Blue News from around the world. The most important news on water and sanitation from a human rights perspective.
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Over half of Europe and Mediterranean basin hit by drought in mid-May
More than half, or 53%, of land in Europe and the Mediterranean basin were hit by drought in mid-May, according to an AFP analysis of data from the European Drought Observatory (EDO) from May 11-20, 2025.
It was the highest level recorded for that period of time in the year since monitoring began in 2012, and more than 20 points higher than the average between 2012-2024.
The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, based on satellite imagery, takes into account three benchmarks: precipitation, or rainfall, soil moisture and the state of vegetation.
Read Phys.org / Tags: Europe – WaterCrisis
Bottled water in Tunisia: up to 140 dinars per family per month
According to Houcine Rehili, a specialist in water resource management who spoke to the TAP agency (Agence Tunis Afrique Presse), the cost of drinking bottled water for a Tunisian family of five has risen sharply since 2022, reaching between 130 and 140 dinars (some 45 US$) per month.
He attributes this increase to climate change and rising temperatures, which are causing Tunisian families to consume an average of six bottles of water a day, particularly during the summer.
Tunisia currently ranks fourth in the world in terms of per capita bottled water consumption. According to the latest statistics, the average annual consumption of a Tunisian is estimated to reach 241 litres in 2024, compared with 225 litres in 2020.
Read mosaique.fm (French) / Tags: BottledWater – Tunisia
Hapless Thames Water is finally drinking in the last chance saloon
Can troubled UK utilities company find any willing suitors after KKR’s 11th-hour abandonment of £4bn bid?
Call yourself barbarians at the gate? Actually, KKR hates the decades-old description, but the US private equity firm is still meant to have a fearsome reputation for doing its homework, being a cute judge of political risks and going where others fear to tread. All of which makes its 11th-hour abandonment of its £4bn bid for Thames Water very odd.
Read The Guardian / Tags: UK
Improving water security and sanitation for millions in urban India
Mexico, Tulum, Quintana Roo: The town is grappling with a water crisis, with thousands lacking clean water and suffering from inefficient drainage.
The Mexican town of Tulum is facing a growing water crisis due to its rapidly expanding population and the delay in expanding and maintaining its drinking water infrastructure. According to the 2020 Population and Housing Census, the municipality had 46,721 inhabitants in 2020, which was a 43.75% increase on 2010. However, the water distribution and collection networks have not grown at the same pace.
In an attempt to mitigate the problem, the Comisión de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado (CAPA) opened a desalination plant with a capacity of 50 litres per second in 2023, benefiting some 31,000 inhabitants. Nevertheless, neighbourhoods such as La Veleta, Cristal, Yax Tulum and Martitex still only receive water for four hours a day with low pressure. In Chemuyil, contamination problems and failures in the treatment plant have been reported in addition to the shortage.
Read Por Esto! (Spanish) / Tags: Mexico – WaterCrisis
Thames Water lenders face losses of up to 40% in event of nationalisation
Government contingency plans could see bulk of debt taken on by state with utility split in two.
Some lenders to Thames Water would lose up to 40 per cent of their money under government contingency plans to nationalise Britain’s biggest water company dubbed “Project Timber”.
The utility, which supplies 16mn people — or about 25 per cent of the population of England and Wales — is struggling to stay afloat after its shareholders refused to put more money into the heavily leveraged business, which has been hit hard by higher interest rates.
The government first drew up contingency plans last year for the possibility of the company’s failure — although officials insisted on Thursday that a collapse was not imminent.
Read Financial Times / Tags: UK
Global Water Partnership Organisation opens MoU to new governments
For the first time in over 20 years, the Global Water Partnership Organisation (GWPO) isopening its intergovernmental Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), offering a historic opportunity for new States and Governments to join the formal body behind one of the world’s most influential water networks.
The GWPO provides the legal framework and operational support for the Global Water Partnership (GWP) – a broad international network dedicated to sustainable water management. GWPO coordinates the network, manages finances, and represents GWP in global forums.
Read smart water magazine / Tags:
From Risk to Resilience: Mainstreaming Climate Adaptation in Ethiopia’s Borana Water Program
How GCA’s technical assistance helped transform a traditional water infrastructure project into a climate-resilient investment for pastoralist communities.
In Ethiopia’s Borana Zone—an arid and drought-prone region where pastoralist communities depend on fragile water systems for survival—climate change is no longer a distant concern. It is a lived reality. Increasingly frequent droughts, erratic rainfall, and flash floods are affecting lives, livelihoods, and the region’s economic foundations.
To address these challenges, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Government of Ethiopia launched the Borana Resilient Water Development for Improved Livelihoods Program. Its goal: to enhance water access for tens of thousands of people and livestock, reinforcing the critical link between water security, nutrition, health, and climate resilience in one of the country’s most climate vulnerable zones.
Tunisia: Another constitutional right flouted. The right to water, a common good that has been sacrificed.
As summer approaches, Tunisia is facing an unprecedented water crisis. In a country with a rich hydraulic heritage — from Roman engineers in El Jem to Saharan oases fed by systems dating back thousands of years — access to drinking water is becoming a privilege. Millions of Tunisians are affected by water shortages and have to pay for cisterns and overpriced bottled water. This dramatic deterioration is not the result of climatic inevitability. Rather, it is the result of an organised collapse combining bad governance, rampant commercialisation, and the silent privatisation of a vital commodity. Against this backdrop, the right to water, enshrined in Article 44 of the French Constitution, is flouted daily.
Read Business News (French) / Tags: Right2Water – Tunisia
Mexico: HANDS OFF! Save the Bay of Ohuira.
PETITION TO DEFEND THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS OF THE YOREME INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN MEXICO. WE OPPOSE THE ILLEGAL CONSTRUCTION OF A SWISS-GERMAN FINANCED AMMONIA PLANT IN OHUIRA BAY, SINALOA, MEXICO.
We, the undersigned, commit to promoting the sustainable use of indigenous lands based on the principles of nonviolence. We demand that the Mexican government cancel the permits and that the German bank suspend financing for an ammonia plant in Ohuira Bay, Sinaloa, Mexico. This project will endanger the lives of people within a 15 km (9.3 mi) radius, destroy the coastal marine ecosystem, and threaten the ancestral culture of the Yoreme indigenous people.
This plant, promoted by Gas y Petroquímica de Occidente (GPO) of Mexico, a subsidiary of the Swiss-German company PROMAN AG, and financed by the Credit Bank for Reconstruction (KfW) in Germany, aims to produce 2,200 tonnes (2,425 US tons) per day of ammonia, a highly toxic gas.
The construction of this plant will cause an ecocide, human health risk, and a cultural ethnocide for the Yoreme indigenous people who have inhabited the Ohuira Bay for thousands of years.
Sign the petition here / Tags: Mexico
Seven UN Special Rapporteurs send Joint Allegation Letter to the Iranian Government Raising Issue of Ahwazi Arab Communities
Seven UN Special Rapporteurs have sent a Joint Allegation Letter (JAL) to the Islamic Republic of Iran raising the issue of the environmental degradation of the Hur Al-Azim wetland in Khuzestan and its particularly disproportionate impact on Ahwazi Arab communities. The letter follows the joint report submitted to the UN Special Rapports by the UNPO and the Ahwaz Human Rights Organization (AHRO) on the severe environmental degradation in Khuzestan and its devastating impact on the Ahwazi Arab communities. (…)
The Special Procedures emphasise the human impact of the environmental crisis on local communities’ rights to a healthy environment, particularly with the serious impacts of the ongoing water crisis on ecosystem and biodiversity in the region. The JAL highlights how environmental degradation has limited access to safe drinking water and sanitation, while the release of toxic substances into the water has affected air quality.
Clean and Safe Drinking Water Crisis: A Deep Dive into the Thirst for Change. By Abdul Hameed Dharwad, Gadag, Karnataka
The land of rivers and rainfall, is facing a silent crisis: lack of access to clean and safe drinking water. Despite technological advances and schemes, millions of people still struggle to quench their thirst with safe water. From rural villages to growing cities, the basic right to clean water remains a daily challenge. 😓🚰
Read AIMA – All India Media Association / Tags: India – Right2Water
Uganda: Sanitation Warriors get their first spotlight in historic WASH Awards
In a bold step toward improving public health and development outcomes, the Uganda Water and Sanitation Network (UWASNET), in partnership with key government ministries and development partners, has launched the first-ever WASH Impact and Influence Awards.
The awards aim to shine a spotlight on the individuals, organizations, and innovations making significant strides in providing clean water, proper sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services across Uganda.
The announcement was made during a press briefing in Kampala on May 29, 2025. The awards come at a time when over 30 million Ugandans still lack access to safe sanitation, and many others face persistent challenges around clean water access and hygiene services.
Read The Observer / Tags: Sanitation – Uganda
