Each year, World Water Day aims to bring into focus one of the most precious resources we have on Earth – WATER!

When seeing abundant swimming pools all over the islands and green turf in landscaping one may think that Malta has no issue with water… and yet we are in the top ranks for the highest Water Scarcity conditions in the EU. Factor in the current scenario of increasing drought and sea level rises due to climate change and we are undeniably in the midst of a crisis.

This is having severe impacts on an already strained situation where our farmers are struggling to grow the food we depend on. Urgent measures can no longer be delayed and need to be implemented nationwide for rainwater harvesting and the reuse of water resources.

On this day, let us also not forget the most endangered local ecosystems which are under intense pressure from climate change (amongst other threats) – the scarce freshwater habitats of the Maltese Islands. The organisms living in such fragile and sparse habitats are very diverse but equally rare and are considered as being imminently at risk due to their climate dependence – they require water to complete their lifecycles. One such example is an animal that has outlived the dinosaurs but is at high risk in modern times: the rare Tadpole Shrimp (Gamblu tal-Elmu) Triops cancriformis (PHOTO 1) found only in temporary freshwater rockpools. Another is the prettiest flower of our rockpools – the threatened Maltese Waterwort (Elatine) Elatine gussonei (PHOTO 2).