World Water Day and World Meteorological Day: a shared challenge for the future. Diagram Group: agritech and climate data: key to protecting our most valuable resource

Jolanda di Savoia (Fe), 24 March 2026 – To mark World Water Day (22 March) and World Meteorological Day (23 March), Diagram Group draws attention to a theme common to both days: the need to integrate agritech innovation and climate data to ensure global water security.

According to the Teha Group’s 2026 Water Value White Paper, with a temperature anomaly of +1.47 °C, 2025 ranked as the third hottest year on record. Rising temperatures are negatively correlated with renewable water availability and positively correlated with the intensification of extreme events. Italy is the country with the highest climate-related economic losses in Europe in absolute terms. Following the drought of 2022, renewable water availability increased in 2024 (+14.3% vs. historical average) due to heavy rainfall in the north, but drought persists in the rest of the country. In 2025, there were 1,100 episodes of heavy rainfall and 139 cases of urban flooding, a sharp increase compared to the 2000–2005 average (45 rainfall events and 3 floods per year).

World Meteorological Day highlights that effective water management cannot exist without a full understanding of climate dynamics. Variations in rainfall, the progressive retreat of Alpine glaciers, rising temperatures and the increasing frequency of extreme events are redefining water availability in Europe and worldwide. In Italy, the situation is particularly complex: high water losses, obsolete infrastructure and struggling reservoirs make the system vulnerable to weather variations. A quarter of the water abstracted in the European Union is used for agriculture, mainly for irrigation. Water withdrawals are concentrated mainly in Spain, Italy, Greece, France and Portugal, which together account for 96% of the water used for agricultural purposes in the EU.

Globally, over 70% of freshwater is used in agriculture.

In Italy, the sector uses requires for around 17 billion cubic metres of water per year and accounts for 60% of total water consumption, despite the fact that only 20.2% of the utilised agricultural area (UAA) is irrigated. The use of treated wastewater remains limited, covering just 4.6% of land.

In this context, agriculture – the main user of water resources – is called upon to undergo a profound transformation. Agritech technologies, including micro-irrigation, advanced sensor technology, meteorological data and predictive models, represent fundamental tools for reducing consumption and improving crop resilience

“Agriculture in the future will not only be more sustainable—it will have to be smarter. The integration of weather data and water management is now a key factor in ensuring productivity and resilience,”  emphasises Roberto Mancini, CEO of Diagram Group.

The adoption of smart agriculture solutions helps reduce water consumption by up to 30–40% thanks to precision irrigation systems, to anticipate water stress and extreme weather events through the analysis of weather data, and to optimise yields and production inputs using predictive models. The use of monitoring systems based on satellite remote sensing, already widespread internationally, also enables water productivity to be measured and decisions to be guided in real time. Technologies such as IoT sensors for monitoring soil moisture, precision irrigation systems, predictive models based on real-time weather data, and analyses using satellites and drones enable water resources to be used in a targeted manner, reducing waste and improving production performance.

As highlighted in the Water Atlas 2026, ‘Water is the invisible thread that binds ecosystems, the economy and rights together’: a balance that requires tools capable of interpreting the climate, anticipating risks and supporting increasingly sustainable decisions.

Diagram Group reaffirms its commitment to supporting farms, public bodies and water sector operators through inegrated platforms that combine high-resolution meteorological data, predictive models, smart water anagement tools and precision agriculture technologies.

“Sustainable water resource management is now a strategic priority. The integration of climate science and agritech innovation enables the development of more efficient and resilient models,” concludes Mancini. “These two international days highlight the importance of being able to interpret climate dynamics and translate them into concrete solutions for agriculture, through innovation and the informed use of technology.”