A fresh call has been made for the implementation of the 2010 national climate change proposals that include billing for private groundwater extraction, as the lack of rainfall has experts worried.

The appeal was made by hydrologist Marco Cremona during a talk on climate change in Attard.

The proposed climate adaptation measures, drawn up by an inter-ministerial committee six years ago, also included the introduction of legal instruments to ban groundwater use for landscaping.

However, turf is still being laid down on roundabouts and sprinklers being used for the watering, Ing Cremona said at the talk, organised by NGO Kopin and the Attard Local Council.

The inter-ministerial report had proposed pricing mechanisms for private groundwater extraction by 2012 and an immediate ban of the use of domestic boreholes for recreational purposes, such as swimming pools and private gardens.

“These are very strong measures, but where do we stand five years on? Some have asked: what can people do? People need to show their anger with the authorities and ask for the implementation of these measures,” Mr Cremona, a water treatment engineer, insisted.

Speaking about the consequences of climate change on the water situation in Malta, he said the forecast was for less but more intense rainfall, meaning it was going to get more difficult to make use of the water.

Malta has always had a problem with water scarcity and it is the only EU country where water is rated as an ‘absolute scarcity’.

Mr Cremona said that as Malta’s groundwater supplies dwindled, it was worrying that nearly half of the consumed water was extracted from the ground in an inadequately regulated manner by private individuals and companies,.

At some point, this resource was going to finish not just for these people but for the whole population.

Chadwick Lakes are as dry as if it was August and later on this year we will also experience a lack of local produce

His comments come after marine biologist Alan Deidun rang the alarm bells on social media this week, saying that Malta could technically qualify as a desert.

He noted that less than 250mm (215mm) of rain has fallen this year – “trees, wild plants and farmers must be bracing themselves for the hard times ahead... this strengthens the call for a wiser use of our freshwater,” he said on Facebook.

Yesterday’s climate change awareness event was held at Attard Parish Square, which was lined with stalls offering information on climate change as well as local produce and fair trade items.

The event, partly funded by the European Commission, included games for children who explored the different ways they could contribute to mitigate climate change or adapt to its consequences.

“There is no planet B. We only have one planet, it’s take it or leave it. And I think we are going to leave it,” environmentalist Alfred Baldacchino said at one of the talks.

Mr Baldacchino was speaking of the realities of climate change and the unbalanced ecosystem.

“We have seen changes in rain patterns and this year we did not have any winter. Chadwick Lakes are as dry as if it was August and later on this year we will also experience a lack of local produce,” he said, noting that meanwhile, the UK and US, among others, had experienced stronger storms and a number of villages were under water.

Mr Baldacchino also referred to the climate change talks in Paris at the end of last year, when world leaders discussed ways of keeping the increase in temperature lower than two degrees Celsius.

“If it rises more than two degrees, it would be catastrophic and impossible for us to live anymore. The world doesn’t need anyone to save it, it can adjust itself. We have to save ourselves,” he said.

Consequences

Extreme heat: heat related illnesses and death, cardiovascular failure.
Severe weather: injuries and fatalities and mental health impacts.
Air pollution: asthma, cardiovascular diseases.
Changes in vector (such as mosquitos, rats and tics) ecology: malaria, dengue, Lyme disease.
Increasing allergies: respiratory allergies.
Water quality impacts: cholera, harmful algal blooms
Water and food supply impacts: Diarrhoea, malnutrition.
Environmental degradation: migration.

Tomorrow’s edition of Times Talk, screened on TVM at 10.05pm, will be discussing the issue of the changing weather.