ĊINE’AMBJENT #7 — Water Scarcity

The Friends of the Earth Malta Environmental Film Club is centred around thematic documentary and film screenings linked to current environmental justice issues. For the ĊINE’AMBJENT #7 session we will be looking at Water Use and Scarcity.

PUMPED DRY (2016)

Much of the planet relies on groundwater. And in places around the world—from the United States to Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America—so much water is pumped from the ground that aquifers are being rapidly depleted and wells are going dry.

Groundwater is disappearing beneath cornfields in Kansas, rice paddies in India, asparagus farms in Peru and orange groves in Morocco. As these critical water reserves are pumped beyond their limits, the threats are mounting for people who depend on aquifers to supply agriculture, sustain economies and provide drinking water. In some areas, fields have already turned to dust and farmers are struggling.

Climate change is projected to increase the stresses on water supplies, and heated disputes are erupting in places where those with deep wells can keep pumping and leave others with dry wells. Even as satellite measurements have revealed the problem’s severity on a global scale, many regions have failed to adequately address the problem. Aquifers largely remain unmanaged and unregulated, and water that seeped underground over tens of thousands of years is being gradually used up.

In this project, Ian James of The Desert Sun and Steve Elfers of USA Todayinvestigate the consequences of this emerging crisis in several of the world’s hotspots of groundwater depletion. On four continents, they tell stories of people who are being forced to confront questions of how to safeguard their aquifers for the future—and in some cases, how to cope as the water runs out.

Panel Discussion

The film screening will be followed with a panel discussion. Joining us on the day will be:

James Debono — Malta Today

James is MaltaToday’s chief reporter on environment, planning and land use issues, and one of the newspaper’s main political analysts. Apart from blogging regularly on politics, James Debono won the IGM national press awards’ environmental reporter of the year in 2011 for his report showing how a beverage company that extracted over 51,000 of cubic metres of water every year from the national water table for free, was awarded an environmental award by the University of Malta. A co-founder of Moviment Graffitti and active in Moviment ghall-Ambjent, he served as a media officer for Alternattiva Demokratika – the Green Party.

MALCOLM BORG — MCAST CENTRE FOR AGRICULTURE, AQUATICS AND ANIMAL SCIENCES

Malcolm is in charge of MCAST’s Centre for Agriculture, Aquatics & Animal Sciences and is the founder and coordinator the Ghaqda Bdiewi Attivi- a lobby group for active farmers. Having graduated with a Masters Degree in Agribusiness Management, Malcolm has worked extensively on matters related to farmer education, agriculture education in secondary schools, agriculture research especially related to water management and other issues related to small-scale fisheries and aquaculture.

Manuel Sapiano — Energy and Water Agency

Manuel is the Chief Executive Officer of the Energy and Water Agency (EWA) within Malta’s Ministry for Energy and Water Management.  In this role, he coordinates a team of experts with responsibilities for the formulation, evaluation, monitoring and implementation of national policies concerning the use of energy and water in a sustainable manner and the formulation of plans to meet National and EU energy and water resources management targets.

Marco Cremona — Sustech Consulting

Marco Cremnona is a Hydrologist and Water Treatment Engineer. Long time activist in the field of water resources; co-founder and Secretary of the Malta Water Association, Malta’s only eNGO focused on water. Awarded the National Order of Merit for his pioneering work in the water sector in Malta and abroad; his innovative water recycling projects were featured on BBC World Service, Al Jazeera, CNBC, France 5 among others. Works as a freelance water consultant as Sustech Consulting

The screening is free but places are limited. Submit in the form below to reserve your seat. 

The film club will follow with the following thematic screenings:

• Climate Change and Island States
• Waste
• Fashion Industry and the Circular Economy
• Air Pollution
• 2 open sessions – An opportunity for participants to curate either with their choice of film or topic of interest.

The film club is co-curated between Friends of the Earth Malta, Kinemastik, and the presenters of each session.

If you are interested in presenting one of the sessions, assisting in the curation or the organisation of the film club, get in touch with Anastasia on anastasia@foemalta.org.

This session is organised in collaboration with Kinemastik and supported by Arts Council Malta – Creative Communities