Borehole registration is 11 years late - MLP

The government's decision to register all boreholes came 11 years too late, according to Labour infrastructure spokesman Charles Buhagiar, though he welcomed the initiative.

Such a scheme was launched by a Labour government in 1997 but there was no monitoring on new drilling in the following years, he said, prompting the drilling of hundreds of illegal boreholes.

This lack in control on groundwater extraction had severely depleted the water table, to the extent that it was now endangered, Mr Buhagiar said.

The MLP spokesman warned that the increase in water tariffs would lead to an increase in groundwater extraction. Before increasing such tariffs, the government should first come up with a scheme to distribute second-class water to farms, Mr Buhagiar said.

Last Tuesday, the government announced a 12-month moratorium over applications and permits for new boreholes as it attempts to takes stock of the scale of extraction from the water table.