BLUE DIGEST 17-07-2025

Sudan: COOPI reports that 97% of the population in Darfur does not have sufficient access to water.

‘Eighty-five per cent of the displaced population in El Fasher, Sudan (North Darfur), does not have access to essential goods and services. Only three water sources remain active in the city, with as much as 97 per cent of the population having access to water below minimum standards.’ The alarm was raised by COOPI – Cooperazione Internazionale, an Italian humanitarian organisation that has been active in Sudan for over 20 years.

Pressenza (Italian) / Sudan – Right2Water

Canada: Doug Ford is making it easier for bottling companies to exploit Ontario groundwater

Permitting water bottling promotes the privatization of a shared public good for low social benefit and high environmental cost.
White Wolf Property Management purportedly purchased two wells from Primo Brands located in Aberfoyle and Hillsburgh, ON. White Wolf currently owns Ice River and Aquaterra water companies based in Nova Scotia.
Water Watchers was waiting for Ice River’s application for a Permit To Take Water (PTTW) to be posted on the Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO). Instead of posting the application, the Doug Ford Government posted a notice of “Proposed changes to provide flexibility for water taking activities.”

rabble.ca / Canada – BottledWater – Privatisation

Morocco launches longest desalinated water pipeline… to power world’s largest phosphate mine

Morocco has begun a groundbreaking water infrastructure project, the Jorf Lasfar-Khouringa (J2K) pipeline. The state-owned OCP Group unveiled the new 200-kilometer pipeline, which would transport desalinated water from the Atlantic coast to Khouribga, home to the world’s largest phosphate mine.

Business Insider Africa / Morocco – Desalination

Cities, where does the water go?

Poor management, outdated infrastructure and a lack of investment are all contributing factors. From Mexico City to Kabul and Johannesburg to Athens, cities everywhere are facing the threat of drinking water shortages.
Every week, Courrier International explains its editorial choices. In this issue, we examine the water shortages that are increasingly endangering major cities. Dilapidated networks, a lack of investment in infrastructure, poor management, corruption, and even Mafia-style embezzlement are all contributing factors. We take a world tour of the threats to drinking water, from Mexico City to Beijing, via Johannesburg and Athens.

Courrier international (French) / WaterCrisis – Publication

Decisions adopted by the European Committee of Social rights at its 349th session

The decision on admissibility in European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) v. Italy, Complaint No. 244/2025
The complaint was registered on 11 March 2025. It concerns Article 31 (the right to housing) and Article E (non-discrimination) read in conjunction with this provision of the revised European Social Charter.
ERRC alleges that the imminent forced eviction of Roma families in Giugliano underscores Italy’s continued violation of its obligations under the aforementioned provisions of the Charter. It asserts that the absence of legal safeguards, the failure to provide adequate alternative housing, and discriminatory practices against Roma families perpetuate a cycle of housing insecurity and social exclusion, infringing on their human rights and deepening their vulnerability,  in breach of the aforementioned provisions of the Charter.

Council of Europe / Europe – Right2Water

France: This Seine-et-Marne agglomeration, which is dependent on a private company for its drinking water, wants to take control.

This is a rare occurrence in France, where the majority of towns depend on private companies for their drinking water. However, this situation could soon change.
At the last community council meeting, Marne et Gondoire’s elected representatives voted unanimously in favour of creating a semi-public company called ‘Eau, Énergie Solutions’ (Water, Energy Solutions). What is the aim? In the short term, to optimise the efficiency of the drinking water transport networks. In the long term, however, the objective is to stabilise prices and regain ownership of the Annet-sur-Marne plant, which supplies most of the towns in the inter-municipal area. Explanations.

La Marne (French) / France – Remunicipalisation

US: Nebraska sues neighboring Colorado over how much water it’s drawing from the South Platte River

Nebraska is suing Colorado over the amount of water it draws from the South Platte River, the latest in a long history of water rights disputes between the states that have been left increasingly dry by climate change.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen and state Attorney General Mike Hilgers held a news conference Wednesday to announce the lawsuit, which was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court.

AP – Associated Press / US – WaterConflicts

Tell Coca-Cola: Recommit to a World Without Waste

recent Oceana report projects that @CocaColaCo ‘s plastic use could exceed 9.1 BILLION pounds per year by 2030. But there is a solution to this plastic problem: reusable packaging. Tell Coca-Cola to recommit to a world without waste.

Oceana / CocaCola – Plastics

UN-Water Launches Plan to Implement UN Strategy for Water and Sanitation

Aotearoa – New Zealand: Government cannot achieve “enduring freshwater policy” by siding with narrow commercial interests

The Government has opened public consultation on the changes proposed to establish what it calls “enduring” national freshwater policy.
However, the Government is choosing to go against advice from the majority of regional councils, iwi, freshwater, public health and other experts on the most fundamental elements of our national freshwater policy. It is also choosing to ignore key lessons from the past 15 years of policy development and research.
We argue that the Coalition is too closely aligned with narrow, polluting commercial interests to produce policy that is enduring, instead opening the door to enduring community-level to court-level conflict. Proposed changes risk setting the country back decades in the work to restore the fresh waterways that are foundational for public health and community well-being.

Public Health Communication Center / Aotearoa-NewZealand

China’s insertion into India-Pakistan waters dispute adds a further ripple in South Asia

With the future of a crucial water-sharing treaty between India and Pakistan up in the air, one outside party is looking on with keen interest: China.
For 65 years, the Indus Waters Treaty has seen the two South Asian rivals share access and use of the Indus Basin, a vast area covered by the Indus River and its tributaries that also stretches into Afghanistan and China.

Conversation / China – India – Pakistan – WaterConflicts

France/Spain: Pyrenees Glaciers Are Rapidly Disappearing

Nigeria: Otti revives Aba Urban Water Scheme to enhance access to potable water

The governor described water as an inalienable right, critical to human survival, hygiene, education, and economic productivity.
Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has launched the first phase of reviving the long-abandoned Aba Urban Water Scheme.
Speaking on Wednesday at the event in Aba, Mr Otti reaffirmed his administration’s resolve to provide access to potable water across the state.

Premium Times / Nigeria – Right2Water

10 countries with the best water quality in the world

Clean, safe drinking water is a basic need, but not a global guarantee. Some countries, however, have achieved near-perfect water quality through strong infrastructure, natural abundance, and rigorous safety standards. Based on an analysis by World Population Review on DALY (Disability-Adjusted Life Years) score scale, these nations have the world’s best water quality, with almost zero health risks from drinking water.

The Economic Times (India) / PublicWater –

Turning On the Tap: Water Conservation | Environmental Minute

Let me ask you something: when’s the last time you thought about where your water comes from? Or where it goes after you use it?
Most of us turn on the tap without a second thought. Clean water comes out, and we use it—for brushing our teeth, taking long showers, watering lawns, cooking, and cleaning. It seems like there’s always more of where that came from. But the truth is, water is not as infinite as it feels.

WDIY Public Radio / PublicWater

Ecuador’s capital rocked by water shortage crisis upending daily life

Desperation is mounting in Ecuador’s capital as thousands of people remain without drinking water a week into Quito’s worst shortage in 25 years.
The daily lives of some 400,000 residents have been seriously disrupted by the emergency, which happened after a landslide damaged a pipeline that supplied water to much of southern Quito.

CNN / Ecuador – WaterCrisis

Read also: En el país, unas 390 000 personas no tienen servicio de agua potable por tubería. Opinion

Italy: ‘We can’t even use water to brush our teeth.’

The ‘Noi non ce la beviamo’ (We won’t drink it) committee protested in bathrobes in front of Palazzo Gentili against the privatisation of Talete.
Massimiliano Gualdi, from the ‘Uniti per l’acqua pubblica’ (United for public water) committee in Fabrica di Roma, spoke during the demonstration organised by the ‘Noi non ce la beviamo’ committee this morning in front of Palazzo Gentili, the provincial headquarters.

TusciaWeb (Italian) / Italy

Cuba: Serious water crisis in Guantánamo. The main reservoir is nearly dry

Guantánamo is facing a severe water crisis, with the La Yaya reservoir nearly dry. Authorities are implementing emergency measures, while power outages are worsening the situation of the hydraulic system.

Cibercuba / Cuba – WaterCrisis

See also:

• Un 10 % de los cubanos carece de un acceso adecuado al agua, según cifras oficiales. swissinfo
• Abasto de agua en Cuba entre sequía, apagones y escasez de combustible. OnCubaNews

In Gabon, half of the drinking water produced each year is lost in the distribution network.

According to the results of a recent audit, the Gabonese Energy and Water Company (SEEG) loses up to 50% of the drinking water it produces annually. The modernisation efforts undertaken by the public authorities are being undermined by ageing infrastructure, unrepaired leaks and uncontrolled urbanisation.

EcoMatin (French) / Gabon

Spain: They are calling for a state law to ensure that all municipalities have access to drinking water.

The Federation of Consumers and Users (CECU) is urging the ‘urgent approval’ of regulations requiring a minimum number of water fountains to cope with extreme heat. In Gandía, for example, there is only one fountain of this type for every 7,800 inhabitants.

La Verdad (Spanish) / Spain – PublicWater

Who controls water in Peru?

In our new journalistic series, SED, we investigate how the agro-export model concentrates water use in the hands of a select few, while thousands of families face shortages. This is happening in a context of climate crisis, reforms that weaken state controls and decisions that exacerbate inequality in different regions.

Saludconlupa (Spanish) / Peru – WaterBusiness

Panama: ‘Not having access to drinking water is a form of violence,’ emphasised MP Grace Hernández during the plenary session.

sing a tank and an empty vessel, she denounced the water crisis affecting many Panamanians in the National Assembly plenary session, saying: ‘Not having drinking water is violence. If you don’t solve the water problem, you are being violent towards the people, and violence is what you will get in return.”

Telemetro (Spanish) / Panama – Right2Water

France: ‘Public and political interest in water is growing stronger.’

Despite this, elected officials and prefects tend to prioritise residential development and the maintenance of agriculture and reindustrialisation over water conservation and ecological transition, as evidenced by the issuance of one drought decree after another. Despite this inertia, Sylvain Barone, a political science researcher at INRAE and the recent author of Water, a Matter of State: Enquête sur le renoncement écologique (Water, a matter of state: Investigation into ecological renunciation), remains optimistic. The growing interest among citizens in water management, prevalent since summer 2022, is prompting local executives to take concrete action in favour of environmental protection and social justice. At the same time, some elected officials are moving away from a purely technical approach and encouraging their residents to take ownership of these issues. Interview.

Le Courrier des Maires (French) / France

Also read: When water democracy goes under. Climate change is putting water governance to the test. From water agencies to local water commissions (CLEs), authorities are struggling to respond to increasingly contentious issues, and the limitations of their documents, such as SDAGE and other SAGE plans, in preventing a ‘water war’ and ensuring the equitable sharing of resources are now becoming apparent. Elected officials and experts are therefore calling for ‘water democracy’ to be reformed and for CLEs to be opened up to the outside world, in order to create a new dynamic. Le Courrier des Maires (French)

Senegal: Protest against Eramet’s activities. Lack of drinking water as a symbol of broken promises

On 12 July 2025, a protest was held in Foth, a village in the Lompoul region of northern Senegal. The protest was organised by local residents and civil society activists to denounce the social and environmental consequences of zircon mining in the region, and was directed against the activities of Grande Côte Opérations (GCO), a subsidiary of the French industrial group Eramet. Organised by local residents and civil society activists, the protest aimed to highlight the social and environmental consequences of zircon mining in the region.

bamadanet (French) / Senegal – Right2Water

Chile: Mining companies are pumping seawater into the driest place on Earth. But has the damage been done?

In Chile’s drought-stricken Atacama desert, Indigenous people say desalination plants cannot counter the impact of intensive lithium and copper mining on local water sources.
Vast pipelines cross the endless dunes of northern Chile, pumping seawater up to an altitude of more than 3,000 metres in the Andes mountains to the Escondida mine, the world’s largest copper producer. The mine’s owners say sourcing water directly from the sea, instead of relying on local reservoirs, could help preserve regional water resources. Yet, this is not the perception of Sergio Cubillos, leader of the Indigenous community Lickanantay de Peine.

The Guardian / Chile

UK: High water bills, filthy rivers – and now drought. This is England’s great artificial water crisis of 2025

In its refusal to renationalise water, it’s clear the government operates in the interests of private capital and not of the country.
Opinion by George Monbiot.

The Guardian / UK

Not Just a Pipe Dream: Making Tap Water Safe in India

A few years ago, I had a chance to visit Berlin. I was surprised to see that the hotel provided just two small water bottles in the room for the entire day. When I asked the hotel for more water, they suggested that I could drink from the tap in the bathroom. I was shocked to hear their suggestion because, coming from India, tap water is at best used for bathing, but is never consumed directly. The reason behind this situation is primary distrust in the quality of water supplied by the government or utility providers.

iwa network / India