The water that was threatening to flood the Għadira nature reserve because of a blockage in a culvert started receding after government workers removed a considerable volume of sand.

BirdLife said that, last month, it had alerted Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino about the looming flooding, at a time when the water had reached abnormally high levels because of the heavy rains. In addition, a culvert that normally allows wardens to control the water level in the nature reserve had been blocked.

Over the past week, government workers cleared three truckloads of sand blocking the culvert at the reserve.

BirdLife said the blockage probably came about because the originally straight culvert was diverted around a kiosk built on the beach, resulting in a bend that trapped the sand. "Once the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs became involved in this issue, they acted swiftly to solve the problem. The ministry workmen spent five days clearing the blockage and had to do the job manually," said André Raine, BirdLife's conservation manager.