In these days of extreme heat, we would do well to consider the impact of the weather on the condition of life in these tightly-packed islands.

We know of course that this extreme heat does not happen in Malta only. What we are passing through concerns all North Africa and, as the fires that are still raging, Greece and the whole Balkan area.

There was a time when all North Africa was flourishing and green. Before that, there was a time when the Sahara itself was green and flourishing. Then desertification set in and turned these areas into arid sand.

The process is ongoing and unless something happens will extend the desert to the north coast of the Mediterranean within just a few years.

Only Israel has managed to turn the process around and created, at a terrible cost and labour, what was arid desert into green countryside and, even so, there is much work still to be done. The other experiment, the man-made river in Libya, seems to have been yet another victim of the anti-Gaddafi revolution.

The microcosm that is Malta has been affected by the same process of desertification to which it has added its own deleterious contribution. So far, we do not have a success story to tell, even though that would be relatively easy to manage.

There is an intimate link between water resources and trees, crops and livestock. History tells us that hundreds or thousands of years ago, Malta was wooded, its main river-valleys spread life-giving water to a countryside not yet dominated by cement and roads. And there were far less people on the island which was thus far more sustainable.

As we know, the countryside is being continually eroded and depleted, trees have been hacked down with abandonment, fields transformed into parking areas for yachts and previous half-baked efforts to collect rainwater summarily abandoned instead of maintained.

In line with all this history of dereliction of duty, there is a far longer history of mismanagement of our water resources. This slim booklet contains the proceedings of the APS Seminar on this theme which was held in March 2007. Time has elapsed since it was held so that we might gauge what has improved or deteriorated in the meantime and see whether any of the recommendations made have been followed up.

True, there has been a change of government in the meantime but the sustainability of the water resources should never be a matter of political controversy.

Introducing the seminar, then APS Bank chairman E. P. Delia referred to a previous seminar held in 2001 which observed that: "Malta is an extreme case of water scarcity well indicated by its extremely high water use/conventional water resources ratio of 362%. The current situation of irrigated agriculture is unsustainable as it contributes to groundwater drawdown and seawater intrusion, while also increasing pollution of aquifers that are particularly vulnerable due to their mostly karstic nature."

Jean-Marc Faures, from FAO, said: "Malta's groundwater water resources are poor and threatened by overexploitation and pollution. Reversing this trend requires a clear understanding of the situation that can guide policy decisions and help in setting up the necessary legal, institutional and implementation mechanisms. Time is of the essence. The process of putting policy into practice has to start as soon as possible if current trends are to be reversed and Malta's overall water-resource base be brought to a position from which long-term sustainability can be assured."

APS consultant Joseph Borg brings a touch of wry reality into the debate. In 1976 a survey had shown the existence of 3,000 registered boreholes. Twenty years later, 800 new boreholes were found. One must consider that more efficient pumps had been developed and they are more efficient, less bulky and less obtrusive. To this one must add political inertia by successive governments to enforce existing regulations and the low fees charged by pirate contractors for illegal drilling of boreholes.

His message ends in discouragement: "In St Paul's Bay a spring carries a marble slab proclaiming in Latin that 'the spring beneath the stone on the coast was opened by St Paul the apostle'. But now there was a notice saying the fountain was unfit for drinking and the spring has run dry!"

Reverse osmosis plants have been built and opened but the problem identified which led to Malta's grey-listing, that is, lack of enforcement, is still endemic. It is Malta's most endemic species.