Malta Second In Water Scarcity In EU, Ranked Just Below ‘Severe’
A worrying new report has shed light on Malta’s ongoing water scarcity issue, placing the island as the second worst in the entire European Union.
“Climate change makes water issues in Europe worse,” a post by the European Parliament sharing the findings read. “Extreme heat, prolonged droughts and devastating floods damage ecosystems, human health, and cause major disruptions to economic activities.”
The Water Exploitation Index Plus (WEI+) measures water consumption as a percentage of renewable freshwater resources for a given territory and period. For context, back in 2022, the EU WEI+ was 5.8%, an increase of 0.9% since 2000, and placing at the highest yet. As a rule of thumb, values above 20% are generally considered a sign of water scarcity, with “severe” water scarcity coming in at values greater than 40%.At a whopping 34.1%, far above many countries (which mostly gravitated around 2%, Malta placed second only to Cyprus, which is suffering from a mind-boggling 71% as far as the Water Exploitation Index Plus goes.
These calculations of the WEI+ at national level do not reflect the fact that water resources may be insufficient in some regions during specific seasons, with Greece, Portugal, Spain and Romania experiencing water scarcity particularly during spring and summer.With Malta very much at heart of this ever-intensifying problem, Gozitan MEP Thomas Bajada presented his first major report flagging the need to safeguard and manage clean, safe water. Bajada, as rapporteur, insisted that “water is life”, and managed to push to have the European Parliament approve a water resilience strategy just last week.
The strategy recognises that water can no longer be treated as an infinite resource, something which Bajada himself had pushed for.“Malta, over the years, has invested in desalination plants and water reuse strategies and innovations, to address the lack of water,” Bajada told Lovin Malta of the new report, and the islands’ efforts. “Moreover, water scarcity induced by desertification is also shifting north to other EU countries – thereby requiring more coordination, ambition and solidarity”.
What do you make of these latest findings?
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