BLUE NEWS Daily Digest 30-05-2025

Global Water Organization launches in Riyadh to tackle global water challenges

The organization brings together founding members from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Spain, Greece, Senegal, Pakistan, and Mauritania, united by a shared commitment to sustainable water resource management.

Source: smart water magazine / Tags: WaterBusiness

Publication: In pursuit of water policy nirvana: Examining the role of catchment groups in Aotearoa New Zealand

Water quality decline has proven to be an intractable policy problem worldwide due to the complexity of multiple interests in land and water use. In Aotearoa New Zealand, a proliferation of local catchment groups, including collectives of farmers and other land users and stakeholders, raises important questions about the scope for government to direct collective management towards water policy implementation, and the opportunities and pitfalls of doing so. 

Source: Water Alternatives / Tags: Aotearoa-NewZealand Publication

Paying closer attention to what was coming out of my faucet changed the way I see the world. 

Read The New York Times Magazine / Tags: Right2Water – US

US: Forced to relocate by climate change, Alaskan villagers found a new crisis.

Nearly 300 people from Newtok have moved nine miles across the Ninglick River to a new village known as Mertarvik. But much of the infrastructure there is already failing. Residents lack running water, use 5-gallon buckets as toilets and must contend with intermittent electricity and deteriorating homes that expose them to the region’s fierce weather.

Read The Washington Post / Tags: Right2Water, US, Alaska

France: The Nestlé water scandal: three questions on the consequences of the health controversy that has shaken the industry.

Following revelations about the group’s undeclared use of filters, Perrier sales have plummeted, indicating a breakdown in trust among French consumers. Distributors, for their part, are adopting new strategies.

franceinfo (French) / Tags: BottledWater, Nestle, France

Australia: EPA takes ‘milestone’ action against PFAS company 3M Australia

The state’s EPA has ordered the Australian subsidiary of 3M a clean-up notice after finding so-called “forever chemicals” at a former firefighting foam testing site. 

The regulator said the action marked the first time it had taken on the global chemicals manufacturer. 

3M has 60 days to hand the EPA a management plan or it faces a fine of up to $2 million. 

ABC Net / Tags: Australia – PFAS 

Water management: ‘We’re going to have to review our usage and consume less because we’re already up against a wall.’

As part of the special ‘Water Alert’ day on ICI, we interviewed two hydrogeologists: one is a groundwater specialist at BRGM and the other is a research director at CNRS. Both believe that reviewing our use of water is essential for achieving a more sustainable society.

franceinfo (French) / WaterCrisis – France

How access to safe water has reduced gastrointestinal diseases in communities in northern Argentina

The latest survey by the Argentine Red Cross Humanitarian Observatory showed that access to safe water in a Wichi community in Salta, with the help of the Red Cross, has broken the cycle of diarrhoeal diseases. Over the past five years, the proportion of households with access to piped water in the community has increased from 40 per cent to 96 per cent.

infobae (Spanish) / Argentina – Right2Water

Britain facing a water scarcity crisis. What is being done to prevent it?

England as a whole has had its driest spring since 1929 and a drought has been declared in the North West of the country, as ITV News Science Correspondent Martin Stew reports.

itv news / WaterCrisis – UK

Brussels tells EU capitals to cut water use by 10% in face of droughts

Brussels will urge EU countries to cut water use by at least 10 per cent by 2030 as the bloc faces longer and more widespread droughts. The plan, due to be presented next month and seen by the Financial Times, marks the first time the European Commission will set a target for water efficiency and signals concern about the EU’s dwindling groundwater reserves.. 

Financial Times / WaterCrisis – Europe

Conclusions of the XIII Iberian Congress on Water Management and Planning

Held under the slogan ‘From scarcity to social and environmental reallocation of water’, the XIII Iberian Congress on Water Management and Planning took place in Salamanca from 24 to 26 April 2025. The event was co-organised by the New Water Culture Foundation, the University of Salamanca and IMDEA-Water, and brought together over 240 participants from Spain, Portugal and other countries. The programme featured 12 papers organised into four plenary sessions, as well as over 160 communications.

Fundacion Nueva Cultura del Agua (Spanish) / Spain

No life without water

Next week, the European Commission is set to unveil its strategy for water resilience. In her guest article, Swedish Environment Commissioner Jessica Roswall explains how the European Union plans to address the issue of increasing water scarcity.

Welt.de (German) / Europe

UK: Drinking water shortage in decade without new reservoirs, minister says

England could face drinking water shortages within a decade unless new reservoirs are built, a minister has claimed. The warning comes as the government announced it was speeding up the planning process for two reservoir projects. But overriding local objections can be unpopular and the reservoirs could still be more than a decade away from opening.

BBC / WaterCrisis – UK