Manuel Sapiano, CPO
Today the Energy and Water Agency officially launched a LIFE Integrated Project intended to support the implementation of Malta’s 2nd River Basin Management Plan (2nd RBMP). This is a Eur17 million project which will develop specific actions focusing on the optimisation of water use and the protection of all water resources in the Maltese islands. The Project will therefore directly support the achievement of the environmental objectives of the EU’s Water Framework Directive.
The lifetime of the Integrated Project spans eight years up to 2025, hence enabling the project to also support the development of Malta’s 3rd River Basin Management Plan in 2021, ensuring a comprehensive long-term approach to water management. Specifically the project shall increase awareness on the need to conserve and protect water resources and dependent ecosystems, facilitate the uptake of new technologies through demonstration actions, improve stakeholder dialogue and collaboration and improve the existing knowledge on water resources thus reducing uncertainty.
The LIFE Integrated Project is led by the Energy and Water Agency (EWA) within the Ministry for Energy and Water Management. To ensure the development of a comprehensive water management framework at the river basin level, the project also brings together the main water management stakeholders in the Maltese islands including the Environment and Resources Authority, the Water Services Corporation, the Ministry for Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change, the Ministry for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects and the Ministry for Gozo. The Integrated Project also seeks to develop the capacity required at these institutions to be better equipped to address the challenges related to the implementation process of the 2nd RBMP. The project also foresees the dissemination of results on a regional scale in other Mediterranean islands and coastal regions facing similar challenges, through the support of the Global Water Partnership-Mediterranean (GWP-Med) and the Network of Mediterranean Basin Organisations (MENBO).
