Ground water risks vanishing in 15 years' time if extraction levels remain as they are today, an expert has warned.

The warning came during a symposium on climate change organised by the University's International Relations Department yesterday.

Hydrologist Marco Cremona said the most pressing climate change issue for Malta was the depletion of aquifers, which produced almost two thirds of the country's water needs.

He challenged the popular belief that rising sea levels were the major threat to ground water sources, insisting the Prime Minister was "misinformed" when he told the Copenhagen summit that an increase of four inches in sea level would be a major disaster for Malta's aquifers.

"The illegal extraction of water by hundreds of illegal boreholes worries me much more," he said, pointing out that another contributing factor was lack of rain.

"Our ground water sources will be long gone before climate change happens. If nothing is done, we face the prospects of higher water tariffs every year because the country would depend solely on expensive and energy-guzzling reverse osmosis plants to satisfy the demand," Mr Cremona said.

The engineer warned this was not only an environmental problem but one of national strategic importance.

"Unfortunately, there is no sense of urgency in the country to address the issue," he insisted.

The symposium also heard that the sea level around the Maltese islands was dropping rather than rising.

Marine biologist Alan Deidun said data analysed by the University's Physical Oceanography Unit, which had a sea level monitoring station at Portomaso, showed how sea levels around Malta, contrary to popular belief, had "fallen slightly".

A panel discussion, which included politicians, government technocrats and journalists, focused on domestic issues, particularly Malta's EU emissions target.

Resources Minister George Pullicino said he was confident Malta would reach the target to cut emissions levels by 20 per cent but was more cautious on the second target to have 10 per cent of the country's energy needs produced from renewable sources.

The Resources Ministry's permanent secretary, Christopher Ciantar admitted failure for not being able to convince people that various environmental projects were for their benefit.

"We could have treated all our waste and produced energy from it but we ended up with a permit for the treatment of one third of our waste," Dr Ciantar said, referring to the Marsascala recycling facility.

Notwithstanding such admission, it was the assistant editor of The Sunday Times, Caroline Muscat and Illum editor Harry Vassallo who received an ovation from the audience, largely made up of cynical University students.

Ms Muscat and Dr Vassallo, both former environmental campaigners, criticised the government's inaction over the years to address the issue of renewable sources, which left the country totally dependent on fossil fuels for its energy needs.

Mr Pullicino defended his government's track record insisting the incentive schemes for the replacement of white goods with environmentally-friendly appliances and the distribution of energy-saving light bulbs would contribute to energy savings equivalent to the consumption of 10,000 three-person households.

"For the first time in 50 years, last year there was a drop in electricity consumption and this came about because the government had the courage to stop energy subsidies," he said, complaining that not even those who had advocated higher utility rates stood by the government's decision.

Labour climate change spokesman Leo Brincat was quick to pounce on the comment, insisting lower consumption was probably due to a biting recession rather than because of the hike in water and electricity rates.

Mr Brincat said he still had to be convinced the government had the political will to move away from fossil fuels.

Alternattiva Demokratika spokesman Carmel Cacopardo said there was no climate of trust between the public and the government. Instead of discussing strategies and alternatives, the lack of trust led everyone to focus on issues such as where to place plants like recycling facilities and wind energy turbines.

"People simply do not trust things will be done correctly and this is borne out of past experience," he said.

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