BLUE DIGEST 22-07-2025

Update UK

Water companies to be overseen by new watchdog to ‘prevent abuses of the past’, government says

Water regulator Ofwat will be scrapped and replaced to overhaul the “broken” system, Environment Secretary Steve Reed confirms.
A new watchdog will “prevent the abuses of the past” and bring water functions from four different regulators into one, Reed says.

BBC / UK 

Water bill rises needed to fix investment, report says

Water bills have to rise steeply to make up for years of underinvestment, a major review into the state of the water industry in England and Wales has found. BBC

Prem Sika, Emeritus Professor of Accounting and member of the UK House of Lords, comments: England water bills will rise by a third to fund crisis of privatisation. People already paid. Companies didn’t invest, paid £85bn in dividends. Customers to pay again for service they don’t get. Companies raise capital from customers, shareholders take profits. Why are they not investing?

Will the water industry proposals make any difference?

A review of the water industry has proposed the biggest reform of the sector in England and Wales since privatisation more than 30 years ago.
The review’s author, Sir Jon Cunliffe, has made 88 recommendations, which range from scrapping the current regulator Ofwat to introducing stronger environmental regulation.

BBC

Independent Water Commission Report could lead to dramatic improvements for environment and public

Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of The River Trust said: “Many people will have wanted this report to go further and for it to be allowed to consider nationalisation of the water industry. This is understandable. However, I believe that the recommendations in this comprehensive report, if implemented by government, would lead to a dramatic improvement in the water environment and far more cost-effective delivery. We applaud the Commission and Sir Jon on the report and urge government to implement the recommendations and to act as fast as possible to revive our rivers before they get worse.”

The River Trust

“The illusion of change”: Water Commission falls short

The Independent Water Commission’s final report fails to propose the bold reform urgently needed to fix the UK’s crumbling water system. While the report acknowledges the depth of the crisis, it ultimately offers “the illusion of change – not real change.”
River Action criticised the Commission for avoiding the structural changes needed to protect the environment, rebuild trust, and hold polluters accountable. Key omissions include:

RiverAction

The water industry rich list revealed: How bosses were paid £278m in 11 years as sector faces overhaul amid fury over soaring bills and sewage leaks

Fat cat water company bosses have earned £278m over more than a decade, as hosepipe bans multiply and an independent commission has today called for an overhaul of the privatised industry.
Executive pay figures obtained by the Daily Mail show salaries, pensions, benefits and bonuses earned by 57 chief executives and chief finance officers at Britain’s 11 major water firms over 11 financial years from 2015.

Daily Mail Online – View the Rich List in full at www.sewagecampaignnetwork.org.uk.

Labour’s arguments on water nationalisation reveal their total economic incompetence

Richard Murphy, Funding the Future: Labour’s arguments on water nationalisation are wilfully ignorant, stupid or just plain straightforward misrepresentations of the truth. You take your pick. Whatever it is, they’re utterly incompetent.
This exchange took place in The Commons yesterday as Clive Lewis MP asked Steve Reed MP, the Environment Secretary, about nationalisation of the water industry:

Tax Research – Funding the Future

Column by Andrew Fisher in ipaper

“The Cunliffe Report is a joke. It protects water profiteers, screws over billpayers, and will do little to reduce pollution in our rivers and coastlines. The only solution is for water to be taken into public ownership”

the ipaper (paywall)

Kenya: Court Orders Pipeline Company, NEMA to Pay Over $23m in Compensation for Oil Spill

The Environment and Land Court in Makueni has ordered the Kenya Pipeline Company Ltd. (KPC) and the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to jointly pay more than KSh 3 billion (approximately $23 million) in damages and environmental restoration costs following a significant oil spill in the Thange River Basin. 

Pipeline Technology Journal / Kenya

Italy: Water emergency in Cosenza districts. “Sorical must explain and take responsibility”

‘For four days, entire communities in Cosenza have been forced to endure an incredible water emergency. The districts of Cozzo Presta, Pigna, Diodato, Cozzo San Lorenzo, Badessa and Cozzo del Monaco have been left completely without water, and similar problems are affecting the areas of Episcopani and Colle Mussano too.”
This was reported in a statement by Francesco Spadafora, the Fratelli d’Italia party leader on the city council.

Calabria Diretta News (Italian) / Italy – WaterCrisis

See also: Water emergency: the overall situation and next steps

Many altruistic citizens are aware of the inconvenience and are taking action to support the large-scale effort that has been set in motion. The Mayor of Avezzano is in constant contact with Giancarlo Di Vincenzo, the Prefect of L’Aquila, and they have agreed on actions to be taken to provide support through the Civil Protection Agency.

info media news (Italian)

Mozambique: Water in Limpopo River is possibly contaminated, warns water board

Mozambique’s Southern Regional Water Board (ARA-Sul) has announced that a significant change in the colour of the water in the Limpopo River, in the southern province of Gaza, suggests possible contamination “and therefore direct consumption of this water should be avoided.”
In a statement, ARA-Sul revealed that the water along the Limpopo River has greenish tones. The coloration has been observed from upstream areas in the territories of South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe, extending to downstream regions in Mozambican territory.

aimnews / Mozambique

Egypt/Ethiopia/Sudan: The Grand Renaissance Dam. Will there be a water war?

A few days after Addis Ababa announced the upcoming inauguration of the largest dam in Africa, Cairo and Khartoum expressed concern. Trilateral talks on the management of the Nile’s waters have been at a standstill for almost 15 years and have poisoned relations between the three countries.

jeune afrique (French) / Egypt – Ethiopia – Sudan – WaterConflicts

Africa: Water, Sanitation Technocrats in Lilongwe to Discuss How to Tackle Challenges Affecting the Sector

Technocrats in the water and sanitation sector have converged in Lilongwe for the 95th Strategic and Technological Council (STC) conference of the Africa Water and Sanitation Association (AfWASA).
Among others, the technocrats are expected to explore new and blended financing mechanisms for the sector, including the public-private partnerships, green bonds, climate adaptation funds and performance-based financing for utilities.

Nyasa Times / Africa – WaterBusiness

Iran Shuts Down Capital amid Severe Water Crisis

Tehran’s Dams Are Nearly Empty, and Alongside Daily Power Cuts, Residents Now Face Water Outages Too.
In recent days, the recurring theme in Iranian citizens’ social media posts has been the word “outage”: power outage, internet outage, and now, water outage.
Currently, water in the capital is being cut for three to four hours daily, matching the duration of electricity blackouts. Videos circulating on social media show that in some poor southern districts of Tehran, such as Nasimshahr, people have taken to the streets after enduring three consecutive days without water.

Middle East Forum / Iran – WaterCrisis

France: What has it taken to unite divided voters? A hated, toxic chemical

A student-led petition against a bill that would reintroduce a banned insecticide is spreading like wildfire. Will the government listen?
Amillion petition signatures in 10 days? That should tell a government something: that a huge number of citizens aren’t happy with what it has just done, but also that they still believe in their democracy and its ability to course-correct.

The Guardian / France

Canada: She’s fought for clean water for years and fears proposed Ontario permit changes will hurt First Nations

Ontario says proposal streamlines permit approval process and it would continue to review applicants.
Makasa Looking Horse Henry remembers the moment she learned some people in her community had never tasted clean tap water.
“A lot of people have to rely on buying water, not having any hooked-up water, piped-in water and running water in their households,” she said. “This is a huge stressor on Indigenous women’s mental health and Indigenous families’ mental health.”

CBC / Canada – Right2Water

From Munich to Gaza: drinking water provided by an Israeli and a Palestinian.

Having both been residents of Germany for several years, the two professionals met during a peace rally on 8 October 2023. Three months later, they founded the NGO ‘Clean Shelter’ to provide drinking water to those under attack in the Gaza Strip.
In October 2023, Tom Kellner, an Israeli by birth and a literature researcher and publishing expert, had been living in Berlin for several years. Seba Salman Abudaqa, a Palestinian, had recently moved to Munich from San Francisco. After graduating in Sociology from Bir Zeit University in 2004, she spent the next twenty years working as a sustainable development project expert and community trainer in various countries in Africa and Asia. The two professionals first met via Zoom on 8 October 2023, the day after ‘Black Saturday’, as part of a dialogue programme for Israelis and Palestinians abroad, promoted by the Neve Shalom – Wahat al-Salam organisation.

Terra santa (Italian) / Visit Clean Shelter / Israel – Palestine

US: Draft House Budget Would Cut Key Water Infrastructure Funds

The House budget, though not as severe as the White House’s, proposes a 25 percent cut to the main source of federal funding for local water systems.
Senate approves Trump’s $9.4 billion in cuts to public broadcasting and foreign aid.
Other water bills in Congress include tribal water infrastructure funding, sinkhole monitoring, microplastics, and Great Lakes fisheries.
Bureau of Reclamation announces $200 million for water recycling projects in two western states.
EPA delays requirements to monitor groundwater at coal ash dumps.

circle of blue / US

See also: Water pollution is already out of control – and now Congressional Republicans want to gut the protections we have in the Clean Water Act. Tell your Reps to protect our water and oppose the PERMIT Act. Food & Water Watch

Three types of drought – and why there’s no such thing as a global water crisis

Hosepipe bans have been announced in parts of England this summer. Following the driest spring in over a century, the Environment Agency has issued a medium drought risk warning, and Yorkshire Water will introduce restrictions starting Friday, 11 July. It’s a familiar story: reduced rainfall, shrinking reservoirs and renewed calls for restraint: take shorter showers, avoid watering the lawn, turn off the tap while brushing your teeth.
These appeals to personal responsibility reflect a broader way of thinking about water: that everyone, everywhere, is facing the same crisis, and that small individual actions are a meaningful response. But what if this narrative, familiar as it is, obscures more than it reveals?

The Conversation / WaterCrisis

Costa Rica: Alarmingly, 56% of drinking water is not billed: the country has been trying to lower this percentage since 1980.

According to the AyA deputy manager, the institution is not organised to undertake and continue the project that seeks to reduce waste.
On average, 56% of water from the metropolitan aqueduct and seven other regional aqueducts goes unaccounted for.
In other words, for every 100 litres collected, purified and introduced into the distribution system by the Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers (AyA), 56 litres are not billed.

El Observador (Spanish) / CostaRica – WaterBusiness

US: The Colorado River used to be predictable as a water supply. What happens when it’s not?

On the headwaters of the Colorado River, water managers fear they are on the brink of a system failure as drought and climate change rewrite the old rules.
Winter snowpack is no longer a reliable measure of flow on the river. Drought, warmer temperatures and dust can spell a poor runoff year.
Water users on the upper river say they have no room left to cut back, but worry that they will lose a fight with the more populous and powerful states down river.

az central / US

Nigeria: Gombe students urge govt to criminalise open defecation

A group of 300-level law students from Gombe State University has called on the state government to adopt a tougher stance against open defecation by enacting criminal sanctions and supporting climate-resilient faecal sludge management systems.
Arewa PUNCH reports that the event is part of broader efforts to support Gombe State’s roadmap to achieving Open Defecation Free status by adopting climate-resilient sanitation systems that safeguard public health and the environment.

Punch / Nigeria – Sanitation

China: Netizen detained for fabricating ‘sewage pipe connecting tap water system’ rumor in Hangzhou

A netizen in Hangzhou has been detained after fabricating and spreading a rumor online claiming that sewage pipe had been connected to the city’s tap water system, according to a statement released by Ministry of Public Security’s cybersecurity department on Tuesday.
Authorities confirmed that the individual, identified as surnamed Shao, deliberately posted the fake “police notification” to attract attention, causing widespread public concern and misinformation.

Global Times / China

La Seguridad Hídrica en México: Un compromiso compartido

Water security is an issue that affects us all in Mexico, and it is time for us to come together to address the challenges it presents.
As the population grows and urban areas expand, pressure on our water resources increases. Mexico is a country of contrasts when it comes to access to water: its geography and climate vary significantly, resulting in some regions where water is scarce and others where it is wasted. The challenge is clear: we must join forces to protect this essential resource.

Anahuac Puebla (Spanish) / Mexico

Cuba: Chronic leaks are exacerbating the water crisis in Havana.

Leaks waste large amounts of drinking water in the Cuban capital, while numerous neighbourhoods are experiencing alarming shortages. Residents and activists are denouncing the authorities’ lack of action to repair leaks that have been left unrepaired for years.

Marti (Spanish) / Cuba

Spain: Ciudalcampo is a VIP residential area where villas are worth more than two million euros. However, there is no drinking water, and a court is investigating the ‘theft’ of water from five wells.

Home to celebrities such as Aitana, Bisbal, Baltasar Garzón and Susanna Griso, the area is under investigation not only for discharging sewage into a river, but also for taking water from five wells without permission. Four individuals are under investigation. The Tagus Hydrographic Confederation has also fined them €4.1 million.

infobae (Spanish) / Spain