The agricultural sector in the year between September 15, 2008 and September 14, 200 extracted 19.1 million cubic metres of groundwater - some seven million cubic metres more than the Water Services Corporation.

The figures were presented this morning after a study by the National Statistics Office. Today is International Water Day.

NSO officials told a press conference this morning that the year of the review had been characterised by unusually high temperatures and low rainfall.

The agricultural sector gets almost all its water from groundwater extraction.The survey was the first of its kind by the NSO focusing on the needs of the agricultural sector.

Resources Minister George Pullicino said last week that groundwater extraction would be metered so that the authorities could have a clear picture of the amount of extraction.

Marco Cremona, an engineer specialised in hydrology, told a conference on sustainable environment last year that Malta needed to reduce its dependence on aquifers.

"We're extracting far more water from the aquifer than is going in. Since the aquifer is at sea level, the fresh water we extract is being replaced with salt water," Mr Cremona said.

He pointed towards a graph showing water production from boreholes over the last 11 years. "If we extrapolate this, we might end up with no fresh water in the aquifer by the next 15 years."

In a statement today, PL environment spokesman Leo Brincat said better recognition was needed of water as a strategic resource. Mr Brincat said government studies should consider climate change projections which pointed to significant reductions in both the volume and quality of water.