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The Water Diplomat - Hydropolitics News and Intelligence

The Water Diplomat seeks to mainstream water news at the intersections between water, peace and security.

We provide free news and intelligence resource produced in collaboration with many partners in the water sector.

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International Water Law and Transboundary Water Cooperation

8 Mar 2024

Troubled Waters - Recent Challenges to the 1970 US-Mexico Boundary Treaty

In a research paper published by Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy on the 8th of February, Professor Stephen Mumme and researcher Regina Buono analyse recent chal...

6 Mar 2024

Initiative to restore part of Indus River Basin named as UN World Restoration Flagship

An initiative to restore more than 30 per cent of Pakistan’s Indus River Basin by 2030 has been named one of seven UN World Restoration Flagships. Announced ahead of the 6th sessio...

4 Mar 2024

European Green Deal

The absence of a clear date for the announcement of a European Water Resilience Initiative, expected in mid-March 2024, has raised fears amongst environmental groups and water expe...

8 Mar 2024

Joint Research Centre Produces Report on Drought in the Mediterranean

The Mediterranean coast is in the grip of an unprecedented drought, with reservoirs at exceptionally low levels, rivers experiencing low flow volumes, and groundwater levels droppi...

23 Jan 2024

Uzbekistan Accedes to the Protocol on Water and Health

Uzbekistan deposited the instrument of accession to the UNECE-WHO/Europe Protocol on Water and Health on the 2nd of January, becoming the 29th national party to the Protocol as wel...

26 Jan 2024

North American Section of Women and Water Diplomacy Network Launched

On December 13, 2023, a broad consortium of partners co-convened a side event at the 2023 Colorado River Water Users Association (CRWUA) annual conference in Las Vegas, Nevada to l...

12 Dec 2023

Freshwater Challenge

Water is life. Unfortunately, in the “era of global boiling”, water is also one of the hardest hit natural resources of a changing climate, exacerbated by drainage, diversion or po...

25 Oct 2023

Guinea rejoins Mali, Mauritania and Senegal to jointly govern the Senegal River

Guinea has announced its intention to rejoin the Organisation pour la Mise en Valeur du Fleuve Senegal (OMVS) in October, reversing a decision taken by the government to withdraw f...

9 Nov 2023

Farmers protest against Mexico’s intended release of Rio Grande water to United States

Farmers in Chihuahua State in Mexico have approached the government to reserve water for irrigation rather than releasing it in order to comply with a treaty obligation to share wa...

25 Oct 2023

World Food Day

World Food Day, observed annually on the 16th of October, is dedicated to raising awareness on global hunger and to stimulating collective action around food production and food se...

9 Oct 2023

AGWA

Tobias Schmitz: I wanted to have a discussion with you about the role of water in the upcoming COP 28. I believe that the host country, the United Arab Emirates, has identified thr...

4 Sep 2023

Nuclear power plant at Bugey in France

The Rhône River, which originates in the Swiss Alps upstream of Lake Leman (colloquially: Lake Geneva), has again become the subject of negotiations between Switzerland and France ...

Water in Armed Conflict and other situations of violence

1 Mar 2024

Interview with Action Against Hunger on the humanitarian situation in Rafah

The Water Diplomat has received feedback from Action Against Hunger on the humanitarian situation in Rafah following the development of complex and difficult conditions for humanit...

5 Mar 2024

Battle for truth

The Stockholm Hub on Environment, Climate and Security has published an insightful policy note on the impact of information influencing campaigns on the decision-making environment...

6 Feb 2024

Rand Water Board Executive Killed at Community Event

Teboho Joala, an executive member of South Africa’s Rand Water Board, was shot dead in full view of hundreds of primary school children on the 29th of January. The incident took pl...

31 Jan 2024

Water Sanitation and Hygiene in SA Genocide case against Israel

On the 26th of January, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take prompt and decisive action to address the living conditions of the Palestinian people living in Ga...

6 Feb 2024

Water Resources at the Centre of conflict in Taizz Governorate in Yemen

On the 16th of January, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released its World Report 2024 which makes mention of direct attacks on water infrastructure by parties to the conflict in Yemen. A...

7 Dec 2023

Girl fetching water

On the 22nd and 23rd of November a workshop was held in Geneva to discuss the call for a global alliance to spare water from armed conflicts. The overarching objective of the envis...

30 Oct 2023

Water Integrity Network initiates petition to stop weaponization of water

On October 20th, the Water Integrity Network initiated a petition to the United Nations through change.org to stop the weaponization of water in all forms of conflict. The ‘weaponi...

19 Oct 2023

destroyed infrastructure in Ukraine

In an article published in late September in Earth’s Future , researchers Peter Gleick, Viktor Vyshnevskyi and Serhii Shevchuk provide an overview of the consequences of the Russia...

7 Sep 2023

Sudan Update: The Water Diplomat Speaks to Action Against Hunger

Tobias Schmitz: From your perspective, what is the current status of the conflict and which areas are currently affected: has this changed geographically since mid-May? Paloma ...

Knowledge Based, Data-Driven Decision Making

1 Mar 2024

First ever report on the status of migratory species reveals critical decline of freshwater species

In the context of the 14th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS, which entered into force in 1983), the f...

4 Mar 2024

Study highlights socioeconomic impact of climate change in LDCs beyond 2°C warming

A new paper by the Centre for Global Development has reviewed a range of potential impacts that climate change could have on the socioeconomic status of developing countries. In pa...

22 Feb 2024

Rainforest

In an article published in the influential magazine Nature on the 14th of February, a group of 25 researchers have warned that up to 47% of the Amazon Forest is unstable and could ...

8 Mar 2024

Study shows that boiling water effectively removes large amount of microplastics

A new study published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology has found that boiling water is an effective way to remove large amounts of microplastics. If the water co...

12 Jan 2024

New study shows concentrations of microplastics in drinking water are much higher than expected

A study published on the 8th of January in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has shown that the concentration of micro- and nano- plastic particles in drinking wa...

30 Jan 2024

Rapid Handpump Repair strongly reduces diarrhea amongst children

A 2024 study has found that rapid handpump repair has a powerful effect on the reduction of diarrhoea amongst children. The study, conducted in Kwale County, Kenya, found that diar...

3 Dec 2023

Providing basic access to water within the planetary limits for surface water

In an article in Nature Sustainability published on the 16th of November, a team of researchers has assessed whether minimum human needs for water could be met around the world by ...

10 Nov 2023

Improving water management for rural development within the 2030 Agenda

Three-quarters of the world's poorest people live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods as well as on access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene...

3 Nov 2023

New Study points to irreversible melt of West Antarctic Ice Sheet

A study published in Nature Climate Change has come to the conclusion that the future melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) in the 21st century is unavoidable even if gree...

1 Nov 2023

Study shows that human activity is disrupting the natural salt content of freshwater

A study published by Nature Reviews Earth and Environment has shown that increasing salt production is contributing to the ‘freshwater salinization syndrome’: scientists are observ...

10 Oct 2023

Global urban growth in high flood risk areas outpaces settlement in safe areas

In an article published in the journal Nature this month, researchers have noted that human settlements are expanding into hazardous flood zones faster than in safe areas. The rese...

12 Sep 2023

Water utilities request transparency over discharge permits as Meuse River quality deteriorates

The quality of the Maas / Meuse River, shared by France, Belgium and the Netherlands has deteriorated further due to the discharge of harmful chemicals. Over the past year, concent...

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Finance for water cooperation

5 Feb 2024

Katse Dam Overspilling

South Africa’s Water Reuse Programme, a U.S. $ 1.5 billion project developed in partnership with the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and ot...

6 Mar 2024

AfDB and Lake Chad Basin Commission sign MOU to rehabilitate the Lake Chad Basin

The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) have signed an agreement to rehabilitate and restore the Lake Chad Basin. The agreement was signed in ...

20 Oct 2023

Dutch Blue Bond is the latest in a trend in sustainable water investments

On the 17th of October, the Netherlands announced that it had taken out a ‘blue bond’ worth € 5 billion which will go towards efforts to mitigate flood risks. The government had ho...

17 Oct 2023

EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting to become mandatory in fiscal year 2024

The reporting of non-financial information (information on environmental, social and governance impacts) is to become mandatory in the European Union for large, listed companies in...

10 Oct 2023

Urban Water Catalyst Initiative about to commence implementation

The Urban Water Catalyst Initiative (UWCI), an initiative announced at the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York in March this year, is on the point of supporting its first utilitie...

8 Mar 2024

Climate Resilient Water Supply for South Tarawa

The Green Climate Fund, in partnership with the government of Kiribati, the Asian Development Fund, the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility, is enabling the implementati...

10 Oct 2023

ADB to Invest $200 Million in Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management in Assam India

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a U.S. $200 million loan for flood and riverbank erosion risk management in Assam, India, along the main channel of the Brahmaputra Ri...

National and Local News

6 Mar 2024

Catalonia shortages

Large parts of the northeastern Spanish region ( autonomous community) of Catalonia are suffering their worst drought on record, leading authorities in the region to declare a drou...

5 Mar 2024

Persistent drought causes acute water shortages in Mexico City

Mexico City is facing a severe water shortage following a persistent drought across large parts of the country, with supplies to residents being restricted to several hours a day. ...

22 Feb 2024

Rainforest

In an article published in the influential magazine Nature on the 14th of February, a group of 25 researchers have warned that up to 47% of the Amazon Forest is unstable and could ...

12 Dec 2023

Spain battles critical drought amid political division and complex water challenges

The drought situation in Spain remains severe, especially affecting the mid-southern and eastern regions. Approximately 10 million people, roughly a quarter of the country's popula...

9 Nov 2023

Mississippi River drops to historic low, affecting water supplies and trade

The Mississippi River is experiencing historical levels of drought for the second year in a row, with water levels at a record low of 3.5 metres below average at Memphis on the 10t...

6 Nov 2023

Nigeria Approaches its Open Defecation Free Target Date

In a blog in Nigeria Health Watch , arguments have been presented proposing ways to accelerate access to sanitation in the country. These include the need for more active involveme...

2 Nov 2023

Qatar Charity and UNOCHA to provide water and sanitation to displaced Yemenis

In October, Qatar Charity signed an agreement with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in Yemen to provide water and sanitation services...

2 Oct 2023

Cauvery Water Authority orders Karnataka to release water for Tamil Nadu

On the 27th of September the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) ordered the State of Karnataka to release 85 m³ of water per second to downstream Tamil Nadu for 18 days, sta...

10 Oct 2023

China: more floods and fears for food security

Flooding hit southern China again in September. On September 8, heavy rains hit Hong Kong and southern China. Over 600 mm of rain fell overnight, representing a quarter of the city...