Italy cancels Venice floodgate plan // Environmental fears scuttle project to stop rising waters

ROME One of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken to stopVenice from flooding was scrapped by the Italian government Thursday,triggering a political dispute over whether the city was being leftto the mercy of the lagoon.

After 10 years of discussion over a $2.5 billion plan to buildhuge gates across the city's lagoon to hold back floodwaters,government advisers have said the project should be abandoned forenvironmental reasons.

The project would have had "irreversible and very considerableeffects on the lagoon," said Maria Rosa Vittadini, head of thegovernment-appointed environmental panel.This isn't the first time that plans to save Venice from sinkinghave fallen through. Ever since serious flooding in 1966, manyproposals have been made to keep Venice above water, such as dividingthe lagoon into three artificial basins.The latest plan was the most widely discussed of all. Theproject's collapse may have implications for Venice's buildings,tourism and, some say, its continued existence.The government said it was scrapping the plan because of fearsit would damage the lagoon's ecosystem. Environmentalists -including the powerful Green Party, part of Italy's ruling coalition- argued that new 99-foot-high gates, which could be raised andlowered according to the sea level, would prevent the water in thelagoon from oxygenating and mixing with the sea.However, those backing the plan, including a consortium ofprivate developers called Consorzio Venezia Nuova, warned thatflooding would worsen in the next century because of global warmingand coastal erosion.In the last 10 years, the sea level has risen by 32 inches 787times and by 3.3 feet 137 times. At these levels, around 12 percentof the city falls below water, forcing people to make their wayaround the city on makeshift wooden walkways.The problem of high water is expected to get worse. During thefirst half of this century, the city experienced flooding only fivetimes a year. Now that figure has risen to more than 80 a year, andon more than one occasion St. Mark's Square has been transformed intoa lake.A study by a British flood control expert, EdmundPenning-Rowsell, predicts that St. Mark's Square could be floodedevery day by the middle of the 21st century.Giancarlo Galan, chairman of the Veneto Regional Council, saidthe decision not to go ahead with the flood control scheme was"scandalous, presumptuous and irrational" and the government wasbeing led by a "do-nothing party."But Green Party Deputy Sauro Turroni said the government hadresisted pressure from individuals who were "on the lookout for hugebusiness contracts."Many of the city's tourist-dependent merchants had backed theproject, estimated to cost $2.6 billion. City leaders had beendubious at best, dreading the potential for bungling and corruption.With the sinking of the floodgate project, Italy's next stepshould be restoring the lagoon's ecological balance - barring heavyshipping, dismantling fish farms and other measures, said JohnMillerchip, a leader of a Venice-based umbrella organization ofgroups interested in the city's preservation.Only then, he said, can Venice's protectors get a clear idea ofthe best way to deal with high water, said Millerchip, who was amongthose opposed to the flood barriers.Contributing: Associated Press