In Frank Herbert’s science fiction novel Dune, we are introduced to the eponymous planet Dune, or Arrakis, a planet that just happens to be the only source of the most precious substance known to man. There’s just one catch - it’s a dry, desert planet. There is no open water anywhere on the entire planet’s surface - no seas, rivers, streams or lakes - and no precipitation either.
The author impresses on the reader the extremes to which the inhabitants of this planet must go to survive in this arid environment - from constantly wearing special suits to reclaim the moisture in perspiration and funnelling air deep underground where the cooler temperature might coax some drops of dew from the air, to sealing all entrances to prevent the escape of the slightest bit of moisture and even extracting the water from the bodies of the dead.
Malta might not be quite as desiccated as the planet Arrakis but we’re still at the mercy of the weather to supply us with much of our water.
We have a long summer which rarely sees a drop of rain between April and September, and on occasion even winter leaves the land wanting. That’s what’s happening right now. The rainfall to date is just over half what we normally get by this time of winter and agriculture is suffering. The valleys which would normally be full contain just a few puddles and mud - and the situation could get worse before it gets better.
The longer the drought lasts, the more farmers will have to irrigate their lands - either ordering bowsers to replenish their water reservoirs, or pumping it out of the aquifer from boreholes. But there’s a risk in the latter - the more water we pump from the water table, the more it will be replenished with salt water seeping in from the sea, increasing its salinity until eventually it could become unsuitable for either agriculture or drinking.
The Malta Water Association has been trying for years to increase awareness of these issues, because so far we’ve been treating water as if it’s an inexhaustible resource. It’s not. Although we rely a lot on reverse osmosis to supplement our water supply, this is very expensive and increases our dependence on fossil fuels to produce the extra energy needed, not to mention that an oil spill could bring our reverse osmosis plants to a halt.
The difficulties we are facing, and will continue to face for some time this year, are an alarm call
Unfortunately, our planning so far has concentrated efforts mostly on getting rid of storm water as quickly as possible by dumping it in the sea, with little to no effort made to let it replenish the water table. In many places, valleys are walled off with concrete and buildings in a way that prevents the water from flowing into the ground. The large quantities of rain that can fall in a matter of hours could be managed in such a way to allow clean rainwater to find its way into the aquifer before any excess is directed safely into the sea.
We need a detailed and holistic plan to ensure that not only is our water use sustainable, but we can get through rough patches like the occasional year with very little rain. This includes being more responsible with our use of water, whether for agriculture, for swimming pools, and for other uses.
Water from roofs should as far as possible be collected into wells for garden irrigation, or even directed onto ground where it can be absorbed. Unfortunately many houses are nowadays directing this water into the sewer system, which contributes to the sewage overflows that often follow a rain storm. Water discipline is almost non-existent.
Much of the groundwork for such a national strategy has already been done by the Malta Resources Authority together with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO), which in 2006 conducted a study and published a report (available online) entitled Malta Water Resources Review.
The worst option is unfortunately also the easiest - doing nothing will allow this problem to keep growing, always brushing things under the carpet in the hope that someone else will take care of the problem in the future.
The problem however becomes less manageable over time. As the FAO report says: “Tough decisions will have to be made immediately if the environmental sustainability of Malta’s aquifer systems is to be achieved.”
The difficulties we are facing, and will continue to face for some time this year, are an alarm call. We need to act now, because a plan to mitigate the problems we are facing will take time to implement and even then, it will take longer for the damage to be reversed.
Ramon Casha is chairman of the Malta Humanist Association.