Milan water referendum anniversary fuels push for public water control

On June 12, 2026, activists in Milan commemorated the 15‑year anniversary of the 2011 referendum that rejected the privatization of water services. The vote overturned legislation that forced municipalities to tender water management to private firms, reflecting a popular demand to keep water as a public good.

Despite the referendum win, legislators have yet to enact a law guaranteeing fully public water provision. Campaigners point to more than 400,000 signatures gathered in 2007 by the Forum Italiano dei Movimenti per l’Acqua and cite the 2010 United Nations declaration of water as a universal human right. Ongoing efforts aim to translate the referendum spirit into concrete legislation and to protect water access amid growing global challenges such as war, poverty and climate‑driven scarcity.