View source for Case study:INTERREG MED WETNET – Memorandum of Understanding for the realization of the Wetland Contract for the Vercelli rice plain

{{Case study status
|Approval status=Draft
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{{Location
|Location=45.32022720000001, 8.41857349999998
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{{Project overview
|Status=Complete
|Project web site url=wetnet.interreg-med.eu
|Themes=Economic aspects, Hydromorphology, Land use management - agriculture, Social benefits, Spatial planning, Water quality
|Country=Italy
|Main contact forename=Raffaella
|Main contact surname=Pagano
|Contact organisation=provincia di vercelli
|Contact organisation url=www.provincia.vercelli.it/index.php/it
|Multi-site=No
|Project picture=Schermata 2019-12-06 alle 16.06.35.png
|Project summary=The Wetland Contract was built on the basis of the regional rules (Piedmont Region) for the "River and Lake Contracts" of which it is a variant (it is in fact the first application on an area other than the "River" or the "Lake").
The main Community, national and regional rules governing the River Contract in the Piedmont Region are described below.
In 2000, the European Union adopted Directive 2000/60/EC, the so-called Water Framework Directive, which states that “Member States shall encourage the active involvement of all interested parties […] in the production, review and updating of the river basin management plans”. 
In the same year of adoption of the Directive, the Second World Water Forum identified the River Contracts as instruments that allow to adopt a system of rules in which the criteria of public utility, economic performance, social value, environmental sustainability are equally involved in the search for effective solutions for the rehabilitation of a river basin.
The Legislative Decree 152/2006 implements the Directive 2000/60/EC and reaffirms the pursuit of the objectives of prevention and reduction of pollution. To this end, it divides the national territory into river basin districts and provides for a Management Plan for each district, assigning the competence to the authorities of the river basin district.
The Law n. 662/1996 (Measures for the rationalization of public finance), in art. 2 - paragraph 203 letter a) defines the “Negotiated Planning Agreement” as the regulation agreed between public subjects or between the competent public subject and the public or private party or parties for the implementation of different interventions, referring to a single purpose of development, which require an overall assessment of the activities of competence.
The Water Protection Plan (PTA) of the Piedmont Region, approved by DCR N. 117-10731 of 13 March 2007, makes explicit reference to the "River Contract or Lake Contract" for the achievement of the objectives of protection provided by the PTA itself. 
The Regional Territorial Plan (PTR) of the Piedmont Region recognizes the role of the Contract as a tool that allows the development of synergies with the provincial and local spatial planning tools, in order to promote the integration of different policies.
Further legitimacy was given by the Po River District Basin Authority, which in its Management Plan for the Hydrographic District (PdG Po) recognised the Contract as a tool for achieving environmental quality objectives by 2015 and 2021, as provided for by the Water Framework Directive.
In Piedmont, the process of forming a River Contract is outlined in the "Regional Guidelines for the Activation of River and Lake Contracts", which draw a methodology divided into four distinct phases: preparation, activation, implementation and consolidation.
The Memorandum of Understanding of the Wetland Contract is currently being signed.
The procedure set out by the Piedmont Region for the signing of the Contract requires a long period of time, since it first provides for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the members of the Direction Cabinet (Public Bodies), which commits the signatories to the signing of the Contract. In this phase, the Direction Cabinet is approving the proposal of the Action Plan, which will be discussed by the Basin Assembly.
The Action Plan includes 10 concrete actions:
-	1 relating to the strategic area "governance", aimed at concluding custody agreements;
-	4 relating to the strategic area "environment" aimed at protecting and increasing biodiversity, improving the landscape and the quality of water resources;
-	5 relating to the strategic area "economic and social development", relating to the development of environmentally sustainable rice farming, to the increase of soft tourism and to the increase of citizens' awareness of environmental issues.
Main problems and obstacles encountered:
-	The Contract concerns issues on which different interests coexist, not always and not easily converging (profitability and environmental reasons). These are therefore delicate issues to be managed at a political level and, consequently, require a long time.
-	Difficulties in involving local private actors.
Administrative elections concomitant with the period of the territorial laboratories, with consequent difficulty in involving the representatives of the Municipalities.
|Project title=INTERREG MED WETNET – Memorandum of Understanding for the realization of the Wetland Contract for the Vercelli rice plain
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{{Case study subcatchment
|Subcatchment=Po Basin
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{{Site
|Name=Vercelli rice plain
|Heavily modified water body=No
|Site designation=EU - Special Protected Area
|Local site designation=Site of Community Importance, Special Protection Area
|Protected species present=Yes
|Invasive species present=No
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{{Project background
|Project started=2016/11/01
|Project completed=2019/10/31
|Funding sources=Project co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund,
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{{Motivations}}
{{Measures
|Floodplain / River corridor=protecting and increasing biodiversity, improving the landscape and the quality of water resources
|Management interventions=Custody agreements
|Wider stakeholder / citizen engagement=Development of environmentally sustainable rice farming, to the increase of soft tourism and to the increase of citizens' awareness of environmental issues.
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