Thirst for water: up close with Malta’s climate challenge in Art Għatxana

The Misraħ Suffara water source, in the limits of Ħad-Dingli, is one of the few springs found on clay.  Farmers use its water, to irrigate their fields.

In the past, these springs were the major drinking water source on the Maltese islands. But over the years they have become contaminated with nitrates. As a result, these springs have been closed for over 30 years. Drinking water contaminated with nitrates can cause serious health risks to humans but is harmless to crops.

Footage of this water source is shown for the first time on the TVM documentary, Art Għatxana, presented by journalist Antonia Micallef.

Located about two storeys underground and accessed through a 2km tunnel around Ħad-Dingli, Micallef reveals a system of channels made of stone and iron pipes that leeads water by gravity towards the Fiddien valley.

Spring water reduces pressure on the expensive, national demand for water produced by Reverse Osmosis. And Micallef wants to raise awareness about the importance of water in a country which has no water to waste.

“This is a country that needs to learn from its past mistakes such as building in valleys which resulted in more flooding. It is a country that needs to update its regulations on wells to make them relevant to the dwellings we build today. A country with major water challenges which will increase because of desertification – one of the many impacts of climate change,” she told MaltaToday.

The documentary observes statistics about rainfall on the Maltese islands which clearly show that precipitation is decreasing.

According to Professor Charles Galdies, the weather and climate expert at the University of Malta’s Institute of Earth Systems, data collected by the Meteorological Office in Luqa over the last 70 years, shows that rain has decreased by 10 millimeters every decade.

MET office figures for the past six years also show that the amount of rainfall was below the average norm, except for one year which stood by the mean of 567 millimeters.

MCAST researcher and academic Steve Zerafa analyses two satellite photos taken in spring of two different years: one during the year which recorded the average precipitation and one during a dry year. The difference in greenery and vegetation, or lack thereof, is clear. “Art Għatxana shows the extent of the impact of desertification on the Maltese islands, which goes beyond the visual impact,” Micallef says.

Dr Sandro Lanfranco, Head of the Department of Biology at the University of Malta, also underlines the impact on the country’s flora and fauna and how they must adapt to this harsh environment or perish. Alex Borg Galea, Chief Scientific Officer at Ambjent Malta highlights the importance of valleys in the Maltese islands, not only because they offer a unique environment for endemic biodiversity but also because they are the country’s natural system to collect and store water.

And the head of the Energy and Water Agency, Hydrologist Manuel Sapiano, explains among other things, what groundwater is, “the impact of over extracting water from this natural resource and what is being done to allow underground water to replenish. Desertification impacts groundwater too.

Art Għatxana is aired over two days: the first part will be broadcast on Wednesday 2 March and the second part will be broadcast the next day on Thursday 3 March at 8.50pm on TVMnews + A repeat is scheduled for Saturday 5 March at 10am on TVM.