Malta risks missing its mandatory 2015 EU target on implementing the national catchment plan to protect its precious groundwater, according to the National Audit Office.
Nitrates monitoring is focusing only on about half the Maltese farming population
Delays have been attributed to insufficient administrative capacity at different government departments and lack of “adequate management information systems”, the NAO reports.
However, entities responsible for executing groundwater-related measures within the Water Catchment Management Plan remain optimistic they will reach the 2015 target.
The NAO audit of Malta’s groundwater conservation strategies also suggests that the government should consider charging for groundwater extraction, give the utmost priority to installing meters on agricultural boreholes and include cost estimates in its groundwater proposals.
It found that the regulations for groundwater preservation had developed well, although there were several short-comings in implementation and enforcement. An 87-page audit report goes into the effectiveness of government measures aimed at safeguarding groundwater from threats such as over-extraction and nitrate pollution.
It said the unit responsible for implementing the Nitrates Action Programme was “not appropriately resourced” and it appeared that monitoring the programme was “focusing only on about half the Maltese farming population”. “Utmost priority” is to be given to the installation of groundwater meters, the report insists.
Although all agricultural boreholes were originally meant to be metered by October 2010, the first such meter was only installed last November. Metering of the 3,500 registered agricultural boreholes was due to be completed by mid-2013, Resources Minister George Pullicino said late last year.
Practically all commercial boreholes have been fitted with meters but monitoring of groundwater extraction has yet to begin since “the relative metering information has not yet been made fully available” to the Malta Resources Authority.
It was not all bad news, however. The report found that several initiatives outlined within the government’s draft water policy were already in various stages of implemen-tation even though the draft policy itself had yet to be launched.
Coordination between the various departments and groundwater-related measures was judged to be good, with each entity aware of its relative responsibilities and groundwater concerns being addressed through a “holistic and integrated approach”.