and Peschiera.
This unanimous declaration by both assessors leaves some questions unresolved, particularly regarding responsibility for the operational service.
Algae management and future solutions
The same president of Consorzio Garda Uno, Guido Maruelli, clarifies this doubt, stating that currently, with their consortium, three algae-cleaning boats are already in operation — two on Lake Garda and one on Lake d’Idro.
Managing a fourth boat will certainly not be a major problem. The important thing is to resolve everything as quickly as possible so that this new unit can become operational in the shortest time. Starting from next March, in fact, the algae problem could become relevant again.
Fabrizio Zanetti, president of Gardesana, which operates on the Veronese shore, also expressed agreement with what Maruelli stated. The concern is not so much who will operate the boat, but rather the availability of this means of intervention, which is of interest to the residents of Garda.
Management and disposal of algae
Disposal of the algae themselves, once dried, appears to be less problematic. According to assessore Nicoli Cristiani, there is already a Brescia-based landfill equipped for destroying these aquatic plants.
Additionally, in the Brescia area, there are studies underway to explore the possibility of recovering these plants for conversion into substances suitable for soil fertilization.