Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1512265
8 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 29 NOVEMBER 2023 NEWS NEWS DESPITE constant warnings by hydrologists on the deple- tion of Malta's increasingly sa- linised groundwater resources, abstraction has been left un- regulated and unbilled for the past decades. The only two major steps taken by the state being two registration schemes carried out in 1997 and 2008, which gave owners of around 8,000 boreholes a once in a lifetime chance to regularise their po- sition. But a green paper issued for public consultation last week, proposes an unprecedented tariff system based on the vol- umes abstracted from the wa- ter table. The tariff still must be quantified, and it remains unclear whether the new per- mitting system will be strictly limited to those boreholes reg- istered in 2008 to avoid anoth- er amnesty. It remains an open secret that unregistered boreholes have continued to proliferate since 2008. What is clear so far is the intent to use the new tariff as a stick while offering incentives in the forms of rebates and quotas as carrots, to help shift farmers and commercial oper- ators to a more sustainable use of water sources. 1. Filling your swimming pool with ground water will cost more than filling it with tap water The green paper proposes a tariff for domestic users who use their own boreholes to ab- stract groundwater to use it to water their garden lawns or fill their swimming pools. The green paper does not tell us how much they will be pay- ing but makes it clear that the tariff will be set at a higher lev- el than the tariff applied by the Water Services Corporation for domestic consumers. The aim of this measure is to disincentivise the use of groundwater for domestic purposes while promoting the provision of water from WSC which is a more sustainable al- ternative. In short ground wa- ter abstraction will no longer remain a cheaper alternative to tap water. But the green paper does not specifically refer to the regula- tion of water carriers or bows- ers which provide households with a cheap supply of water to fill up their pools. One pre- sumes that water abstracted by bowsers will also be charged at a commercial rate, thus ensur- ing that tap water is cheaper than water supplied by com- mercial operators. 2. Farmers will only pay if they surpass an allocated quota of ground water they can use for free Each farming operation will be allocated a quota based on factors such as land-area, the crops cultivated, and farm-size as well as environmental fac- tors. Livestock farmers will be provided with an annual quo- ta depending on the livestock units on the farm. Farmers will be able to source the water volume allocated un- der the quota either through groundwater or through New Water i.e. treated wastewater derived from sewage purifi- cation plants, in those places where it is available. No volumetric tariffs will be applied to water use within this quota. But groundwater and New Water use in exceedance of this quota will be charged at a volumetric rate "close to the real cost of groundwater". Since the abstraction of groundwater is estimated to al- ready carry an operational cost of around €0.25/ m³, the water pricing policy will also incen- tivize the use of New Water over groundwater, given that New Water below the estab- lished quota will be provided at no charge to consumers in the agricultural sector. And since there are no operational costs involved in using New Water, it will remain more ad- vantageous for farmers to use it instead of ground water. Still only 1.6 million cu- bic meters of New Water was available for farmers in 2022. According to the green paper this capacity "only addresses a fraction of the current total water demand of the agricul- tural sector". Agriculture accounts for 76% of the total amount of ground water used in Malta. While on average agricultural boreholes in 2019 abstracted an annu- al 1,043cb.m of water, com- mercial boreholes abstracted 3,414cb.m of water. But In 2019 four boreholes - three of which were registered as agricultural boreholes - were abstracting over 60,000 cubic meters of water each. 3. Concrete plants and water bottlers will be charged in full but businesses implementing a water management plan will be eligible for a 25% rebate. A volumetric tariff for wa- ter use will be established for Free no more: A price tag For the first time ever, the state intends to impose a tariff on ground water abstracted from the water table through boreholes while offering substantial incentives to users who shift to more sustainable sources. Will this 'carrot and stick' approach work, JAMES DEBONO asks.