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: Brazil, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Italy, IvoryCoast, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritania, Switzerland, UK, UN, US, Vietnam, Water&Climate, WaterConflicts, WaterCrisis
The Great South of Madagascar: The Struggle for Drinking Water
Access to clean drinking water is a major challenge worldwide, particularly in Africa. Madagascar is one of the countries most affected by profound inequalities, as well as a lack of reliable water and sanitation infrastructure and services. In regions such as Androy in the south of the island, this is an everyday challenge for the population.
The south of Madagascar is one of the areas worst affected. Villages face several difficulties: either water sources are too far away, the water is unfit for consumption, or it is difficult to reach due to the composition of the soil.
Switzerland: No water – no power.
Switzerland: No water – no power.Production of electricity at Aargau’s hydroelectric power plants has collapsed – here’s why:
The canton of Aargau has several large run-of-river power plants. However, current electricity production is well below maximum capacity.
Hydroelectric power plants account for almost 60 per cent of electricity production in Switzerland. They have one major advantage: they produce electricity day in, day out, much more regularly than solar and wind power plants. However, the amount of electricity produced varies significantly from day to day. This is due to the comparatively low water level at the moment.
US: Depletion of major groundwater source threatens Great Plains farming
US: Depletion of major groundwater source threatens Great Plains farmingIn the heart of the country, Great Plains farmers and ranchers produce a quarter of all U.S. crops and 40 percent of its beef. But they rely on a resource that has been slowly drying up, water. Stephanie Sy reports from Kansas for our series on the impact of climate change, Tipping Point.
Nearly all the groundwater in Western Kansas is tapped from the Ogallala Aquifer, a massive reservoir that runs under parts of eight states from South Dakota to Texas.
But as the darker color on this map shows, parts of the aquifer, especially in Texas, Oklahoma and Western Kansas, are in deep decline. That’s a problem because the economy here relies on water-intensive crops, namely corn.
Vietnam: Ethnic minority areas are provided with clean water that meets standards.
Vietnam: Ethnic minority areas are provided with clean water that meets standards.Implementing Project 1 under the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development of Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas for the 2021-2025 period, in recent times, Khanh Hoa province has invested in many works and domestic water supply systems in the Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas, contributing to improving the quality of life of people in mountainous areas.
Thanks to the capital from the national target program, the domestic water supply system has been invested in most of the ethnic minority and mountainous areas in the province. Many old works have been repaired and upgraded, ensuring the supply of clean water that meets standards, meeting daily needs and protecting public health.
Egypt Says Ethiopia’s Completed Power-Generating Dam Lacks a Legally Binding Agreement
Egypt Says Ethiopia’s Completed Power-Generating Dam Lacks a Legally Binding AgreementEgypt said Friday that Ethiopia has consistently lacked the political will to reach a binding agreement on its now-complete dam–an issue that involves Nile River water rights and the interests of Egypt and Sudan. Ethiopia’s prime minister said Thursday that the country’s power-generating dam, known as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, on the Nile is now complete and that the government is preparing for its official inauguration in September.
Egypt has long opposed the construction of the dam because it would reduce the country’s share of Nile River waters, which it almost entirely relies on for agriculture and to serve its more than 100 million people.
Italy: A Hospital without Water
Italy: A Hospital without WaterCastelvetrano Hospital: Tankers in Action to Ensure Drinking Water.
Yesterday, the Regional Civil Protection Department coordinated an urgent intervention to address a water emergency at Castelvetrano Hospital.
The 1182 volunteer organisation was activated, sending two units and a tanker from the Sicilian Civil Protection Department to address the shortage of drinking water.
This was necessary to ensure the continuity of essential services within the hospital.
France: In response to heatwaves, Bordeaux Métropole has launched a ‘fountain plan’.
France: In response to heatwaves, Bordeaux Métropole has launched a ‘fountain plan’.The plan involves the gradual installation of 100 drinking water fountains throughout the metropolitan area. This is one way of adapting to high temperatures more effectively.
But is this just a drop in the ocean when it comes to heatwaves? On Friday 4 July, the first fountain of the ‘Metropolitan Fountain Plan’ was inaugurated at Place Francis-de-Préssensé in Bordeaux. A total of 100 new fountains are set to be installed in the metropolitan area by 2026, which is more than double the current number of 284.
France: Swimming in the Seine. “We act as if it were extraordinary, but what is extraordinary is that we have been deprived of it for a century.”
France: Swimming in the Seine. “We act as if it were extraordinary, but what is extraordinary is that we have been deprived of it for a century.”From Saturday 5 July, three sites in the Seine in Paris will open, thanks to thirty years of improvements to the sewerage system and consequently the cleanliness of the river. However, the water quality remains insufficient for swimming at all times, and other French cities are tentatively following suit.
It feels like a return to normality, but also like the first time. This summer, it will be possible to swim for free in the Seine at three sites opened by the city on Saturday 5 July. This is a small revolution for this great river, which has been polluted by industrial and domestic waste in recent decades. It has been illegal to swim in the river for a century due to the high levels of dangerous faecal matter (enterococci and E. coli), chemical compounds and increased river traffic. ‘Parisians had turned their backs on the Seine,’ explains Pierre Rabadan, the deputy mayor responsible for sports.
Towards Sustainable Water Management in a Changing World
Towards Sustainable Water Management in a Changing WorldUNESCO-IHP-LAC participated in the Águas para o Futuro 2025 Seminar.
From 3 to 5 June 2025, the international seminar ‘Águas para o Futuro’ took place in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, bringing together representatives from over 22 countries and various Brazilian states.
Representing UNESCO were members of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean (IHP-LAC), experts from the ISARM Americas group, academics from the main Latin American megacities, and representatives from the Regional Centre for Groundwater Management (CeReGAS), a category II centre under the auspices of UNESCO.
UNESCO (Spanish) / Brazil – UN
Mauritania: The President of the Republic inaugurated the second phase of the Aftout Chargui drinking water project.
Mauritania: The President of the Republic inaugurated the second phase of the Aftout Chargui drinking water project.On Friday morning, His Excellency the President of the Republic, Mr Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, oversaw the inauguration of the project’s second phase, which aims to supply certain inland regions with drinking water. This strategic project reflects the President’s firm commitment to strengthening social justice and guaranteeing citizens’ right to access essential services, wherever they may be.
At the end of the ceremony, he unveiled the commemorative plaque and cut the ribbon to mark the start of the project’s second phase. He also visited all the project sites, where he received detailed explanations about the project, the number of beneficiary villages, and the technology used to implement it.
Lesotho Highlands Water Project: Centre local voices in the climate change, conflict and peacebuilding nexus
Lesotho Highlands Water Project: Centre local voices in the climate change, conflict and peacebuilding nexusThe rise of conflicts in societies has been attributed to a multitude of factors ranging from political, socio-economic grievances to ethnic and religious hostilities. Poverty, land and food insecurity are worsened by conflict and climate change.
What seems to be missing in the discourse is the interplay between climate, conflict and peace. The rise of resource conflicts, increasing climate-related security risks and the process to foster peace by resolving conflict in nonviolent ways demonstrate that climate change and peacebuilding are interconnected. But there is a tendency to deal with climate change and peacebuilding at high level decision-making structures led by governments and international actors such as the United Nations, marginalising those affected by climate change and conflict, thus failing to sustain peace in local communities.
UK: Residents feel ‘defeated’ by ongoing water issue
UK: Residents feel ‘defeated’ by ongoing water issueAbout 500 properties in an area of Kent are still facing water supply issues for a fourth day in a row.
On Wednesday, South East Water said up to 3,000 customers in Whitstable, Seasalter and surrounding areas had no water or low pressure due to the recent heatwave.
Callum Brockhurst, 33, who lives in Kimberley Grove, said he and other residents felt “totally defeated” by the ongoing situation and it was “affecting people’s physical and mental health now”.
South East Water incident manager Nick Bell said: “We recognise how frustrating it is that we’re unable to give a time as to when supplies will be restored.”
Italy: Tropea is experiencing a water emergency, as if after an earthquake. COC activated; Civil Protection intervenes with tankers.
Italy: Tropea is experiencing a water emergency, as if after an earthquake. COC activated; Civil Protection intervenes with tankers.The city is currently facing a serious water shortage, with almost no drinking water available throughout the municipal area. This situation has been further exacerbated by the presence of tourists and numerous commercial activities, leading to the activation of the Municipal Operations Centre (COC) of the Civil Protection Department. The Extraordinary Commission of the Municipality of Tropea has issued an order prohibiting the use of water for drinking and food purposes, allowing it to be used only for hygiene and sanitary purposes. The Authority attributes this situation to a “serious water shortage in the Sorical supply”, the company that supplies water to the city. To address the emergency, the company is providing tankers and lorries to supply water. However, the water supplied by these sources is not considered suitable for drinking or food preparation.
Italy: The climate is collapsing, Sicily is dying: Meloni thinks about the bridge and copies Trump
Italy: The climate is collapsing, Sicily is dying: Meloni thinks about the bridge and copies Trump“By 2030, 70% of Sicily’s territory is at risk of turning into desert. There is a climate emergency that is bringing the region closer to sub-Saharan characteristics than to the rest of Italy. The process of desertification in Sicily is so advanced that, by 2030, two-thirds of the island will be at risk of desertification: every year, 117 square kilometres are turning into desert, with negative effects on agriculture and the ecosystem.
Water is more precious than gold, but even in 2025, hundreds of municipalities still do not have drinking water and water treatment plants because the mismanagement does not want to address this priority, focusing instead on the folly of the bridge, which will cost over 14 billion euros at the moment.
The right wing continues to hide the climate emergency by not addressing it. When they do talk about it, they only spread lies, as the Meloni government does. In Sicily alone, the economic damage to agriculture exceeded €2 billion in the summer of 2024.
Giorgia Meloni is not addressing the climate crisis because she must protect the profits of polluters and gas lobbies. In Italy alone, these companies have made €70 billion in profits over the last two years thanks to high energy bills.
Côte d’Ivoire/Ivory Coast: The Gbêkê Regional Council has made access to drinking water a priority for the period 2026–2028.
Côte d’Ivoire/Ivory Coast: The Gbêkê Regional Council has made access to drinking water a priority for the period 2026–2028.At its ordinary session on Friday 4 July 2025, the Gbêkê Regional Council decided to prioritise access to drinking water in all villages under its three-year programme for 2026-2028, at a total cost of over 12.3 billion CFA francs. This includes 549 million CFA francs for actions and 11.7 billion CFA francs for operations.
‘We have decided to start next year by providing all villages with water points. For all villages with water points, we will repair the pumps. In larger villages, we will attempt to install village hydraulic systems with two pumps. The aim is to alleviate water problems, even if they will not be permanently solved. We want people in every village to have access to drinking water all year round. That is our vision, and that is why we are making water our priority,’ said Regional Council President Minister Jacques Assahoré.
Switzerland: Too little water in Alpine rivers endangers the local flora and fauna.
Switzerland: Too little water in Alpine rivers endangers the local flora and fauna.Researchers warn that the statutory minimum water flow rates in Switzerland are insufficient to preserve Alpine river ecosystems in many places, putting specialised species and entire habitats under threat.
According to the researchers, the legally prescribed residual water volumes are inadequate in many areas. A new report by scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), the University of Zurich and Eawag warns of serious consequences for biodiversity.
