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.
Today: Canada – DR Congo – Kenya – Mexico – Tanzania – Uganda – UK – US – Italy – WaterCrisis – SouthAfrica
6 lakes around the world that are drying up due to environmental threats
6 lakes around the world that are drying up due to environmental threatsSeveral lakes worldwide are rapidly shrinking due to climate change, water diversion, pollution, and unsustainable agricultural practices. This decline threatens wildlife habitats, local livelihoods, and regional climates. The Aral Sea, Lake Mead, and Lake Chad are among those facing severe water loss, highlighting the urgent need for conservation efforts to protect these vital freshwater sources.
According to a report by Britannica, here are six lakes in the world that are rapidly drying due to environmental changes.
East Africa Launches Joint Water Sampling Drive to Safeguard Lake Victoria
East Africa Launches Joint Water Sampling Drive to Safeguard Lake VictoriaA cross-border water sampling exercise aimed at assessing pollution levels and the spread of invasive species in Lake Victoria has officially kicked-off in Mwanza, United Republic of Tanzania.
The initiative, bringing together scientists and environmental experts from Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, is spearheaded by the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) with technical and financial support from the German Development Agency (GIZ) under the “EAC for Nature” project.
The Regional effort seeks to generate reliable, science-based data to guide conservation strategies and environmental policy decisions within the Lake Victoria Basin, which supports the livelihoods of more than 40 million people in the East African Community (EAC).
Sprouting Gear Founder Warns of AI-Driven Water Crisis in New Report: ‘The Silent War for Water’
Sprouting Gear Founder Warns of AI-Driven Water Crisis in New Report: ‘The Silent War for Water’As artificial intelligence continues to reshape the global economy, Sprouting Gear founder Paul Pluss has issued a stark warning: the rise of AI data centers may soon outcompete American agriculture for its most vital resource—water. McKinsey reports that U.S. data centre electricity consumption is expected to grow from 224 TWh in 2025 to 606 TWh by 2030, comprising 11.7% of total U.S. electricity demand. A report highlighted by Clean Water Action and others states that “a single data center can consume up to 5 million gallons of water per day”.
Read EIN Presswire / Tags: US
Public control and private finance (?)
Public control and private finance (?)The question Dieter Helm, Professor of Energy Policy and Official Fellow in Economics, New College, Oxford, is asking: Can we have public control and private finance in the water sector in England and Wales? The answer he gives is a qualified “yes”.
The government wants to keep the water companies off the public balance sheet, and Sir Jon Cunliffe wants greater public supervision. Together, they want: public control; private finance; with current and especially future customers paying. The Labour backbenchers and most of the public want nationalisation. None supports the original privatisation model, with economic incentives and arm’s-length, light-touch regulation.
Read his argument here / Tags: UK
The World Commission on Dams 25 Years Later: Rivers and Rights Still at Risk
The World Commission on Dams 25 Years Later: Rivers and Rights Still at RiskThe year 2025 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the publication of the final report of the World Commission on Dams.
Rivers are lifelines for people and nature. But all too often they are only used as an economic resource, with little regard for the consequences. Numerous large hydropower projects around the world, which have catastrophic effects, make this clear. Those affected who oppose the destruction are often silenced, threatened or even killed.
There have long been conflicts over the ecological, social and economic impact of dams. The escalating climate crisis is exacerbating these conflicts, as it is also a water crisis and has a significant impact on natural water cycles.
At the end of the 1990s, the International World Commission on Dams was established in response to the fierce controversies surrounding large dams, particularly in the Global South, in order to bring together different perspectives on hydropower and develop recommendations. It published its final report in 2000. We are taking the 25th anniversary as an opportunity to reflect on the Commission’s report and developments since then – but above all to look ahead. Because despite all the damage, numerous new dams are still being planned, which are touted as effective climate protection measures. Why should these plans be critically scrutinized? What does hydropower have to do with the climate crisis? What alternatives are there? We explore these questions in our anniversary publication.
Read and download the report here (scroll down for English)
Canada: Alberta considers injecting toxic tailings underground to manage oil sands waste
Canada: Alberta considers injecting toxic tailings underground to manage oil sands wasteThe Alberta government says it is considering letting oil companies inject wastewater deep underground as a way to manage the toxic tailings that are accumulating in the oil sands.
The idea is one of five being put forward by a government-appointed committee tasked with studying potential tailings management options.
A new report from the committee says injecting mine water underground is a practical solution but considering over 1.4 trillion litres of tailings exist as of 2023 it can’t be the only option.
The committee says tailings could be disposed of underneath many layers of impermeable rock so as not to ruin sources of drinking water.
As Data Centers Proliferate Across Illinois, Communities Grapple with How to Supply the Necessary Water
As Data Centers Proliferate Across Illinois, Communities Grapple with How to Supply the Necessary WaterComputing facilities require lots of water to operate, putting the burden of allocating resources on municipalities.
Illinois is already a top destination for data centers, and more are coming. One small Chicago suburb alone has approved one large complex and has proposals for two more.
Once they’re online, data centers require a lot of electricity, which is helping drive rates up around the country and grabbing headlines. What gets less attention is how much water they need, both to generate that electricity and dissipate the heat from the servers powering cloud computing, storage and artificial intelligence.
A high-volume “hyperscale” data center uses the same amount of water in a year as 12,000 to 60,000 people, said Helena Volzer, a senior source water policy manager for the environmental nonprofit Alliance for the Great Lakes.
Read Inside Climate News / Tags: US
DR Congo: World Bank to finance controversial hydropower project, concerns remain
DR Congo: World Bank to finance controversial hydropower project, concerns remainThe World Bank recently approved an initial $250 million in financing for the controversial Inga 3 mega dam project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a move that worries civil society organizations.
Inga 3 has long been planned as part of the Grand Inga hydropower project, a series of dams at Inga Falls on the Congo River that will eventually generate a total of 42,000 megawatts of electricity. The Inga 1 and Inga 2 dams were built decades ago, and Inga 3 is the next phase of the project, expected to generate 4,800-11,000 MW.
“The development of Inga 3’s hydropower will be transformative for DRC,” Bob Mabiala, head of the Agency for the Development and Promotion of Grand Inga (ADPI-DRC), the project developer, said in a press release.
Read Mongabay / Tags: DRCongo
‘Madness’: World leaders call for deep-sea mining moratorium at UN ocean summit
‘Madness’: World leaders call for deep-sea mining moratorium at UN ocean summitWorld leaders have renewed calls for a global moratorium on deep-sea mining at the 2025 U.N. Ocean Conference (UNOC) in Nice, France, as the U.S. moves to mine the deep sea in international waters under its own controversial authority.
Four additional countries have joined the coalition of nations calling for a moratorium, precautionary pause, or ban on deep-sea mining, bringing the total number to 37.
The U.S., which did not have an official delegation at UNOC, is pushing forward with its plans to mine in international waters — a decision that has drawn criticism from the international community.
Mexico: Dispossession, torture and arbitrariness in Santiago Mexquititlán, an Otomí village defending its water
Mexico: Dispossession, torture and arbitrariness in Santiago Mexquititlán, an Otomí village defending its waterOn Wednesday, 4 March, seven people were arbitrarily arrested and tortured by the Querétaro municipal police in the community of Santiago Mexquititlán, municipality of Amealco, Querétaro.
This followed an illegal raid by the Querétaro State Police (POES) in different neighbourhoods of the community, during which six people — most of them young — were arrested despite having committed no crime.
Local residents who witnessed and recorded the arrests asked Estela Hernández to accompany the detainees. Ms Hernández is a delegate of the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) and a member of both the National Assembly for Water and Life (ANAVI) and the Indigenous Council of Government of Santiago Mexquititlán.
Read Avispa Midia (Spanish) / Tags: Mexico
UK: Dangerous pesticides and pet flea treatment detected in English rivers for first time
UK: Dangerous pesticides and pet flea treatment detected in English rivers for first timeExclusive: Wensum and Tone found to have high concentrations of chemicals that are toxic to aquatic life.
Dangerous modern pesticides used in agriculture and pet flea treatment have been detected for the first time in English rivers, research has found.
Scientists have called for stricter regulation around high-risk farming pesticides and flea treatments for pets because of the deadly effects they have on fish and other aquatic life when they make their way into rivers.
The research, by the British Geological Survey, evaluated the pollution by such pesticides in the waters and sediments of two English rivers: the Tone in Somerset, which runs through Taunton; and the Wensum in Norfolk, which runs through Norwich.
Read The Guardian / Tags: UK
Italy: “Tourists are arriving, but the hospital in Tropea has no drinking water.”
Italy: “Tourists are arriving, but the hospital in Tropea has no drinking water.”Città Attiva has raised the alarm about healthcare in Vibo Valentia amid shortages and delays.
The Civic Observatory has highlighted several critical issues and called on the ASP (Local Health Authority) to provide an adequate summer plan. The organisation has also issued a provocative challenge: ‘Given that Niguarda is so willing to help, why don’t they lend us a hand over the coming months?’
The arrival of summer has once again brought the health situation in the province of Vibo Valentia to the forefront of concerns. The Active City Civic Observatory has sounded the alarm: ‘The Costa degli Dei attracts millions of tourists every year thanks to its beauty, but the healthcare system is unable to provide assistance to residents, let alone cope with the influx of tourists during the peak season’.
Read il Vibonese (Italian) / Tags: Italy – WaterCrisis
Groundwater in South Africa under pressure, says expert
Groundwater in South Africa under pressure, says expert
Anthony Turton, a trained scientist specialising in water resource management, warns that some of the country’s key groundwater sources are being depleted faster than they can be replenished.
702’s Gugs Mhlungu spoke to Anthony Turton, a trained scientist specialising in water resource management.
“…groundwater is always important. It’s not necessarily a big flow, but in parts of South Africa, it’s all about the geology, what’s known as the host geology. So the geological formations of the earth at that localised setting are what determines the amount of groundwater that we have available…South Africa has got some very, very well-established groundwater areas.”
Read and listen Primedia+ / Tags: WaterCrisis – SouthAfrica
Italy – Water crisis: here is the region’s plan to ensure a water supply for families, businesses, and production districts.
Italy – Water crisis: here is the region’s plan to ensure a water supply for families, businesses, and production districts.The Region responds to the water crisis in Sardinia. President Alessandra Todde has published an extensive Facebook post detailing the measures taken to address the water crisis affecting numerous regions of the island.
“We have safeguarded the irrigation season in most of Sardinia,” writes the governor. “We have done so with a resolution approved by the Regional Council that defines water allocations for 2025 in our Multisectoral Water System: 200 million cubic metres for drinking water, 415 million for irrigation and 22.6 million for industry.” Thanks to this intervention, we can now guarantee the water needed by families, agricultural businesses, and production districts throughout Sardinia, while investing in strengthening the network and addressing the challenges posed by climate change.’
Read Sardiniapost (Italian) / Tags: Italy – WaterCrisis
