News | Sunday, 11 January 2009

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After the rains, Nadur farmers’ springs turns murky again

James Debono
The spring water used by Nadur farmers has been contaminated, for the second year running, by excavation works for the Nadur parish church’s 600-grave cemetery.
“After the torrential rain of the past days, the water has turned murky brown with cement and silt,” Martin Camilleri, president of the Nadur Farmers Cooperative said.
Samples taken in December 2007 had already shown that the once crystal-clear water had turned milky white with silt.
A report by hydrologist Marco Cremona noted “the very evident deterioration” of the quality of the farmers’ water sources in December 2007 after the commencement of excavation works to make way for the cemetery.
“There is no doubt in my mind that the contamination is linked to the excavation and construction works at the cemetery,” Cremona had said, “not least because the site of the cemetery lies just upstream of the farmers’ springs.
“Moreover, the fact that the contamination increases (to an level that it even becomes visible to the untrained eye) immediately after a rain event also shows that there is a direct and immediate hydraulic connection between the site of the cemetery and the farmers’ water supply.”
According to Cremona the long-term impact of the cemetery development could be even more devastating for the farming community as it could result in a shortage of water in Summer when the water is needed for irrigation.
Martin Camilleri told MaltaToday the flow of spring water decreased last summer, so much so that some minor springs dried up completely.
In his study Cremona had reported that in the wet season of 2008, the flow of water was two or three times as much as it had been before excavations started. “This is the probably the result of excavation works intercepting some fissures in the aquifer, which then results in a faster release of the water stored in the aquifer during the winter months, with a possible shortfall to be experienced in the summer months when the water is required for irrigation.”

Case study for MEPA reform
Cremona contends that the Nadur cemetery saga is an ideal case study for the Prime Minister to identify MEPA’s shortcomings before embarking on its reform.
MEPA exempted the church’s project from a proper Environment Impact Assessment, relying on a hydrology report carried out by geologist Saviour Scerri on behalf of the developers in 2005, which concluded that the cemetery would not have any impact on water resources.
Although samples were collected from the perched aquifer and from the valley, no samples were collected from the fresh water springs used by the farmers.
The report did not even mention the natural springs used by the farmers for irrigation and did not even provide any scientific record of the springs’ yield prior to the excavation works, making it difficult to assess the impact of the development on the flow of water discharged from the springs.
Ironically the Water Services Corporation had objected to an alternative site for the cemetery because they had a water production borehole in the vicinity. Without doubt, this implies that a cemetery poses an inherent risk to groundwater.
And yet the Scerri report concluded that the cemetery (at its new location above the farmers’ springs) was “unlikely” to have any adverse impact on water sources.
Cremona points out that had MEPA conducted an EIA on this project, it would have been possible to assess the impact of the cemetery on the farmers’ water supply.
While current regulations do not list cemeteries among developments requiring an EIA, the local plan for Paola makes it clear that an EIA would be required for the extension of the Adolorata cemetery.
“Does it make sense to require an EIA for a cemetery located in an urban site and not on a cemetery located Outside Development Zone and in an area which MEPA itself designated as being of High Landscape Sensitivity?” Cremona asked.
An appeal against the permit for the cemetery was presented by Nature Trust. Yet according to present regulations developers are still allowed to conduct works during the appeal.
Given that are appeals are not heard with due urgency, cases in front of the Appeals Board tend to drag on for years.
Although developers are bound to restore an area to its natural state if the appeal is accepted, in this case redressing the damage to the aquifer which has been supplying a perennial flow of spring water for irrigation for centuries would be nearly impossible.

jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt

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