VENICE, Italy (Reuters) - The Italian government last week formally blocked a plan to build revolutionary flood barriers to save Venice from rapidly rising tides, saying it would ruin the lagoon. Confirming a ruling by a government commission earlier this month, the Environment Minister Edo Ronchi and Cultural Affairs Minister Giovanna Melandri ruled that the $2.5 billion project would not go ahead for now but could be reassessed in the future if radical changes were made. "A series of measures to revive and rebalance the lagoon must first be undertaken to make sure the Venetian lagoon does not become a filthy pool," Ronchi said after presenting his decree on the so-called "Moses" project. The environment ministry said the measures, which include clearing sludge from the lagoon floor, would take years to complete but that the decision was final. A team of 20 advisers brought in by Ronchi advised the government earlier this month to ditch the plan which calls for massive dams to be built at the lagoon‘s three mouths to curb rising tides that waterlog the city every one in four days. The ruling contradicted a body of international experts commissioned earlier this year which found that the plan was the best of all possible solutions. Italy has spent $120 million on studies and experiments for the project.