Pollution, inadequate wastewater treatment, and climate change increasingly threaten Italy’s coastal and marine ecosystems. These findings emerge from Legambiente’s summer monitoring campaigns—Goletta Verde (39th edition) and Goletta dei Laghi (20th edition)—presented today in Rome.
Of 388 water samples collected by over 200 volunteers across coastal and lake sites in 19 regions, **34% exceeded legal pollution limits**—equivalent to one in three samples. Specifically:
– **35%** of coastal sites monitored by Goletta Verde were polluted or heavily polluted, averaging one contaminated point every 80 kilometers.
– **30%** of lake sites breached legal thresholds.
Samples taken directly in open sea or lake waters (away from river mouths or discharge points) showed improvement, with only **15%** exceeding limits (30 of 200 samples).
The Mediterranean’s surface temperature hit **25.4°C** in June-July—the highest summer average since 2016. Alarmingly, **54%** (101 of 188) of river, canal, and tributary mouths flowing into seas or lakes were polluted or heavily polluted. Despite this, **56%** of these unmonitored, non-bathing areas have public beaches nearby.
Legambiente urgently calls for a national water protection plan, increased funding to modernize treatment plants, enhanced oversight by regional agencies (ARPA) and municipalities, and improved management of inland waters.