This past week’s massive rainstorm was yet another reminder of the authorities’ inability to properly harvest Malta’s rainwater, the Green Party said on Saturday.

“The storage and use of rainwater would reduce pressure on other sources of water that we currently use, which is the little remaining groundwater and the water which is purified by reverse osmosis. 

“We had the opportunity to invest millions of euros into this when tunnels were being excavated to collect accumulated stormwater.  Instead of harvesting this stormwater, most of it ends up dumped in the sea,” ADPD deputy leader Carmel Cacopardo said at a press conference outside Water Services Corporation offices in Luqa on Saturday morning.

More than 36mm of rain fell on Malta on Thursday – more than three times the average for all of May. But practically all that water drained into the sea or sewage system, as water catchment systems are limited and laws requiring houses to have wells are poorly enforced.

Cacopardo and Gauci speaking outside WSC offices in Luqa. Photo: ADPD

Cacopardo noted that Malta is among the most water-deprived countries in Europe, with only Cyprus ranked as higher on the Water Exploitation Index Plus (WEI+).

He said the Planning Authority and Water Services Corporation had done “very little, if anything” to help the country make up for that scarcity through rainwater harvesting. Instead, the focus was on drawing water from dwindling groundwater reserves and processing seawater through energy-intensive reverse osmosis.

ADPD chairperson Sandra Gauci said climate change meant Malta had no time to waste in tackling the issue, saying the government’s Vision 2050 document failed to take the issue seriously.

“There is a need for measures for water conservation, and which are taken into account when we build and repair our roads,” she said. 

“Water is not an infinite source, and for a country that strives to be a competitive country and a tourist destination of excellence in the year 2025, this is unacceptable,” she said.