Nature Trust (Malta) has said that it welcomes the decision by the Ministry for Resources and Rural Development and the Malta Resources Authority for ground water bore holes to have meters installed and control being carried out on the total ground water extraction for the Maltese islands

Through Legal Notice 241 of 2010 all ground water sources have now got to install approved meters by the authorities. Failure for such can result in fines and imprisonment

“For decades extraction of ground water in our Islands have been going without any sort of control – in some cases water was being extracted for free and sold in the market by a few. This was slowly pushing the Maltese islands towards a decrease in water quality levels since the extraction was not being responsibly controlled. This over extraction was also increasing the demand on energy by the Ro Plants for their water supply to be sufficient for the demand.”

They said that, today the Maltese Islands like the rest of the World are feeling the effects of climate change where rain showers are stronger but in shorter periods. This reduces the amount of water that our country can take to replenish our water table, with a higher percentage of this water is being lost to the sea.

Nature Trust (malta) concluded by saying that they now urges the national authorities to ensure that this new legislation is enforced and that those that abuse are righty punished. Water resources are today one of the world’s most precious resources on which life depends. Water is also a common resource for all and therefore cannot be exploited by the few. Furthermore the environmental NGO recommends that, considering climate change and the decrease of rain water agricultural, practices should gradually be adapted for the present situation and therefore not to intensify on intensive crops that demand a lot of water. At the same time national authorities should again look into the possibility of investing further in the polishing of treated waste water which could be used for agricultural needs. The government should enforce existing legislation on wells in households and ensure that all development permits include water reservoirs. The present situation today is that new developments are not including water catchment and in many apartments where there are wells no one uses the water as the well is only built in to be in line with legislation. The NGO calls again for a nation wide educational campaign on water. Way back in the 70s and 80s educational campaigns were very effective to raise awareness on this resource especially when at that time, water supply was very scare especially since Malta did not yet have the RO Plants to compliment the demand. Today this sense of awareness seems to have again been lost especially with younger generations and when one is accustomed to finding water in our taps. We are not realising that we are paying a high price for this resource since most of it comes from the RO plants. This legal notice is a courageous decision and the NGO hopes that the authorities will keep up the momentum for the benefit of our water resources.

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