Italian jobs in the rivers?

A recent article in an Italian on-line environmental publication, Greenreport.it, provides a reminder of a looming deadline for water quality in lakes and rivers.  An E.U. directive from 2000 sets the deadline for Italy and other member countries for next year.  Those failing to meet the standards face economic sanctions meant to be serious enough to draw governmental attention.  So far, though, the new Renzi government hasn’t seemed to give water issues, or the environment generally, much attention.  The Greenreport article, perhaps as a kind of signal flag aimed at Rome, includes a reminder that environmental cleanup can produce a lot of jobs.  It cites a recent Ambente Italia report estimating that an investment of 27 billion in the water sector over the next ten years could produce something like 45,000 jobs.  I have a feeling that, rather than new investment, we're more likely to see Italy asking Brussels to postpone the deadline -- and sanctions -- for a few years.  And they probably won't be alone in making the request.

Il Fiume Topino near Cannara, Italy.  More of an irrigation canal at this point.  © rmounts