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16 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 16 AUGUST 2026 NEWS Bastion Nights Under the Stars Jazz Nights every Wednesday evening and a specially curated à la carte dining experience. Mediterranean Barbecue every Tuesday & Thursday evening accompanied by live entertainment. +356 2122 5241 Bastion Restaurant - The Phoenicia Malta | Scan to learn more Price of water should reflect full- cost recovery, researchers say RESEARCHERS are recom- mending the introduction of full- cost recovery pricing for water services to cover the financial and environmental cost of supplying water as Malta faces unsustaina- ble growth. The recommendation is found in a policy brief produced under the EU-funded RETOUCH NEX- US project that examined Malta's water-energy system. Research- ers used computer simulations to assess how the country's limit- ed natural resources are likely to cope with continued economic and population growth over the next 50 years. The simulations found that if current trends continue, eco- nomic growth could become un- sustainable within around three decades, largely because resource consumption would outpace in- vestment in sustainable alterna- tives. The brief proposes integrating renewable energy subsidies with water policy, including greater use of solar-powered desalination, while encouraging reclaimed wa- ter for irrigation through targeted tariffs and subsidies. The case study notes that Malta's high population density (1670/ km²) and a semi-arid climate re- sult in the lowest per capita fresh- water availability in the EU. This creates a dependency on energy intensive desalinisation. It concludes that Malta's heavy dependence on energy-intensive water production creates long- term vulnerabilities that existing policies do not fully address. "Energy-intensive water supply can mask long-term depletion in water-scarce regions," the re- searchers warn, arguing that wa- ter sustainability should become a binding consideration in econom- ic and spatial planning rather than an environmental afterthought. The policy brief doesn't argue that desalination should be re- duced—it treats it as structural- ly unavoidable, but increasingly problematic due to its coupling with energy production. Every ex- pansion of water supply is tightly linked to increased electricity de- mand. Because of this coupling, increasing desalination capacity does not just solve a water prob- lem—it transfers pressure onto the energy system, which in Malta is still partly reliant on non-re- newable sources. The policy brief argues that wa- ter and energy should no longer be treated as separate policy areas since decisions affecting one sec- tor inevitably affect the other. Researchers instead recommend adopting a broader Water-En- ergy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE) approach, allowing policymakers to assess the trade-offs between water security, renewable energy, agriculture and environmental protection before major decisions are taken. The Malta case study forms part of the RETOUCH NEXUS project, a Horizon Europe re- search programme examining water governance across Europe. The project is coordinated by the Technical University of Munich and brings together 17 partners from 10 countries. For the Malta case study, researchers developed a dynamic model of the country's water-energy-economy system and ran Monte Carlo simulations over a 50-year period to test how different policy choices would af- fect sustainability. JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt The Lapsi reverse osmosis plant in Siggiewi had a solar farm installed on its roof last year but new research suggests Malta will have to invest much more in desalination to keep up with the demands of economic growth (Photo: Environment Ministry)