Il Giro dell'acqua

In the area called the ‘rice triangle’ in Piedmont, Italy, the beginning of the agricultural season coincides with letting the water carried by Canale Cavour, an artificial waterway, flow into the lands of every rice grower. We follow Matteo, a farmer from Vercelli, throughout his daily activity of control of the embankments of the rice fields, as well as Bruno and Maurizio, water workers who regulate the water flow through locks and sluice gates. Rhythmically, with scythe strokes, the men remove weeds from the canals and take care of the rivulets between the fields, riding old scooters to reach the different sites. At the same time, in the gauge stations of East and West Sesia, staff remotely monitor the intricate irrigation network. Water shortage is gradually transforming the profile of the territories in a proverbially fertile zone of Northern Italy. When the season is over, the future of the ‘checkered sea’ is now at stake, while a blanket of spiderwebs covers what were once paddy fields.