Original version

BBC World Service Online

The Inquiry

Documentaries

Factual

News

Getting beyond the headlines to explore the forces and ideas shaping the world

The Inquiry gets beyond the headlines to explore the trends, forces and ideas shaping the world.

No Master Brand

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC Afghan Radio

The Inquiry: Can seawater save Venice from flooding?

Can seawater save Venice from flooding?

29/06/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - The Inquiry, Can seawater save Venice from flooding?

Will injecting seawater into wells below Venice ensure it has a future?

As Venice’s high tides or ‘aqua altas’ become more frequent and destructive, will a new proposal to lift Venice above sea level, protect the city for the long term?

The medieval city of Venice is situated in the heart of a lagoon on the coast of northeast Italy.  It was built on a large area of low-lying marshland. A system of wooden poles driven into the soft mud created an underwater forest. It still forms the foundations of the city we see today.
 
For centuries the City has had to battle with ‘aqua alta’ or high tides from the Adriatic sea. And the gradual combination of water erosion and rising sea levels means the City is now facing a more urgent battle to stay afloat.

In recent years a series of barriers which sit on the sea floor and which are raised when an ‘aqua alta’ is expected have been successful in keeping the majority of the city dry.  But its already been acknowledged that the Mose Barrier, as it’s known, is not a permanent solution for the future.  

An idea designed to complement the Mose Barrier, one which was suggested more than a decade ago, is to inject seawater into wells underneath the city.  The scientists behind the project are confident that if it were to be adopted, it would provide a uniform uplift to the city without causing any structural issues to the buildings.

This week on the Inquiry we’re asking ‘Can seawater save Venice from flooding?’

Contributors:
Prof Claire Judde de Lariviere, Medieval Historian, University of Toulouse
Hermes Redi, Director General of the Consorzio Venezia Nuova (responsible for the Mose Barrier)
Professor Pietro Teatini, University of Padua, Chair of UNESCO International Initiative on Land Subsidence
Prof Carlo Ratti, MIT, Co-Chair at the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Cities. 

Presenter:  David Baker
Producer:  Jill Collins 
Researcher:  Bisi Adebayo 
Editor:  Tara McDermott
Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards
Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown

(The Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy. Woman standing in flood water. Credit: Getty Images)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Inquiry

Can seawater save Venice from flooding?

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service Online

About BBC World Service