RBMP Life Malta

The development process of the River Basin Management Plan (RBMP) has confirmed that there are still significant challenges ahead of Malta for achieving the good status objectives of the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC). These challenges are mainly linked to severe water scarcity and drought conditions, high population density, high urbanisation rates, saline water intrusion, contamination, and vulnerability of coastal waters.

The main aim of the LIFE-IP RBMP-MALTA project is to support the implementation of Malta's RBMP (2nd and 3rd) through the establishment of an integrated framework for the optimised management of all water resources on the Maltese islands. To achieve this, it will seek to address the key horizontal challenges identified during a gap analysis undertaken as part of the development process for the RBMP. The challenges will be addressed through the implementation of best practice, demonstration, pilot study, and capacity building actions.

The key horizontal challenges (i.e. the specific project objectives) are to:

• Increase the awareness of the need to conserve and protect water resources and dependent terrestrial, aquatic and marine ecosystems;
• Facilitate the uptake of measures, through demonstration actions and cases of best practices in addition to fiscal incentives, to build up the confidence of stakeholders and water users in the solutions proposed;
• Improve the institutional approach to measure implementation, achieving a high level of institutional and stakeholder dialogue; and
• Reduce uncertainty in water body status assessments through improved knowledge of water-related processes, ecosystems and ecosystem services, as well as on interactions with anthropogenic activity, with a view to inform appropriate ecosystem-based management regimes and increase the trust of stakeholders in the status assessments.

The Project was divided into two phases, constituting a preparatory phase, followed by a concrete phase. Nine preparatory actions were conducted during the beginning of the project, which focused on assessing Malta's current groundwater and water management status, in order to better understand the mitigation measures required to be implemented at the concrete stage. 

Twenty concrete actions have focused on the list of measures which Malta's 2nd River Basin Management Plan identified as being crucial for the achievement of the overall objectives laid down within this plan. The list of actions is as follows: 

1. Household water consumption audits
2. Eco-Label scheme 
3. Remote sensing for agricultural water demand 
4. Water educational campaign 
5. Water App/Water Game 
6. Demonstration site for the application of New Water resources in Gozo 
7. Sustainable urban drainage systems 
8. Valley management plan
9. Development of a managed aquifer recharge scheme in the Pwales groundwater body
10. Industrial discharges - enforcement augmentation and sustainability
11. Exploitation of deep saline aquifers 
12. Heating and cooling installations 
13. Restoration of one of the coastal wetlands 
14. Anchoring and mooring surveys 
15. Impact of reverse osmosis discharge on the marine environment
16. Hydrographic model simulations for Malta's marine waters to quantify and investigate pressures in the marine environment 
17. Multi-stakeholder platform 
18. Monitoring for emerging pollutants of potential concern 
19. Smart consumption pilot project 
20. Setting the framework for increased circularity in wastewater treatment 

• Reduced domestic water demand by around 5%, thereby generating annual savings of around 850,000 m3 in the municipal water supply; 
• A net increase in the mean annual recharge of around 1.2 million m3, coming from alternative water sources such as rainwater runoff and highly-cleaned treated effluents; 
• Increased capacity of wastewater treatment plants to produce highly-cleaned water and increased use of this treated water (instead of groundwater);
• Reduced flood risk and improved groundwater status; 
• Increased awareness on the challenges facing the water sector; and 
• Optimised management of coastal ecosystems. 

The project will utilise the outcomes achieved throughout its implementation and will develop a toolbox of applicability solutions that can be used by other islands in the Mediterranean and beyond to address their water management challenges and align with the requirements of the EU's Water Framework Directive. 

The toolbox will be launched during the 2nd half of 2024 during an international conference, which is expected to be held in Crete. A final dissemination conference will be held during 2025.