Mellieha farmers lose crop as water dries up

Farmers who till the land at l-Ahrax and Marfa in Mellieha are suffering huge water shortages this summer and most have either left their crops to wither or are just watering a very small section.

A spokesman for the department of agriculture said 31 boreholes, used to irrigate 214 tumoli of land, had dried up.

The farmers said they used to irrigate their land with water drawn from boreholes. However, this year, most of the boreholes have run dry.

The farmers made representations with the Mellieha council which, in turn, asked the agriculture department to assist the farmers by supplying them with water. But the department said it was uneconomical to provide bowsers three times a week to supply water for such a large area.

The department, however, made on-site inspections and drew the Malta Resources Authority into the matter.

The farmers' complaints have been raised in parliament and the matter was also recently discussed in cabinet.

Both the Malta Resources Authority and the Water Services Corporation are looking into the matter.

Farmers say there are more than 20 families who depend on the area for their livelihood.

Because of the water shortage, most of the crops, mainly tomatoes and melons, have been abandoned. In parts of the area, where farmers are able to draw up water for a few minutes a day, some melons have survived but they are a little shrivelled and sold for Lm1.50 a box when they could easily have fetched at least Lm8 at the vegetable market had they been of usual quality.

Farmers are blaming the water shortage on the Riviera Hotel, situated in Marfa, where a reverse osmosis plant had been installed by the Water Services Corporation. The WSC installed the plant at the request of the hotel.

However, farmers also suspect that illegal inland boreholes have also been dug.

Speaking in parliament recently, Resources Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said he was informed by the Malta Resources Authority that no permits had been given to the Riviera Hotel to dig any boreholes.

However, inspections revealed that four boreholes had been drilled by the hotel and that pumping from these could have a negative effect on the water supply to other boreholes, Dr Zammit Dimech said.

But, the minister added, one had to consider the shortage of rainfall over the past two years and bear in mind that farmers themselves had pumped up a lot of water. A lot of wasteland had been reclaimed and was now being irrigated, meaning that there was more demand for water, Dr Zammit Dimech said.

"All these are factors that gave rise to this situation".

But farmers are of a different opinion, arguing that agricultural land had been reclaimed several years ago and the problem with water only started occurring this year.

Charles Polidano, of Polidano Group, which owns the Riviera, denied that the hotel was drawing water from boreholes, saying that the RO plants took their water from the sea.

He said Polidano group had contracted the WSC to install the RO plant because it had vast experience and could supply spare parts.

He said samples of the water going into the RO plant were taken and three different labs confirmed this was seawater.

Mr Polidano said the boreholes were three metres away from the sea and were drilled so that water would be drawn from them in winter to avoid having problems with sand and seaweed when drawing water.

"But all there was in the boreholes was a half-inch pump which we installed in case water was needed if a fire broke out or to wash down a corridor," Mr Polidano said.

He said he had now sealed the boreholes and would not be drawing any more water from them.

"But I would like to know whether farmers now have water again since we have blocked the boreholes. I have a borehole in the same area where the farmers have theirs and there is no water in it, so no one can blame us for the shortage. There is no water because it has not rained much over the past four years," he said.

Farmers say the water shortage started being felt some two months ago. Apart from the produce that has already been lost, farmers are also concerned because they cannot sow or plant crops for the coming season.

A WSC spokesman said the area spanning from Ghadira to l-Ahrax is littered with boreholes from which ground water is extracted. Some are fewer than 30 metres apart.

A Malta Resources Authority spokesman said there appeared to be a slight recovery of water in certain boreholes over the past few days and the situation was bound to improve.

"However, farmers have to realise that they too could be extracting too much water and that this should stop," the spokesman said.

"What happened at Marfa is the combined effect of drought and human activity. Wells drilled at the Riviera Hotel for cooling and industrial purposes drew water partly from the aquifer causing considerable reduction of water in the neighbourhood.

"Farmers required more water to irrigate new areas that have been recently reclaimed. More water was therefore pumped from wells that were historically known to be poor in output, both in terms of quantity and quality. Drought in recent years exacerbated matters leading to the situation we know today," the spokesman said.

"This is a typical case where natural water sources fall short of demand and where sound integrated management of water resources plays a crucial role in resolving these conflicts.

"Groundwater is not an infinite resource; it depends on climatic factors on which man has no control. The effects of drought are today being experienced elsewhere in the southern Mediterranean with consequences known to all.

"It is becoming more and more important to allocate our groundwater resources fairly to different economic sectors according to the specific needs of the respective user, and other socio-economic considerations. Ideally, all users should be allocated a fair quota of groundwater that will vary from year to year according to climatic factors, and furthermore they will be required to practise water-conservation measures to avoid wastage.

"Other options that will be investigated include the re-use of treated sewage effluent for irrigation and industrial processes. When the sewage treatment plant at ic-Cumnija is commissioned and a large amount of treated sewage effluent is available, this is likely to be a viable option for Marfa Ridge as the aquifer is not used for drinking purposes.

"The MRA will be working on these lines and will be commissioning the relevant studies, to allocate groundwater fairly and according to national priorities, while making the best use of all water resources in an integrated manner. The authority aims to conduct its programme in the most transparent manner that will be open to public consultation throughout," the spokesman said.