Piemonte, Italy

Regional Demonstrators

Strengthening irrigation governance and digital water management to build climate resilience in Piedmont’s agricultural systems.

About the Region

Geography: Piedmont is located in north-western Italy, bordered by the Alps and characterised by extensive plains and river systems, including the Po River basin. Its territory ranges from alpine environments to highly productive agricultural lowlands.

Key Sectors: Manufacturing (automitive aerospace, robotics), services (IC, logistics), agriculture

Role: Demonstrator Region.

Piedmonte is focusing on climate resilience in irrigation governance, digital tools for water management and regional regulatory reform.

Climate Challenges in Piedmont

• Increasing frequency and intensity of droughts
• Reduced water availability during peak irrigation periods
• Rising temperatures are affecting crop water demand.
• Pressure on traditional irrigation systems (surface and flood irrigation).
• Need for modernisation and optimisation of irrigation networks.
• Fragmented data systems limit effective water governance.

What has been done so far in the Mount Resilience project?

Focus Area 1: Governance & Policy Reform We have laid the groundwork for regional legislative reform through an extensive review of national laws and stakeholder interviews. Following 19 working group sessions in 2025, a consolidated technical proposal to revise Regional Law 1/2019 was submitted for political analysis in early 2026, ensuring that the needs of irrigation consortia are directly addressed.

Focus Area 2: Advanced Water Management Tools To address changing flow regimes, we are developing Decision Support Tools (DST) for both farmers and water managers:

For Farmers: Strengthening on-farm monitoring and testing a mobile app to optimise irrigation practices.
For Consortia: Creating a “digital twin” of irrigation networks for hydraulic modelling and collecting real-time flow data at pilot sites like Consorzio Pesio.

Focus Area 3: Regional Water Database In collaboration with ARPA Piemonte and the CSI data centre, we are building a unified regional database. This involves integrating historical archives, remote sensing data for crop monitoring, and technical feedback from consortia to ensure high-quality data is available for future water management.

Focus Area 4: Stakeholder Engagement & Knowledge Exchange Continuous dialogue is at the heart of our work. Through local councils, on-farm visits, and international meetings with European partners, we are fostering trust with farmers and authorities to ensure climate adaptation solutions are practical and widely supported.

Key Partners

• Regione Piemonte
• UNCEM Piemonte
• Università di Torino (UNITO)
• Politecnico di Torino (PoliTo)
• Irrigation Consortia (Consorzio Pesio, Coutenza Canale Cavour)
• ARPA
• CSI