for the local interviewers. A briefing was or- ganised to provide full information on the inter-
view technique and on the whole project. A handbook was prepared and a co-ordinator was
assigned the task of monitoring fieldwork. The interviewers were invited to contact the co-ordina-
tor for submitting any problems encountered dur- ing the realisation of the fieldwork and for
providing feedback.
9. The opinions of the Troina respondents
In synthesis, the main results of the survey are as follows:
1. The starting hypothesis that the inhabitants of Troina perceive a problem of water scarcity
seemed confirmed. Most interviewees 78 agreed that water shortage was a big problem
for the residents of Troina. However, when asked to confirm that there was plenty of
water in the territory of the municipality, the large majority 75 still agreed. So appar-
ently, residents were aware that the real issue is not water shortage, but some other cause at
the origin of their difficult access to the local water resources. This was confirmed by the
high percentage of agreement 70 with a subsequent statement, ‘‘Troina would have
more water than needed if it were not wasted’’.
2. Regarding the construction of the Ancipa dam, the great majority 95 recognised that
it had been and 66 thought that it still was positive from a point of view of job creation.
As many as 67 respondents extended this positive view to the ‘quality of the environ-
ment’, against 20 who gave a negative evalu- ation in this respect. Only a minority linked
the construction of the dam with the water supply issue.
3. In the hierarchy of water users by quantity of consumption Troina households were ranked
first 49, followed by ENEL 22 and the farmers of the Catania plain 13. In relation
to ENEL, the striking majority 89 agreed that it had brought more advantages than
disadvantages to the community of Troina; they motivated their answer mainly in terms of
job opportunities, while only a minority men- tioned energy production. When asked about
the quantity of water used by the ENEL for energy production in comparison to the quan-
tity actually received from Troina more, equal, less, three-quarters of the sample said
they had no idea.
4. When it came to opinions regarding payments for water, 37 voiced that it should be free for
local people on the grounds that it was Troina’s property andor a natural good. Al-
most all the others agreed that only the munic- ipality of Troina had the right to charge the
residents for consumption.
5. When confronted with the question of what to do with water possibly exceeding local needs,
about a quarter opted for giving it to outside users for free. The remaining respondents split
in two almost equivalent groups — those who wanted to keep it for alternative uses, and
those who wanted to sell it to customers will- ing to pay for it. The latter did not think of
water as a free natural resource. On the whole, only a few people seemed to be aware of the
delicate hierarchy of interests that were behind Troina water resources.
6. The conclusion that had emerged from the conflict analysis step, that the mineral water
option would meet no strong opposition in the community, was corroborated by the survey
results. Only 6 claimed there would be no advantages, while the greatest majority envis-
aged some, in economic 81 or other terms. There emerged a large confidence 72 that
all the Troina inhabitants would profit from the initiative. It is worth noticing, however,
that as many as 43 respondents maintained that there were no springs of water usable for
that purpose in the Troina territory.
7. Whilst the multicriteria analysis seemed to show that Troina was a quite vulnerable and
unsustainable place, and the same view was shared by most of the key opinion leaders, the
survey results gave a less pessimistic picture. When asked to judge whether things would be
better, worse or remain the same in the future, respondents showed a moderate optimism in
terms of economic welfare and quality of life.
Also, the majority used mainly positive images when requested to provide, in their own words,
a summary description of Troina. Yet, when it came to job opportunities, there was an increase
in negative opinions with regard to both the present and the future. The large majority had
little or no expectation for a future increases in the availability of jobs, mainly due to lack of
local entrepreneurial initiatives. The Oasi was often mentioned as one exception, but not
sufficient to justify optimism for the future.
10. Conclusions
