Warning against drilling boreholes

The Malta Resources Authority yesterday fired a warning shot at anyone planning to drill a borehole to extract water from the water table, reminding that a 2008 moratorium on drilling was still in place.

“The moratorium on drilling boreholes, as established by Legal Notice 254 of 2008, is still in force, thus drilling or any form of excavation works connected with boreholes is strictly prohibited,” it said.

The authority pointed out that hefty fines or prison terms, or both, would be imposed on anyone found breaching the moratorium. Any equipment used would be confiscated.

The warning comes after the European Commission insisted that groundwater, being pumped up for free by hundreds of people, had to be paid for, meaning that farmers and bowser operators could soon be forking out money for water they extract.

For the past decades, various governments have shied away from charging for groundwater extraction, which led to thousands of illegal boreholes being dug directly into the island’s aquifer, leading to Malta’s only natural reservoir of fresh water being over-exploited.

The Maltese authorities did not even know until a few years ago how many boreholes there were. Following Malta’s entry into the EU, a scheme was introduced, together with an amnesty for boreholes to be registered. Over 8,500 were registered under the scheme, the majority of which were illegal.