Last week we had another wake-up call about another aspect of our environment which is under serious threat. For generations we have been aware of the awful water problem facing our country. Literally, countless boreholes have been carved into our island to extract free groundwater for use by businesses, homes, farms and everything in between. Our country has grown decadent on the luxury of free water, and the government has without exception been too cowardly to do anything about it.
We are unfortunately past the point of no return in some aspects due to the salination of our aquifer. However, with radical measures, we could spend the necessary millions to pump reverse osmosis water into the aquifer to regenerate it over the next few generations. Or we could start clamping down on boreholes, and making people pay the real value of water. Right now, our reverse osmosis plants do not even operate at maximum capacity, because people are busy getting their free water from our aquifer in crisis.
The sheer indifference felt by most of the public to this problem beggars belief. It also explains a great deal about the other problems facing our country, and the crises facing the world at large. There is absolutely no doubt that with the increasing pressure on our aquifer, we will end up paying a far more gigantic cost very soon.
Indeed, the world is facing such an ecological disaster that our very climate is changing, and we are experiencing a mass extinction. Desertification is going to worsen our migration situation beyond imagining in years to come.
Activists such as Cami Appelgren are at the forefront to educate the public to be more conscientious, as little decisions in our daily lives can have a large impact. We have to stop our bad habits and prioritise the environment at election time. Nothing less will save the planet as we know and love it, and unfortunately, that is not hyperbole or exaggeration.
Many students leave their homework for the last minute, and that last minute has come for the world at large. Take responsibility, and do not expect that science, NGOs or environmentalists are going to save us all at the last second. The water crisis in Malta is emblematic of the larger problem – just because you cannot see it, does not mean it is not there. When people put the environment first, politicians will take note. And then they will follow. Settle for nothing less.