Consultation on the Significant Water Management Issues in preparation for the development of the 3rd Water Catchment Management Plan

Under the implementation process of the EU’s Water Framework Directive (WFD), Malta is required to prepare its 3rd River Basin Management Plan (3rd RBMP) for the third cycle of implementation of the WFD by the 22nd March 2022.  The River Basin Management Plan provides a status assessment of inland and coastal waters in the Maltese islands, and identifies the measures necessary to enable the progressive achievement of good status conditions in these water bodies. 

The process leading to the formulation of this management plan includes an extensive stakeholder consultation process, in order to ensure that this plan give due consideration to stakeholders’ expectation for the national water environment.  The Directive requires three specific consultation phases focusing on the timetable for the formulation of the plans, the identification of Significant Water Management Issues and the Draft Plans. 

In line with the implementation timeline of the 3rd RBMP, the Energy and Water Agency and the Environment and Resources Authority have identified the signficant water managmeent issues which should be addressed in the development of the 3rd River Basin Management Plan. Interested stakeholder are being invited to send their submission on the proposed timetable by the 16th of February 2021 in order to adress the concerns and expectations of the water sector. 

This consultation exercise will be open for a period of six months and the main consultation tool for this exercise is an online questionnaire available within the report identifying the key Significant Water Management Issues, which report is available for download here. [https://www.energywateragency.gov.mt/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Significant-Water-Management-Issues-Document_final-1.pdf] Stakeholders are encouraged to read and submit their feedback on the identified issues online. The direct link to the online questionnaire is also being made available on the link: https://www.energywateragency.gov.mt/survey/

3.        Documents