Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1393937
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 18 JULY 2021 NEWS JAMES DEBONO THE tiny sandy Tax-Xa- ma beach tucked by the Tal-Għażżelin headland at St Paul's Bay is set for a beach nourishment project by the Malta Tourism Authority. The temporary extension fol- lows those of Balluta Bay, Għar l-Aħmar in Marsaxlokk, Mar- saskala's il-Fajtata, and Birżeb- bugia's San Ġorġ. All but the Balluta beach survived the last two years; the St Julian's beach had to be re-nourished follow- ing a storm in 2019. The Tax-Xama beach, with an area of 100sq.m, will be ex- tended by five metres towards the sea, increasing in area to some 250sq.m. The small beach is popu- lar with residents and sailing club members, being sheltered from the prevailing winds due to a slipway and some offshore shoals. The sand will be siphoned from sandy areas located fur- ther offshore, and transported through pipes directly to the beach. The MTA's preliminary study suggests the extended beach will not be permanent and indeed will be slowly erod- ed by waves and currents with- in months. Researchers ADI Consultants sounded a cautionary note: "It important that such a project by carefully explained to the public and the media to make it clear that it is aimed at pro- viding a temporarily enlarged beach for the summer months, and that the beach is expect- ed to disappear over a period of time unless the re-nourish- ment exercise is repeated in subsequent years." In February 2019, gale force winds and a storm obliterated the additional sand at Balluta, the first beach to be nourished back in 2018. The experience gained in this case proved use- ful for replicating it in other localities. Il-Fajtata beach was also the site of a turtle nesting in the summer of 2020. The ADI report also reveals that a major beach replen- ishment project in Xemxija bay first proposed in 2012 for which an Environment Im- pact Assessment was finalised last year is currently on hold "in view of other proposals by government for the same lo- cation". The MTA is instead focused on smaller bays that do not require major inter- ventions, identified in a 2019 coastal survey by ADI. Tax-Xama to double in size with beach nourishment Although beaches nourished by sand taken from further offshore are expected to disappear over a period of time unless the re- nourishment exercise is repeated, beaches in M'Xlokk, Marsaskala and B'Bugia have already survived two winters and two summers