Today: Australia, Canada, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guatemala, India, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, PFAS, Publication, Right2Water, Sanitation, SouthAfrica, UK, US, WaterConflicts, WaterCrisis
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.
UK: Thames Water boss warns of decade-long turnaround as losses hit £1.6bn
UK: Thames Water boss warns of decade-long turnaround as losses hit £1.6bnTroubled utility blames rainfall as pollution incidents rise by a third.
It will take at least a decade to turn troubled Thames Water around, the boss of the UK’s biggest water company said, as it slumped to a £1.6bn annual loss.
The loss for the 12 months to 31 March comes after a profit of £154m the previous year, even though revenues climbed by 8.7% to £2.7bn. It had net debt of £16.8bn, up from £15.2bn the year before.
also read:
Thames Water fights to avoid nationalisation after $2 billion loss. Reuters
Gaza, under Israeli siege, is dying of thirst. Water is being rationed, and disease rates are rising.
Three buckets of grey water and a broken basin. This is all that a family of ten refugees living in a tent in the Nuseirat refugee camp has left to wash themselves, their dishes and, when possible, their clothes. “We haven’t washed the blankets for three months. It’s hot; we sleep badly, and we are getting sick,’ says a woman, bent over with fatigue as she pours a few spoonfuls of water over her son’s head with her bare hands. This water, collected from a nearby distribution point, will then be reused for washing dishes and clothes.
Egypt Warns: All GERD Talks Exhausted, Will Defend Its Water Rights if Harmed
Egypt has declared that it has exhausted every possible avenue of negotiation with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), and warned that it will not hesitate to act to protect its national water interests if its share of Nile waters is harmed.
The announcement came from Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Migration, Dr. Badr Abdelatty, who underscored the issue as a top national priority and a matter of existential concern for over 110 million Egyptians.
UK: Four areas of England now in drought as heat threatens wildlife and crops
Ministers call for hosepipe bans as East and West Midlands enter drought, joining Yorkshire and north-west.
Four areas of England are now in drought as the East and West Midlands have joined Yorkshire and the north-west.
Continuing hot and dry weather was a hazard to crop production and wildlife, ministers said, as they urged water companies to put hosepipe bans in place to conserve water as levels deplete.
Lebanon’s worst drought on record drains largest reservoir
Water levels at Lebanon’s largest reservoir on the Litani River have fallen to historic lows amid what experts describe as the country’s worst drought on record, threatening agriculture, electricity production, and domestic water supplies.
The Litani River National Authority said inflows to Lake Qaraoun during this year’s wet season did not exceed 45 million cubic metres, a fraction of the 350 million cubic metres annual average.
South Africa: Human waste flows through the streets of Hout Bay
Residents call for the City to urgently fix the problem to prevent “a health emergency”.
For years the community of Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay has battled continuous sewage spills, turning the local basketball court into a foul-smelling pool of human faeces.
Residents we spoke to say they are worried about the health risks. In Imizamo Yethu, residents can often be found jumping over streams of overflowing sewage from erupted manholes and stormwater drains. Some people have constructed makeshift walkways from their doorsteps to the road to cross over the streams of sewage.
Guatemala: The importance of public policy on drinking water and sanitation
Our country needs to regulate and regulate the conditions under which the population is supplied with drinking water. There is no territory in the country where problems and impacts are not encountered due to the lack of continuous water service to homes, in addition to the precarious water quality conditions caused by the contamination that exists in most sources.
Unfortunately, the country lacks a water law that organizes everything related to the management, maintenance, and care of water resources. Nor is there a regulatory body that establishes guidelines for addressing general solutions so that the population feels benefited, but at the same time sees itself as a recipient of a right, fulfilling its commitment as a resident to pay for piped water services in their homes.
Humans Are Wiping Out Water Bodies That Life Depends On, New Report Says
Wetlands provide freshwater, food, storm protection and climate regulation. Yet over the last 50 years, humans have destroyed one-fifth of them.
A landmark report for the global agreement on wetlands paints a dire picture of the state of the world’s water bodies that underpin all life on Earth.
The report, released Tuesday by the secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands, says that since 1970 more than one-fifth of wetlands have been lost, meaning they have shrunk so much they’re no longer viable or have completely disappeared. Out of what remains, a quarter of the water bodies are in ecological distress.
US: Culmore kids promote tap water
A local program is teaching students and residents in the Culmore area of Bailey’s Crossroads about the benefits of drinking tap water and the harm of single-use plastic.
Many Culmore residents come from countries where tap water is not safe to drink.
“Ecologically, tap is the hands-down winner when you compare it to plastic bottled water,” says Whitney Redding, co-founder and director of Friends of Holmes Run. The environmental education and advocacy nonprofit is dedicated to the Holmes Run watershed, where Culmore is one of the least green zip codes.
Annandale Today / US –
South Africa: DA acts as Tswaing families and businesses face weeks without water
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has lodged urgent complaints with the Public Service Commission, the Public Protector, and the Human Rights Commission to investigate the total collapse of water and sanitation services in Tswaing under the watch of the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality (NMMDM).
The Executive Mayor, Cllr Khumalo Molefe, now claims the crisis will only be addressed in three weeks, a promise the community has heard far too many times before.
In Iraq, drought threatens water supply and ancient heritage
Iraq is grappling with one of the worst droughts in its history. Water levels in Turkish dams feeding Iraq’s rivers remain critically low, and this year’s winter rains have failed to provide enough water for drinking or farming. As droughts become a recurring crisis, the environmental and cultural heritage of the Fertile Crescent – the cradle of ancient Mesopotamia – is slowly vanishing. FRANCE 24 report by Josh Vardey and Marie-Charlotte Roupie.
France 24 / Iraq – WaterCrisis
Nearly a billion people will be affected by a scarcity of water by 2100, Northeastern researchers say
In an analysis of the best available Earth systems models, Northeastern researchers found that by the turn of the next century, 850 million people will feel the effects of declining runoff from the world’s major rivers.
That is more than three times the number estimated by previous analysis of Earth system models, says Puja Das, a post-doctoral research fellow at AI for Climate and Sustainability within the Institute for Experiential AI at Northeastern University.
Relief from drought in southwest U.S. likely isn’t coming, according to new research
The Southwest United States is currently facing its worst megadrought of the past 1,200 years. According to a recent study by the University of Texas at Austin, the drought could continue at least until the end of the century, if not longer.
Although some scientists anticipate that natural climate variability will bring relief, new research suggests that ongoing warming could be disrupting the natural rhythm of an important climate cycle that brings needed rain to the region.
PHYS.org / US – WaterCrisis
Illinois Communities Grapple With ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Their Drinking Water
Hundreds of thousands of residents are served by the affected systems. City officials must monitor and mitigate the PFAS in the years ahead.
The warnings came in the mail this spring to 47 community water systems serving more than 400,000 Illinois residents: Elevated levels of harmful PFAS, better known as “forever chemicals,” had been found in their drinking water.
Chad: Water crisis intensifies as temperatures soar and funds shrink
Faced with deepening gaps in international aid and rising humanitarian needs, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is increasingly stepping in to provide water and sanitation services for hundreds of thousands of refugees and residents across eastern Chad.
With particularly high temperatures in recent months, the daily search for clean water has become a relentless struggle for most of the 860,000 Sudanese refugees in this region and the communities hosting them.
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) / Chad – Right2Water
Chile: More than 300 indigenous women are protecting Chile’s seas.
Find out how they are conserving 20 coastal areas using ancestral knowledge.
We are proud to announce that Water Journalists Africa has joined us in our commitment to becoming a Blue Community! 💙
In Chile, more than 300 women belonging to 12 territories of five indigenous peoples make up the Network of Indigenous Women for the Defence of the Sea.
Together, they use a tool called ‘Biocultural Monitoring’, which enables them to map traditional activities related to the sea and identify each community’s specific needs regarding coastal care.
Thanks to their efforts, more than 20 Indigenous Coastal Marine Areas have been protected.
This conservation initiative was recognised in the 2025 United Nations Report on Oceans and Human Rights for its contribution to preserving marine biodiversity.
Canada: Province calls for more water conservation, warns of worsening drought
A few days of rain over the past few weeks will help, but parts of the Southern Interior, including the Okanagan are seeing worsening drought conditions.
Parts of the region are currently at Drought Level 3 and the latest drought update from the B.C. government forecasts declining stream flows in the Okanagan, Kettle, Nicola and Slocan-Lower Columbia basins.
“I was in the Okanagan last week. We spoke to a lot of First Nations and farmers and I stopped to look at the Salmon River, which is really low right now,” said Randene Neill, the minister of water, land and resource stewardship.
One million Cubans without water: Regime acknowledges precariousness in the supply system
The regime admitted that one million Cubans face daily disruptions in water supply due to blackouts, drought, and lack of resources. Santiago de Cuba is the most affected province.
The president of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INRH), Antonio Rodríguez Rodríguez, acknowledged this Tuesday that around one million people in Cuba are facing daily challenges in water supply, due to the energy crisis, lack of material resources, and a persistent drought.
CiberCuba / Cuba – Right2Water
Colombia: The Atlantic Departmental Water Plan has once again been recognised as the best.
Minister Rivas emphasised that the plan ‘works very well’ and has a redistributive approach, making it a national benchmark for closing social gaps. This aligns with the government of Eduardo Verano, which focuses on bringing benefits to townships and villages.
During the event, the Governor’s Office requested an additional investment of 288 billion Colombian pesos from the national government to achieve the objectives of the 2024–2027 plan. Three official events were also held in Juan de Acosta, financed by the Ministry of Housing.
India: NH66 in Kerala. Built Against Water logic, Designed to Collapse?
The collapse of the NH66 highway in Kerala is not yet another accident. It is the result of designing roads without listening to water, terrain, or people. Built in defiance of Kerala’s monsoon logic, paddy-wetland systems, and ecological memory, the highway blocks natural drainage, floods homes, and divides society. From ignored protests to forgotten flood lessons, its collapse is a story of what happens when asphalt arrogance meets a land shaped by rain.
SANDRP – South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People / India
UK: How our water went to shit
Ideology of privatisation.
Monopolies privatized.
Political system bought by corporations.
Profiteering by corporations.
Ineffective regulation.
No one listens to the people.
Don’t believe private is the best.
Govt still resisting public ownership.
Australia: Award-winning cotton grower John Norman jailed over $8.7 million water fraud
Queensland cotton farmer John Norman has been sentenced to 9.5 years in prison, with a three-year non-parole period, for his role in an $8.7 million water fraud.
At its peak, Norman Farming controlled more than 18,000 hectares of land around the headwaters of the Murray-Darling Basin, south-west of Brisbane.
In 2018, Norman and his former colleague were charged after years of falsifying invoices and making fraudulent claims from the Healthy Headwaters scheme.
UK: More than 150 farms in England caught using local water illegally
More than 150 farms in England have been caught illegally taking too much water from rivers, lakes and underground sources, a BBC analysis reveals.
Since mid-2022 there have been nearly 200 breaches of permits allowing farmers to use water from local sources, according to Environment Agency data obtained through a freedom of information request.
Of these incidents, 141 threatened environmental damage – but just one farmer has been prosecuted.
UK: Thames Water accused of ‘holding gun’ to taxpayers’ heads over fine threats
Results revealed losses at Britain’s biggest water company rocketed last year – as bosses were given another grilling by MPs.
Crisis hit Thames Water has been accused of “holding a gun” to taxpayers’ heads over an expected £1billion in fines for widespread failures.
The company is lobbying the government to changes industry rules which see supplies punished for missing targets for tackling pollution and leakages. Top Thames Water bigwigs told MPs the company was braced for an estimated £1billion of penalties over the next five years. But they argued this would hamper investment, especially given the £20billion regulator Ofwat has allowed it to invest is far short of the £24billion it wanted. Customers bills will still soar as a result.
