BLUE DIGEST 25-07-2025

France Special:
Drought – are you affected by water restrictions?

View the areas affected by prefectural decrees related to water shortages on our interactive map, which is updated daily.
Since the beginning of June, the number of water use restriction orders related to drought has increased. Although there was a slight lull in 2024, the number of restrictions imposed by prefectures in 2025 is similar to that in 2022 and 2023, when it was significantly drier.

Le Monde (French) / France

Haute-Savoie: Court Overturns Authorisation for Water Reservoir Project in La Clusaz

In September 2022, the prefecture authorised La Clusaz to begin construction of the reservoir, two-thirds of which was intended for artificial snowmaking on the ski slopes, with the remainder intended for drinking water.

Le Figaro (French) 

In these French municipalities, the construction of new private swimming pools is prohibited.

In response to drought and water scarcity, some municipalities have even banned the construction of new pools. Nine municipalities in the Var department have decided to freeze permits until 2028, for example..

Boursorama (French)

Shale Drillers Turn Against Each Other as Toxic Water Leaks Hit Biggest US Oil Field

The toxic water that gushes out of oil wells in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico has spurred environmental concerns and even earthquakes. Now the problem has become so acute that it’s turning producers against one another.

Financial Post / US

11th World Water Forum

For those of you tracking progress toward the 11th World Water Forum (Saudi Arabia, 2027), the First Announcement is here:

Action for a Better Tomorrow – 1st Announcement (PDF) /

Peru: Expectations are high for the US$476 million drinking water project in the Peruvian capital.

ProInversión, the Peruvian agency that promotes tenders via public-private partnerships (PPPs), intends to issue various tenders for drinking water projects in the near future. These initiatives are already familiar to the market.

bnamericas (Spanish) / Peru – WaterBusiness

Mexico: Proponen rehabilitación urgente de redes de agua potable en localidades de Sonora

Access to and Scarcity of Water: A Global Crisis We Must Address

From taps running dry to future wars over water—why the world must act now to protect its most precious resource.
Water. The element that covers 70% of the Earth, yet less than 1% of it is accessible and drinkable. It’s a basic human need, an economic driver, a pillar of agriculture, and the heartbeat of ecosystems. And yet, we are running out.

Vocal Media – Earth / WaterCrisis

Italy: Free Public Water. Map of New Dispensers and Drinking Fountains

From the Asinelli Tower to the neighborhoods, a network is being established to combat the climate emergency and reduce the use of plastic bottles.
The plan to improve access to drinking water is underway and aims to provide more than 200 locations for citizens and tourists to access.

BolognaToday (Italian) / Italy – PublicWater

For millions in US mobile home parks, clean and safe tap water isn’t a given

The worst water Colt Smith has seen in 14 years with Utah’s Division of Drinking Water was at a mobile home park, where residents had been drinking it for years before state officials discovered the contamination.
The well water carried cancer-causing arsenic as much as 10 times the federal limit. Smith had to put the rural park under a do-not-drink order that lasted nearly 10 years.

AP – Associated Press / US – Right2Water

Hands Off Water in War: Weaponization of Water in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

The weaponization of water—namely, the use of water and water systems as tools or weapons in armed conflicts—has become a recurrent practice in contemporary warfare. According to recent research, cases of weaponization involving water during armed conflict have surged dramatically: the “Water Conflict Chronology”, an open-source database hosted by the Pacific Institute, documented nearly 1,000 incidents between 2000 and 2023, compared to only 160 throughout the entire 20th century conflicts.

OpinioJuris / WaterConflicts

Syria’s traditional agricultural system is collapsing in the wake of successive droughts, severe mismanagement of water, and a lack of state support for farmers.

You Can’t Kill a River. Why the Volta Grande still lives – and how the peoples of the Xingu continue to oppose Belo Sun

In the Volta Grande do Xingu, the river still runs. Even with turbines and licenses strangling it, the Xingu endures because the peoples who protect it refuse to disappear.
This stretch of the Xingu in Pará, Brazil, contains a rich mosaic of life: Indigenous Peoples and hundreds of riverine communities living side by side – Juruna (Yudjá), Xipaia, Curuaia, Arara da Volta Grande, and Xikrin. They all carry an open wound: the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, which diverted the river’s flow and drained away fish, fields, and ways of life.

AmazonWatch / Brazil – WaterJustice

UK: Lack of toilets leaving elderly people ‘in tears’

A lack of public toilets in a city has left elderly people in tears and pushed customers away from local businesses, councillors have heard.
Bath and North East Somerset Council has unanimously backed a call to review the “very few and far between” public toilet provision in the area.
Local tour guide Ed Browning told a council meeting: “The one constant negative is the embarrassment of apologising for the lack of public facilities.”

BBC / UK – Sanitation

US and Mexico sign accord to combat Tijuana River sewage flowing across the border

The United States and Mexico have signed an agreement outlining specific steps and a new timetable to clean up the longstanding problem of the Tijuana River pouring sewage across the border and polluting California beaches, officials from both countries announced Thursday.

AP – Associated Press / US – Mexico – WaterConflicts

Canada: Education on tap at newly opened water museum in Midland

Mission to ‘treat water like a relationship, and not simply a resource to be consumed’ the goal of interactive Canadian Museum of Water at Midland Cultural Centre.

US: A Texas Billionaire Is Reportedly Trying to Tap into a Public Aquifer for Private Use

US: Small Northern California community gets clean drinking for first time in decades

After years of uncertainty and relying on bottled water, residents in the small rural community of Robbins are finally seeing progress toward a permanent solution for safe, clean drinking water.
Construction is now underway on a new well and water treatment facility, part of a sweeping overhaul of the town’s aging water system. Robbins, located in Sutter County and home to roughly 300 people, has struggled for decades with contaminated tap water that didn’t meet state or federal safety standards.

CBS News / US

Italy: ‘We want water from the tap!’ and ‘Stop water privatisation now!’

The civic committee ‘We Want Water from the Tap!’ made itself heard again this morning at 10 a.m. at the Palacultura. There, activists delivered a letter to the mayors of the Messina Territorial Water Assembly (ATI), clearly requesting that they stop the process that would lead to the privatisation of water services in the province.

Messina Oggi (Italian) / Italy – Privatisation

Lake Victoria battles rising pollution from surrounding cities

Environmentalists and water resources officials from Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania the three countries that share the lake, say the increasing pollution is endangering aquatic life and putting at risk the livelihoods of millions who depend on the lake.

Monitor / Uganda – Kenya – Tanzania

France: Water crisis in Guadeloupe. Éric Jalton has asked Manuel Valls to review the law establishing the joint water authority.

In a letter to the Minister for Overseas Territories, Éric Jalton, president of the Cap Excellence urban community, reignites the debate on water management in Guadeloupe. He criticises the public service’s overall failure, while calling for a thorough review of the legal framework imposed by the 2021 law that created the joint water authority.

franceinfo (French) / France

Benin: Modern drinking water facilities were commissioned in Banikoara.

From 22 to 25 July 2025, the National Agency for Rural Drinking Water Supply (ANAEPMR) conducted an inspection and commissioning mission in the municipality of Banikoara, focusing on the water infrastructure built as part of the Project to Improve Drinking Water Supply Systems in 24 Villages in Benin (PASAEP-24).

La Nouvelle Tribune (French) / Benin

Canada: ‘Blue gold is so undervalued’ – Olivier Primeau

Experts are concerned about the abnormally low levels of the Caniapiscau reservoir, which is putting unprecedented pressure on Hydro-Québec as export commitments to the United States increase.

98.5FM (French) / Canada

South Africa: Limpopo River. It’s green and it smells – so what about irrigation?

The Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Dr Dion George, must intervene in the pollution crisis in the Limpopo River right away, says Jacques Smalle, DA member of the provincial legislature and spokesperson for economic development, the environment and tourism in the province.

African Farming / SouthAfrica

Water Woes Deepen as South Africa Prepares to Host G20

As the world’s economic leaders prepare to descend on South Africa for the G20 Summit, the country’s deepening water crisis threatens to overshadow its moment in the global spotlight. Across Gauteng, water supply issues are intensifying, and in places like Hammanskraal, desperation has reached a boiling point.

The Star / SouthAfrica

Panama: According to a government study, most water wells are illegal.

Of the 4,000 water wells in Panama, only 1,300 have the proper permits. This ‘evidence of unregulated exploitation’ puts ‘water resources at risk’, according to a study published on Thursday by Panama’s Ministry of the Environment.

yahoo!noticias and swissinfo (Spanish) / Panama

Argentina: ‘Drinking potable water should not be a luxury for the few.’

The SCIPA executive committee, chaired by Alfredo Ventura and comprising vice-presidents Enrique Bértola and Gustavo Suarez and secretary Mauro Moris, wishes to inform the public that the organisation is deeply concerned about the poor quality of the water supply service provided by the utility company in Pilar.

El Termometro (Spanish) / Argentina

Australia: Murray-Darling Basin Plan report card finds water reform working, but…

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority has released its most comprehensive evaluation of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan to date.
The audit shows significant water reform in the basin is helping the environment, but farmers, environment groups and First Nations representatives are not as positive.
A major review of the basin plan is due to be released next year.

ABC News / Australia

UK: Council leader ‘really disappointed’ by hosepipe ban

The leader of a council affected by a hosepipe ban has said “people are tired of the same old excuses” from the water company.
Thames Water introduced the hosepipe ban for customers in north Wiltshire, east Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire on Tuesday.
Jim Robbins, who leads Swindon Borough Council, said he was “really disappointed” by the ban, adding that the company had prioritised pay-outs to shareholders over “making sure the water supply for customers is there where it needs to be”.

BBC / UK

India: Saving the Yamuna. A river lifeline (Photo essay)

Photographer Abhishek Singh journeys along India’s Yamuna River — capturing how communities and activists battle pollution, from local clean-ups to collective action across the basin.

Joep Janssen / India

Iranian government considers relocating capital to Makran due to severe water crisis

The Iranian government has formalized plans to transfer the capital from Tehran to the southern Makran coast. Chronic water shortages have been compounded by energy shortages, and recently, security anxieties have escalated due to Israeli airstrikes, prompting the government to revisit a long-standing topic. The Iranian government states that this is a decision to overcome a national crisis. However, there is also significant criticism regarding the astronomical transfer expense and its feasibility.

Chonsun Biz / Iran