Reconecting the irigation water for Trastanello

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WATER, COMMUNITY, AND THE LONG VIEW Reflections on a summer inspection and the path ahead

In August 2021, a small group of us from the Trastanello community, joined by two volunteers who had travelled from France, made our way up through the forest above the village to inspect something easy to overlook until it fails: the local water source that feeds Trastanello's irrigation system.

What we found told a familiar story of upland infrastructure and mountain weather. A violent storm had torn through the forest and destroyed the main plastic supply pipe — the artery that carries water from the spring down to the terraces and gardens of the valley below. Without it, the village's irrigation capacity was effectively severed.

We were fortunate, and genuinely grateful, that the mayor of the Armo comune responded with such speed and generosity. A new pipe was provided promptly, and our team set to work on the reconnection. It was one of those moments that remind you how much life in a place like this still depends on good neighbours and a responsive local authority — relationships that no amount of technical planning can replace.

And yet, despite our best efforts and the goodwill of everyone involved, the repair was not the end of the story. In the years that followed, water shortage for irrigation remained a recurring challenge in our valley. A single pipe reconnection, however necessary, does not resolve the deeper dynamics of water availability in a landscape that is slowly changing.

So we have stayed with the question. How do we manage water in this valley in a way that is genuinely resilient — not just for one season, but for the long term?

Our thinking has been shaped in part by the work of Slovak NGO Ľudia a voda (People and Water), whose approach to landscape-scale water retention has long inspired us. The principles are not complicated: slow the water, spread it, let it sink. Restore the capacity of the land itself to hold moisture between rains, rather than relying entirely on engineered infrastructure that storms can undo in an afternoon.

We believe the next steps will be collaborative ones. We are looking forward to working with architecture and environmental students from European universities — people with fresh eyes, technical knowledge, and the energy that complex problems deserve. We also hope to explore support through EU funding programmes oriented toward sustainable land stewardship and rural resilience.

The forest above Trastanello still holds its spring. The valley still has its terraces. What it needs now is a more thoughtful relationship with the water that moves through both — and a community willing to keep climbing the hill to understand it.