The Roya River
The Roya is a transboundary river that has a basin which bridges both Italian and French territory. The Roya is at the heart of the migrant reception crisis in Ventimiglia due to its use by the migrant population for drinking water and sanitation.
In 2022, we conducted a preliminary water quality survey on the Roya River. This survey was the first step in our goal to precisely evaluating the water quality of vital natural water sources that serve informal migrant settlements across Europe.
In 2023, we are embarking on an project, in partnership with Aquascope and Circle of Blue, to monitor the full extent of the Roya River basin. We aim to understand how the Roya’s water quality has changed over time, the pollutant sources, and deliver an automated model identifying the live water quality of the River. Our goal is to later expand this level of monitoring to other rivers and lakes that serve migrant populations in Europe.
85.2 % of migrants regularly wash themselves in the river
The Roya is regular used for drinking water as public taps are shut off in dry periods
Preliminary Water Quality assessment of the Roya River in Ventimiglia