The scarcity of water is concerning. The region cannot wait for precipitation but must urgently explore sustainable solutions with technologies such as fog harvesting, cloud seeding with dry ice, atmospheric water generation, or the use of artificial glaciers for irrigation combined with storage and recovery from aquifers. This should be combined with water-efficient agricultural technologies like fogponics or hydroponics and integrated farming, reducing water consumption by 80 to 90%!
Cloud seeding with ice is a technology used in China to increase rainfall in drought-prone regions. Fog and warm air collection is an interesting solution, for example in areas where fog is a common phenomenon, such as certain parts of Ticino during specific periods. It involves capturing water droplets from fog and collecting them for use as a water source. In the arid Atacama Desert in Chile, communities use this technology to capture water from the air through mesh structures to collect and condense moisture from fog, which is then directed into storage tanks.
This technique has been successfully used in Chile, Peru, and Morocco where fog is a common phenomenon. A network covers 2 square meters of space and collects 160 liters per day. A system of 40 networks can produce 6,000 liters per day or over 2 million liters per year. The combination of multiple solutions can lead to very effective results, including mini wind turbines that bring warm air into an underground condensation chamber, allowing further water collection.
Ticino can benefit especially in mountainous regions. Combined with technical fabrics like hydrophobic nets, fog harvesting can be an export-oriented area, driving Ticino companies to develop and produce these fabrics. This will create abundant water, jobs, a new industrial sector, and at least 500 apprenticeships in the field of “Water Harvesting Technician” with enormous economic prospects. I gladly invite Urs Lüchinger and AITI members to discuss this. I am committed to making this a reality, to end drought once and for all!
Felix Stutz, Candidate No. 53 for the Grand Council for the UDC, List 11
Candidate for the National Council 2023.
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