BLUE DIGEST 16-06-2025

Every day the most important news on water and sanitation from around the world, compiled by the Blue Community Network, defending water as a common, public good and a human right.

Mexico: The water shortage is getting worse!

Forty communities in Sinaloa are facing a water crisis due to drought.

According to Mayor Rolando Mercado Araujo, the severe drought affecting the Sinaloa mountains has worsened the water shortage in at least 40 communities in the municipality of Sinaloa. He noted that several municipalities have been relying on water trucks for their supply.
He explained that these communities have wells, but they are not very deep and the water is running out. He reiterated that water tankers are being deployed through the drinking water system to support the worst-affected areas.

Read Altavoz (Spanish) / Tags: Mexico – WaterCrisis

US: EPA cancels limits for several PFAS chemicals in drinking water

More than 150 million Americans drink water contaminated with toxic forever chemicals. Last year, after decades of inaction, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set limits to protect public health. Now, that same agency is undoing those defenses.
Some protections designed to save lives from a dangerous class of chemicals in drinking water are being shut off.
It’s a move being called “devastating” by some experts, including Melanie Benesh, Vice President for Government Affairs at the Environmental Working Group.

Read and look KEPRTV / Tags: US – PFAS

South Africa – Eastern Cape Floods: SAHRC Calls for Urgent Government Accountability and Climate Action

As the Eastern Cape reels from catastrophic flooding, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has called on all levels of government and civil society to act urgently and decisively. At least 49 people have died in the O.R. Tambo district alone, and hundreds remain displaced. Among the casualties are four learners, a bus driver, and a conductor who were swept away when their school bus plunged off a flooded bridge.
“This is a devastating situation,” said SAHRC Commissioner Aseza Gungubele in an interview with Radio Islam International. “We urge everyone, government, communities, and civil society—to come forward and ensure that people receive the support they need.”

Read Radio Islam / Tags: SouthAfrica

Mexico: The Cinco Señores area is in crisis

Residents have been without drinking water for up to 80 days, despite the onset of rains in Oaxaca.

Despite the rains, residents of La Cieneguita in the Cinco Señores area are facing a critical drinking water crisis. According to Lorenza Pérez Díaz, secretary of the Neighbourhood Life Committee, some streets have been without water from the public network for up to 80 days, while the absence in others exceeds 40 days.
Families have submitted official letters to the Oaxaca Drinking Water and Sewerage Services Operator (Soapa) demanding the restoration of the supply. In response, Soapa offered to provide water every 30 days, but the delays have become more frequent. An agreement was signed to receive water trucks every 10 days, but this has systematically been violated with excuses such as leaks or valve failures, without any repairs being carried out to the network.

Read Tiempo (Spanish) / Tags: Mexico – WaterCrisis

Rare earth rush in Myanmar blamed for toxic river spillover into Thailand

Just days before the water fights were set to erupt across Chiang Rai for Songkran — Thailand’s New Year celebration, held every April and known for its festive street soakings — the city’s residents received a sobering warning: avoid contact with the Kok River, which winds through this northern Thai city of 200,000. The reason? Tests conducted upstream had detected dangerous levels of arsenic and other hazardous substances.
The alarm had first been raised the previous month, when people living near and across the border in Myanmar, where the 285-kilometer (177-mile) Kok River originates, reported skin rashes after bathing, elephants showing signs of illness, and fish turning up dead in the water. Just as communities prepared to celebrate renewal and rebirth, their most important river was declared off-limits.

Read Mongabay / Tags: Myanmar – Thailand

Indonesia aims to guarantee universal access to drinking water by 2045.

The country is working towards the ambitious goal of ensuring that 100% of its population has access to clean drinking water by this date.
To achieve this, the country is implementing various strategies and initiatives, including improving infrastructure, increasing water supply, and promoting water conservation.
According to the Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, only around 22% of the population currently has access to piped drinking water nationwide.
According to the National Long-Term Development Plan (RPJPN), the country aims to increase this figure to 40% in the coming years, ultimately achieving full coverage by 2045.

Read Vietnam+ (Spanish) / Tags: Indonesia

Peru: Congress has declared access to drinking water in Eten Puerto a matter of national interest.

It enacted Law No. 32383, declaring the improvement of the water and sanitation system in Eten Puerto, Lambayeque, to be of national interest.
On Friday 13 June, Congress approved and published Law No. 32383, declaring the expansion and improvement of the drinking water and sanitation system in Eten Puerto, in the province of Chiclayo in the Lambayeque region, to be of national interest.
The government made the measure official in the legal supplement of the Official Gazette El Peruano. The objective is to address one of the main social issues faced by residents, who currently experience daily restrictions in accessing drinking water.

Read Peru Construye (Spanish) / Tags: Peru

Morocco to produce 1.7 billion m3 of desalinated water by 2030

Morocco is planning to add 13 desalination plants before 2030, adding to existing 17 ones, with the aim to have a production capacity of 1.7 billion m3, water and equipment minister Nizar Baraka said.
Desalination together with dams and waterways are all projects launched by Morocco under a $12 bln program to ensure steady water supply and mitigate the impact of drought on farming.
The desalination plants will be powered by renewable energies to further reduce prices from 4.5 dirhams, down to 4.3 dirhams, benefiting both drinking water and irrigation, Baraka told a conference organized by Medias24.
He said a power link stretching over 1400 kilometers will transmit renewable energy from the southern provinces to power the new desalination plants.
Currently, Morocco has four plants under construction, including Casablanca’s plant scheduled to switch on in 2026, while 9 others are programmed.

Read The North Africa Post / Tags: Morocco – Desalination

France – Mayotte: Solidarités International warns that the bill has ignored the urgent need for access to water.

“Six months after Cyclone Chido hit, the slums of the archipelago still do not have sufficient access to drinking water and sanitation. This structural water crisis remains unresolved and is contributing to the spread of disease, including an increase in typhoid fever and a chikungunya epidemic”, laments the non-governmental organisation in a press release published on Friday 13 June. Solidarités International adds that ‘the draft law for the reorganisation of Mayotte (to be examined by MPs from 23 June) does not meet the needs’.

Read Le Journal de Mayotte (French) / Tags: France

UK: ‘Failing’ water sector needs ‘root and branch reform’ to address culture that is ‘deaf’ to ‘crisis’, says EFRA Committee

A failing water sector in which “water companies increasingly look like financial institutions rather than businesses servicing monopolised critical infrastructure” is in need of “root and branch reform”, according to a new report by Parliament’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.
MPs say there is a cultural problem in the sector and call for “a major refresh of the incentives and drivers” and “much more regulated management of financial incentives for senior executives”.
The report follows the Committee’s evidence sessions with the leadership of ten of England and Wales’ major water and sewerage companies in 2025.

Read Water Magazine / Tags: UK