"Access to water is a means of survival that must never be used as a tactic of war ... Attacks on water and sanitation infrastructure are attacks on children."

UNICEF director of emergency programmes Manuel Fontaine made this unequivocal statement as UNICEF published volume 3 of its "Water Under Fire" series of reports that examine the effects on children when access to water and sanitation is compromised as a result of conflict.

"When the flow of water stops, diseases like cholera and diarrhoea can spread like wildfire, often with fatal consequences," said Fontaine, adding: "Hospitals cannot function, and rates of malnutrition and wasting increase. Children and families are often forced out in search of water, exposing them, particularly girls, to an increased risk of harm and violence.”

Subtitled "Attacks on water and sanitation services in armed conflict and the impacts on children", the latest of the trilogy focuses on the frameworks necessary to end such attacks, and proposes a "change agenda" with a call to action for each of five distinct groups: the parties to a conflict, humanitarian actors, states, the United Nations Security Council and donors.

Laying out the stark short and long-term impacts that direct and incidental attacks on WASH infrastructure have on the most vulnerable civilian groups, the report highlights that, "in protracted conflicts, children under 5 are 20 times more likely to die from diarrhoeal disease linked to unsafe water and sanitation than violence in conflict".

It also stresses that the disruption of access to essential WASH services can have lifelong impacts, citing serious health effects such as malnutrition, delayed physical and mental development, reduced levels of education, and diminished household and community prosperity.

Around 800,000 people in Israel-occupied Gaza lack regular access to piped water in the wake of the 11-day fighting that damaged around 50% of the water network, says the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), quoting information from Gaza's ministry of public works and housing.

Following the announcement of the ceasefire on 21 May, the OCHA announced the immediate release of $22.5 million in aid allocated from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the Occupied Palestinian Territory Humanitarian Fund.

The statement said that the hostilities "have caused serious damage to vital civilian infrastructure in Gaza, affecting water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services for hundreds of thousands of people".

“I welcome the ceasefire and I reiterate my call on all parties to the hostilities to allow for emergency humanitarian relief distribution, and for civilians to purchase food and water, seek medical care and attend to other emergency needs," said Mark Lowcock, the UN’s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.

In a separate report, UNICEF estimates that 325,000 people, including 165,000 children, require humanitarian assistance to access safe drinking water and basic sanitation. "Essential infrastructure – including groundwater wells and reservoirs, desalination and wastewater plants, water delivery networks and pumping stations – have sustained significant damage," said UNICEF's executive director, Henrietta Fore.

UNICEF says it is working with water authorities to repair infrastructure and procure 200,000 litres of fuel to "ensure the operation of the three main desalination plants, thereby ensuring access to safe water".

Aid agency Oxfam also announced plans to deliver immediate WASH assistance to an initial group of 282,762 people by providing clean water by truck as well as bottled water, jerry cans to store water, and repairing sanitation facilities at schools and other areas. "We are also distributing hygiene items like soap and personal protective equipment and promoting the importance of good hygiene," said the statement.

Since the ceasefire was announced, most of the more than 77,000 Palestinians displaced by the violence are understood to have returned home. However, OCHA estimates that around 1,000, whose homes were destroyed or badly damaged, remain in emergency shelters.

In a report just published as part of its "Water Under Fire Series", and compiled prior to the latest round of violence, UNICEF identifies 95 attacks against 142 WASH structures in the State of Palestine since 2019. The report notes that constraints on the entry of fuel into Gaza limits electricity output by the Gaza Power Plant, leading to a deterioration in water quality and outages at sewage pumping stations as well as drops in water availability to less than 50 litres per person per day, which is less than half the WHO minimum daily water requirement.

Photo credit: UNICEF

Conflict, drought and flooding in erratic patterns cause human displacement and political instability in Somalia.

These conditions are exacerbated by a confusing and contentious election process and continuing disputes over water, land, and pasture, leading to an extension of Somalia’s security crisis, according to a new assessment from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) “Emergency Response And Preparedness Plan 2021 Somalia”.

Climatic change is causing erratic water challenges that frequently vary widely between water shortages and drought conditions, to flash floods and river breaches. Additional crises such as COVID-19 and locust infestations affect the complexity of the situation. These factors contribute directly to the protracted armed conflict in the region and drive communities to “negative coping” mechanisms.

Through the first quarter of 2021, more than 34 districts in Somalia already faced devastating water shortages, with almost 100,000 people displaced by droughtlike conditions since the end of 2020.  At least 3.4 million people are projected to be affected by drought or drought-like conditions by the end of 2021. Of these, approximately 380,000 are expected to be displaced due to droughtlike conditions and dry season.

Weather forecasts for the remainder of 2021 are expected to be affected by La Niña conditions with a second consecutive season of below-average Gu rainfall season forecast from April to June. Once again, locust infestation is forecast based on observation of immature swarms breeding in northern parts of the country. Widespread food insecurity is predicted through September 2021.

The UN agency calls for renewed effort to support communities with access to climate-resilient water services that are sustainable. The report calls for investment in all solutions to meet short, medium and long-term needs to withstand the various climate shocks. The issues of drought, flood and conflict require both State and Federal response that will optimize the speed and volume of response and preparedness.

Read full report here.

Warring factions in northeast Syria continue to blame each other for the ongoing crisis that has been causing crippling water shortages for more than one million people in the region.

Turkey accuses the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the largely Kurdish military alliance that controls much of the region known as the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, of cutting electricity supply to areas controlled by Turkish-backed opposition forces, mainly in the areas north of Hasakah and Raqqa. The lack of electricity is knocking out critical pumping stations that supply water to those communities, which include several camps for people displaced by the war.

The SDF blames the power cuts on Turkey, which the SDF accuses of choking the flow of water in the Euphrates River needed to power turbines at hydroelectric dams. Turkey says the drop in water levels is due to drought and the decline of rainfall in southern Turkey, which caused Turkey to reduce Syria's share of Euphrates flow from 500 to 200 cubic metres per second. Turkey accuses the Autonomous Administration (also known as Rojava) of water mismanagement, claiming it let rainwater flow through the dams to generate electricity for sale, rather than storing it. Turkey also says that the SDF has reneged on an agreement to feed the affected areas with 30 megawatts of electricity from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

Some commentators believe the SDF is trying to force Turkey to supply the region with water by being selective about those areas that receive the electricity necessary to power pumping stations.

Anas Shawakh, a researcher at the Jusoor Center for Studies in Istanbul told Al-Monitor: "The low water level of the Euphrates is not technically related to cutting off electricity to the opposition-controlled areas. According to our sources at the Autonomous Administration, most of the turbines in the dams are still working to generate electricity and supply a large part of the administration’s areas with electricity.”

Kurdish media is blaming Turkey for cutting off water to the Hasakah region from the Alouk pumping station, and claiming that this is resulting in widespread illness as residents turn to trucked water and contaminated wells.

The Syrian government, which has the backing of Russia, added its voice to the claims and counterclaims in late April when Syria's deputy minister of foreign affairs and expatriates, Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari, summoned representatives of the UN and ICRC operations in Syria to brief them on the matter and ask them "to move urgently...to stop this unjustified Turkish escalation towards the Syrian citizens in al-Hasakah governorate".

Under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator Mark Lowcock briefed the UN Security Council on the matter on 28 April, saying: "The water supply has again been interrupted almost consistently for the past two weeks. That affects close to half a million people in Al-Hasakeh, including in al Hol camp. The UN has now recorded more than 20 of these interruptions over the last year."

"Humanitarian agencies are trucking more than 3,000 m3 of water every day to the area, but this is not enough to meet people’s essential needs, particularly as the area battles, like many other parts of Syria, with increasing numbers of COVID cases," added Lowcock. He went on to call for a solution to keep water flowing at Alouk, including "safe and regular access for technical teams to the station and to the electrical installations that it relies on".

In response to the Syrian accusations, the Turkish representative to the UN Security Council claimed that is was terrorist organisation ISIL/Da'esh that was responsible for cutting electricity to the Alouk water station, leaving only 3 of its 12 pumps operational. The representative of Syria, Bassam Sabbagh, refuted the claim, saying: "You should be ashamed of yourself, sir."

Turkey itself faces substantial water shortages and has been heavily criticised for its management of the Euphrates by environmentalists and its neighbours downstream. The Euphrates rises in Turkey and flows through Syria and Iraq, where it joins the Tigris before emptying into the Persia Gulf. Heavy damming of the Euphrates by Turkey has had a severe impact on downstream ecosystems, and low flow levels have resulted in stagnation and contamination of pools and underground wells.

Image credit: Anton Samuel

The government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Pakistan, has signed agreements with China Three Gorges Company on implementation and water usage relating to the 1124 MW Kohala hydroelectric power project on the Jhelum river under the auspices of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

According to a tweet sent by the CPEC on 23 April, attendees of the signing ceremony included federal minister of Energy Hammad Azhar and AJK prime minister Raja Farooq Haider. 

The run-of-the-river high-head project will bring an investment of $2.4 billion, marking China's largest in Pakistan to-date.

The Kohala Hydropower Project is the second of six hydropower schemes planned for the Jhelum river, which is a branch of the Indus river in AJK. The project agreement was finalised in 2020 and is expected to be completed in 2027. The first is the Karot Hydropower Station, which has an installed capacity of 720 MW at a cost of $1.7 billion and is being built by China Gezhouba Group Company Limited. It is due to enter operation in December of this year.

The CPEC is collection of infrastructure projects underway in Pakistan since 2013, most recently valued at around $62 billion. In addition to hydropower, energy and transportation projects include coal-fired power plants, wind and solar farms, transmission lines and road-building.

India’s humanitarian crisis continues to worsen as more than one hundred COVID-19 victims have been found washed up on the banks of the Ganges (Ganga) River in Uttar Pradesh state.

Authorities are concerned that disposing bodies directly into the Ganga, which is worshipped by Hindus as ‘Mother Ganga’, is threatening the water quality of the river and its tributaries – which provide a vital water source for more than 400 million people who rely on it for drinking, bathing and irrigation.

The soaring death toll from the devastating second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the world's second most populous country has led to a shortage of firewood for cremations and rising funeral costs, forcing grieving families to abandon their traditional Hindu cremations, and instead dispose of the bodies of their loved ones directly into the Ganges River.

A local resident told the BBC: “Private hospitals are looting people. Common people are not left with money to pay a priest and spend more on cremation at the riverbank. They are asking 2,000 rupees [$27] just to get the corpse out of the ambulance. The river has become their last recourse, so people are immersing corpses in the river."

At a 16 May review meeting, the Indian Government instructed Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to address the crisis. The Jal Shakti Ministry said: “Namami Gange directs states to prevent dumping of dead bodies in the Ganga and focus on their safe disposal and providing support for ensuring dignified cremation."

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has been appointed to monitor the water quality of the Ganges and its tributaries more frequently in liaison with health departments, providing guidance to state pollution control boards.

At the review meeting, additional measures, such as patrolling and financial support for cremations, were announced to deter people from dumping bodies into the river. An additional 13 crematoria have been made available under the National Mission for Clean Ganga programme – ‘Namami Gange’.

Iran is facing increasingly severe water shortages amid drought conditions, accusations of water mismanagement and a significant rise in bitcoin mining seemingly aimed at circumventing US-imposed economic sanctions.

Media reports from the region tell of lengthy power cuts and fears of water scarcity as the country faces its hottest summer in 50 years, and of hydroelectric dams drying up and farmers protesting excessive use of groundwater through thousands of illegal wells.

Despite its rich reserves of fossil fuels, Iran depends upon hydropower for around 25% of its electricity. However, in April this year, the country's deputy energy minister for water and wastewater affairs Ghasem Taqizadeh Khamesi told Iranian media that dam levels had dropped by 20 percent since September 2020 due to a 50 percent decrease in rainfall compared with last year, and that reservoirs are now at 50% capacity.

Khasemi also said that the energy ministry planned to deliver water by tanker to 6,000 villages, explaining: "Currently, 50 percent of Iran's population lives in areas where only 20 percent of the country's water resources are available, that is why we have to transport water and supply it through water tankers in these regions.”

However, reports suggest that plans to divert water from region to region, laid out in a new water bill due for submission to the Iranian parliament this month, are highly contentious and fail to take into account expert advice and analysis.

The head of Iran's department of environment, vice president Isa Kalantari, has reportedly criticised the country's water policy, saying: “In terms of development, there has only been one policy in the country: plundering our natural resources, including water and soil.”

Meanwhile, as people complain of power cuts harming business, healthcare and education, there are indications that Iran's power grid is being used to generate cryptocurrency. The country's power minister, Reza Ardakanian told Bloomberg News that 1 million new power users since last year - due to an increase in manufacturing and cryptocurrency mining - have sent daily consumption soaring. The Iranian Labour News Agency says that only 16% of the added volume is attributable to licensed, legal miners.

According to Reuters, a report by blockchain analytics company Elliptic estimates that 4.5% of all bitcoin mining takes place in Iran, while statements from Iran's state-controlled power generation company from January this year indicate that up to 600 MW of electricity was being consumed by miners. In return for cheap power, miners are obliged to sell the bitcoin they earn from their transactions to the Iranian central bank.

"The Iranian state is therefore effectively selling its energy reserves on the global markets, using the bitcoin mining process to bypass trade embargoes," the study reads.

2020 was the worst year on record for internal displacements, with 3 quarters of them related to extreme weather such as droughts, floods and storms, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre's (IDMC) latest report.

This year's Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID) focused on climate change, noting that "rising temperatures are increasing the intensity and frequency of weather-related hazards".

Alexandra Bilak, director of the IDMC said: "Disaster, particularly weather-related, triggered 3 times more displacements than conflict and violence did in 2020."

The report identifies regional variations in the reasons for displacement, with most new displacement triggered by weather-related disasters in 2020 being recorded in East Asia and the Pacific as well as South Asia.

It also cites examples of critical thresholds for disaster displacement, where increasing environmental stress has combined with structural inequalities to leave households with no choice but to move.

From erratic rainfall in the Indian state of Uttarakhand disrupting traditional agriculture to melting glaciers causing water shortages in Peru to successive droughts and floods undermining livelihoods in Tanzania, the IDMC report argues: "Without appropriate adaptation measures, including facilitating internal migration, worsening climate impacts make such situations more likely."

It also highlights the need for better data on displacement associated with "slow-onset events including drought, coastal erosion, sea level rise, salinisation, glacial retreat and permafrost melt, and to understand how these phenomena interact with sudden-onset hazards to trigger displacement".

However, Bilak stressed in a video address that climate change is not the only factor driving displacement, identifying many other "interconnected stressors" such as chronic poverty and inequality, political instability and exclusion.

"We can learn a lot from countries investing in sustainable, locally owned solutions," she said.

The IDMC presents Fiji as one such example. Given its susceptibility to hazards such as sea level rise, flooding and cyclones, the country is reviewing the permanent relocation of infrastructure and whole communities. Official assessments suggest more than 80 villages may need to be relocated, says the report.

In another video address, Saleemul Huq, director for the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) described work ongoing in Bangladesh with migrants from the low-lying coastal zones susceptible to flooding, who tend to converge on capital Dhaka. Outlining the development of around 20 "climate-resilient, migrant-friendly towns", each one currently with 500,000 to 1 million inhabitants, he said: "We are looking at ways in which we can help them to attract migrants to the tune of maybe 500,000 to 1 million people [each] over the next decade."

ICCCAD is looking at developing job and economic opportunities for migrants in those towns, as well as educational, health and living opportunities "to enable them to come to these towns and settle there, instead of ending up in the slums of Dhaka city," said Huq.

Image credit: IDMC

Russian investigators have launched a criminal case following the deaths of 10 workers who died of suspected methane poisoning whilst cleaning a sewage plant in the village of Dmitriadovka near Taganrog on the Black Sea, 1000 km south of Moscow. 

Authorities confirmed that a further 8 workers were hospitalised as a result of the incident on 21 May at a pumping station for raw sludge.

Russia’s Investigative Committee, which is responsible for examining major crimes, is looking into the case to determine if the water treatment plant breached any industrial safety rules.

According to the state-run RIA Novosti news agency, accidents during water and sewage collector repairs are common, but rarely result in so many casualties. Many such incidents are due to non-compliance with safety standards or ageing infrastructure.

"There are no exact answers to questions about the causes of the tragedy. What happened today is a real misfortune that has not happened before in Taganrog. On behalf of the city, I express my deep condolences, sympathy, and support to all the relatives of the victims" said Inna Titarenko, Chairman of the Taganrog Duma.

Image credit: Google Maps

New analysis of almost every glacier on the planet indicates that annual rates of glacier thinning have “nearly doubled” in the past 20 years.

The paper found that, on average, glaciers lost 4 Percent of their volume over 20 years. But the picture varied across time and from region to region.

This rate of ice melt is believed to be the second largest contributor to sea-level rise in the 21st Century and is greater than that of either Greenland or Antarctic ice sheets.

Lead author Romain Hugonnet, of the University of Toulouse, said the data was an urgent warning. “A doubling of the thinning rates in 20 years for glaciers outside Greenland and Antarctica tells us we need to change the way we live. We need to act now,” he said. “It can be difficult to get the public to understand why glaciers are important because they seem so remote, but they affect many things in the global water cycle including regional hydrology, and by changing too rapidly, can lead to the alteration or collapse of downstream ecosystems.”

The study used data collected from NASA’s Terra satellite and achieved coverage of over 97 Percent of all glaciers, making it the most accurate and comprehensive assessment of the world’s 217,175 glaciers to date. The results offer strong evidence that there is an urgent requirement for swift action to stem greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition to the new spatial information offered through the NASA data, the study has assessed elevation and mass change observations at an individual glacier scale, providing a very detailed record of how glaciers are responding to the variability in climate and, more importantly, rising temperatures.

The new study will enable more precise measurement of a glacier thereby providing more accurate information on the glacier’s contribution to sea level rise.

The new study assesses that since 2000, the world’s glaciers have lost over 265 billion tonnes of ice each year. The study makes the assumption that all that melt has reached the ocean and further calculates that such glacier melt contributed about 0.75 millimetres of seal level rise every year.

Further, the information can be “regionalized” and the overall loss from glaciers can be compared to the loss from melting ice sheets.

The authors warn that the study should be used as “further scientifically rigorous evidence” of “the urgent need for rapid and collective action to reduce the dumping of greenhouse gases in our planet’s atmosphere”.

Water features extensively in six of seven priority climate-security hotspots in South-Eastern Europe according to a report published by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and Berlin-based think tank Adelphi.

Hydropower, flooding and water pollution in the Drin/Drim and Sava river basins as well as the Drina valley pairs with water pollution from several past and present mining operations throughout the region to present a number of water-related risk multipliers that could impact security as climate change progresses in a part of the world that has been described as "one of the planet's warming hotspots".

Among the individual risk clusters identified by the report is energy. With hydropower, coal and lignite responsible for most of the region's electricity generation, the authors note that "environmental damage and water shortages caused by hydropower plants, especially many smaller ones, have led to protests and blockades", while also pointing out that less water availability as a result of climate change could present a further security flashpoint should electricity supplies be interrupted or prices rise in a region where energy poverty is already a "major challenge". Increased pressure to decarbonise away from coal will add to the potential security threat posed by hydropower, warns the report.

The Drin/Drim and Sava river basins are the main hydropower risk areas, with flooding and water pollution also identified as major security risks there.

Other risk clusters are transboundary rivers, where the report notes: "Even though transboundary water co-operation exists in the form of international agreements and regional basin management organizations, co-ordinated efforts need to be advanced to adapt to the impacts of climate change and avoid tensions."

Further transboundary tensions arise from the region's many mining operations, where "inadequately managed or abandoned mining sites and the severe pollution caused by them are an important challenge". The report warns that these existing regional tensions could be exacerbated by climate change due to "increased extreme precipitation events in winter and spring, as well as more intense snow melt resulting floods or landslides". It singles out the Zajača, Zvornik, Krupanj, Veliki Majdan, Srebrenica lead and zinc mines in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, as well as the Lojane chromium, arsenic and antimony mine in North Macedonia close to the Serbian border.

“Climate change is one of the most crucial issues of our time in the political, economic, social and environmental spheres," said OSCE secretary general Helga Maria Schmid, adding: "It can also emerge as a security issue when it interacts with other pressures such as unequal economic development, social inequality, and resource constraints."

The report is part of the OSCE’s project “Strengthening responses to security risks from climate change in South-Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia”.

Another glacier break in India's Uttarakhand region close to the border with China has left 15 dead and 3 missing. The victims are all workers from the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). State police say that 402 BRO workers were in the area at the time. Rescue efforts are ongoing to find the 3 people still unaccounted for.

According to local media reports, several people are being treated in hospital for their injuries.

The avalanche occurred 23 April close to Sumna village in Chamoli district, just 60 km away from the site where a torrent of water, mud and rock from a break in the Nanda Devi glacier killed 80 people and caused widespread flooding in February along the Dhauliganga river.

Sumna is located close to the confluence of the Girthigad and Kiogad rivers, which originate from the Dhauliganga.

What triggered the latest glacier break remains unclear, while investigations are still ongoing into the reasons behind February's disaster, which led to the collapse of the Rishiganga hydroelectric dam and damaged another under construction further down the Dhauliganga.

The Garhwal Himalayas in Uttarakhand state are prone to flash floods and landslides, leading to calls from environmental groups to review the power projects in the area amid concerns that climate change is increasing the frequency of such events.

Following February's disaster, Hridayesh Joshi, author of ‘Rage Of The River – The Untold Story Of The Kedarnath Disaster', told the Guardian: “In this Himalayan area, there are 10,000 big and small glaciers so we should be very careful about building any development projects in this ecologically fragile region, especially as climate change makes it even more fragile.”

Image credit: Google Maps

Severe drought conditions in the southeast and midwest of Brazil has led to the country's Electric Sector Monitoring Committee issuing a "water risk", while the federal government has initiated measures to avoid electricity rationing.

Meanwhile, the country's agriculture sector has issued an emergency drought alert for June to September in five states as conditions hit crop production, and scientists warn of the risk of severe fires in the Amazon rain forest and Pantanal wetlands.

The lowest rainfall in 91 years along the Parana river basin in central and southern Brazil during the 2020/2021 rainy season from November until April has left the area's hydroelectric reservoirs at their lowest levels since 2015.

With drought conditions expected to worsen through October this year, Brazil's National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) is preparing to make up for the hydropower shortfall with thermoelectric generation plants, which means a hike in electricity prices for consumers under the country's "red flag" system.

President Jair Bolsonaro has also issued a decree regulating the contracting of "backup" power supplies via auctions to secure capacity reserves and avoid the risk of blackouts.

Hydropower accounts for two-thirds of Brazil's total energy capacity and meets more than three-quarters of electricity demand, according to the International Hydropower Association. The hydropower installations in the drought-hit area account for more than half of the country's generation capacity.

The persistent drought is also affecting corn yields, while futures prices for sugar and coffee are rising on commodities markets. Brazil is the world's largest supplier of those products.

The dry conditions in the southern part of the Amazon rain forest and Pantanal wetlands is raising fears of severe fires there. In the wake of similarly dry weather last year, both vulnerable areas suffered extensive blazes, while the northern Amazon basin suffered flooding due to heavy rain. Scientists expect these extreme patterns to worsen due to climate change.

Photo credit: Jonas de Carvalho - Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76038827

Several major Turkish banks have signposted their unwillingness to finance the $13 Billion USD Istanbul canal megaproject proposed by president Recep Erdogan, according to the Reuters news agency.

Quoting a number of sources from the banks concerned, the report identifies the commitments of the UN's Principles for Responsible Banking framework as a hindrance to the investment, which threatens to destroy a marine ecosystem and resources that supply nearly one third of the city's fresh water.

The 25-mile stretch of waterway connecting the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea would run to the west of Istanbul, slicing through the Terkos Lake, Sazlidere stream and reservoir and Küçükçekmece lagoon.

Six Turkish banks have signed up to the UN framework, designed to ensure that "signatory banks’ strategy and practice align with the vision society has set out for its future in the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement". Its principles include a commitment to reduce the negative impacts on, and managing the risks to, people and the environment resulting from activities, products and services.

"This is one of those white elephants," said one former senior banker who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. "Other than land price speculation, it is hard to see any value in it," he added.

The canal plan is broadly unpopular in Istanbul, with the city's opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, a chief critic. He has described it as "one of the biggest risks this city has had in its entire history", calling for the money to be spent instead on public transport, water supply and other measures.

Turkey faces a water crisis caused by low rainfall, inefficient water retention policies and wasteful usage practices, while population growth has recently brought Istanbul close to running out of water.

The Reuters report suggests that the absence of Turkish banks in the canal deal increases the likelihood of state and foreign financing, and quotes Erdogan spokesman and adviser, Ibrahim Kalin, as saying there is already interest in the bidding that would be open to all, including Turkish, European, American and Chinese firms. "It's a profitable project ... and we are positive it will move forward," said Kalin.

Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla appears to have acquired a Canadian start-up that has developed a recirculation system for contaminated water in the production of cathodes for lithium-ion batteries, according to findings by industry publication Techcrunch.

Patent applications filed by Toronto-based start-up Springpower and subsequently bought by Tesla for only $3 USD in September 2020 detail a process, the key feature of which is a system for "recycling the bulk of the aqueous solution used for the wet chemical reaction back to the reactor, so that the total process has little or no effluent generated during production of the cathode precursor material".

The existing process for producing cathode active materials in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and other consumer products results in large quantities of effluent contaminated with sodium sulphate, ammonia, ammonium, dissolved heavy metals and small particulates. The treatment of this effluent is costly and energy intensive. According to the patent application, Springpower has found a way round this problem.

At Tesla's Battery Day in September last year (2 weeks after Tesla bought the Springpower patents), the company's senior vice president of engineering Drew Baglino described a process similar to the one detailed in the patents that would cut operational costs by more than 75%. The same process could also be applied to recycling EV and grid-storage batteries, he said.

At the same event, Tesla's Elon Musk promised to cut the price of lithium-ion batteries in half, saying that some of the savings would come from reinventing the "insanely complicated" process involved in making their nickel metal cathodes.

In its patent application, Springpower claims that its invention "provides a process for making lithium mixed metal oxides, while having little or no effluent generation. That is, the present invention provides a system wherein essentially the entire liquid portion from the reaction is, or can be recycled completely to the reaction system, without any effluent treatment. Additionally, there is little or no need to evaporate water and/or decompose organic acids or nitrates, during a final high temperature treatment and/or in the calcination process".

Techcrunch and other industry outlets are speculating that Tesla acquired more than just the patents, as Springpower's public presence in Canada has all but vanished and several of its people seem now to be employed by Tesla - but nobody is confirming anything.

The water footprint of electric vehicles is the subject of some concern among environmentalists, and battery production is the main culprit. Water usage has been one of the many controversies surrounding Tesla's so-called "Gigafactory" outside Berlin, Germany.

Photo credit: Tesla

Taiwan will tighten water restrictions from 1 June if there is no significant rainfall by the end of May, with the most severe rationing aimed at the regions home to Taiwan's major chipmakers.

On the science park in the city of Hsinchu, where Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Co. (UMC) have production facilities, the government plans to introduce a ban on water use for two days a week and reduce daily consumption by 17 Percent.

Other major industrial centres in New Taipei, Taoyuan, Tainan and Kaohsiung face usage restrictions of 13-15 Percent.

Data from Taiwan's Water Resources Agency (WRA) show that reserve rates at Taiwan's two biggest reservoirs, Nanhua and Tsengwen, which supply the Tainan Science Park, currently stand at 9 Percent and 6 Percent respectively. TSMC operates its most advanced chip production sites at that location.

The Shihmen Reservoir, which supplies Hsinchu, New Taipei and Taoyuan, stands at 10 Percent. The WRA says that this is enough for just 21 days without rainfall. An WRA official said: "We are facing the most serious drought ever. The last time we had obvious rainfall across Taiwan was 360 days ago."

An official at the Hsinschu Science Park told Nikkei Asia that manufacturers could just about manage the 15% rationing, but that 17 Percent will be "a bit" inadequate.

Chip manufacturers in Taiwan have been running flat out to fill a severe chip shortage that is impacting several major industries. The worst hit is the global automotive sector, which relies heavily on semiconductors, with many manufacturers having to rearrange lines and even pause production as they face average delivery lead times of 17 weeks. The sector may incur $110 Billion USD in lost sales in 2021 due to component shortages according to analysis by consulting firm AlixPartners.

Nevertheless, Taiwan's chipmakers and government officials insist that the water restrictions will not negatively impact production, despite semiconductor manufacturing being highly water intensive. According to TSMC’s own figures, it needs 156,000 tonnes of water a day, a large proportion of which is Ultra Pure Water (UPW), which is thousands of times purer than drinking water and so clean that it is regarded as an industrial solvent. However, a large proportion of that water is recycled. TSMC says it reused 86.7 Percent of its water in 2019.

Photo credit: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

A new bill to temporarily prevent disconnection of household electric, water and broadband services nationwide during the coronavirus crisis has been introduced to the US Senate.

Under the Maintaining Access to Essential Services Act of 2021 brought by Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, water and wastewater providers, electric utilities and broadband providers would each be granted $10 million USD in low-interest loans in exchange for a moratorium on shutoffs.

A growing number of households across America are at risk of losing essential utility services, including heating and water, due to mounting utility debt.

The loans would be forgivable for publicly owned, nonprofit water and electric utilities and small internet providers 2 years after the end of the pandemic if they forgive household utility debt without disconnecting customers. Private utilities and large broadband providers would be eligible for 50% forgiveness on the loan under the same terms.

Jean Su, energy justice director at the Centre of Biological Diversity explained: “This bill is vital to address the reality that millions of families have been plunged into poverty because of COVID-19.”

“Mounting utility debt digs that hole deeper and threatens their access to basic human rights of power, water and broadband access. Any notion of building back better must include this bill, which stops the immediate bleeding of utility shutoffs. We also need greater infrastructure investment in community and rooftop-solar solutions to stop the energy shutoff crisis in the long-term.”

Utility shutoffs are widening inequalities which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Merkley. Being cut off from the internet makes it harder for people to sign up for their COVID vaccine or to find information regarding their eligibility – therefore preventing the equitable distribution of this lifesaving injection and effective recovery from the pandemic.

A study conducted by Cornell University in April 2021, revealed that 9,000 lives could have been saved and approximately half a million COVID cases in America prevented through a national US moratorium on water shutoffs. The study found that those without water access are unable to carry out sufficient sanitation in accordance with guidance published by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to reduce the spread of the virus.

Statistics published in a Centre for Biological Diversity report revealed that more than half a million households across 10 US states have been subjected to utility shutoffs, with some utility companies reporting disconnections for up to 6% of their customers.

Alissa Weinman, associate campaign director at Corporate Accountability said: “Everyone should have access to vital utilities — especially during a pandemic and economic crisis. And eliminating utility debt is an important step toward realizing that future. What's more, this bill would direct sorely needed federal funds toward our water infrastructure. Direct, federal investment into our water systems helps ensure they stay in the hands of the public, not corporations."

The board of directors of the African Development Bank have announced a new water policy, centred around four key principles, to support Africa’s water sector and foster economic and environmental growth by prioritising water security efforts - particularly in Africa's most fragile regions.

Each of four anchored principles focuses on a specific action point. Principles One and Two focus on achieving water security at household, national and regional level across all regional member countries and sub-regions; and supporting an integrated approach to water management.

Principles Three and Four recognise the need for sustainable and equitable water access to support the UN SDGs, and the importance of transboundary water resource management for conflict resolution and regional integration.

Atsuko Toda, the bank’s Acting Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development said: “This new policy on water provides a general framework for the African Development Bank Group to expand its role as the continent’s partner promoting the integrated development and management of Africa’s water sector for inclusive and sustainable growth in Africa.”

Over the past decade, the African Development Bank has invested approximately $4.3 Billion USD in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed discrepancies in WASH facilities across African countries, highlighting the need for greater intervention.

“The bank’s board noted the new policy is a best practice for excellence in quality, selectivity and degree of consultation. The board’s acknowledgement will add to our motivation to see the policy diligently implemented,” explained Osward Chanda, the officer in charge of the bank’s Water Development and Sanitation Department.

Photo Credit: African Development Bank

An EU-funded project is seeking to transform industrial wastewater into economic and environmental value by extracting minerals and freshwater from brine as part of circular transitions in four distinct industries.

Pilot projects run by ZERO BRINE in the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Turkey aim to prove processes that will eliminate disposal of harmful wastewater produced by the desalination, coal, silica and textiles industries respectively, while generating economic opportunities.

"ZERO BRINE is about a circular economy approach for the recovery of resources from saline-impaired effluent generated by process industries," explained Dr. Dimitris Xevgenos, Innovation Manager for ZERO BRINE, speaking at a press briefing and public live stream event as part of EU Green Week.

At the ZERO BRINE pilot project in Zaragoza (Spain), which produces precipitated silica for the tyre industry, more than 70% of water is being water recycling internally, said Dr. Xevgenos, while the sodium sulphate recovered from the effluent can be sold on to other end markets such as the detergent sector.

Describing the "window of opportunity" for the circular transition in the silica sector, Dr. Xevgenos highlighted policy developments such as the BREF update (JRC), new Zero Pollution Action Plan, EU Green Deal and Sustainable & Safe by Design (SSbD) as well as legislative restrictions on wastewater discharge.

Dr. Selda Murat Hocaoglu from the TUBITAK Marmara Research Institute in Turkey, outlined a closed-loop process at the Zorlu textile plant in Lueleburgaz (Turkey) that separates the "highly polluted brine" produced during the water-intensive textile dyeing process into freshwater and salt concentrates, both of which then feed back into the dyeing process.

"(The brine) can have serious environmental and ecological impacts, especially for the inland receiving water bodies such as lakes and rivers," said Dr. Hocaoglu. "This can cause salinisation of the soil, which is one of the most severe environmental problems in agriculture," she added.

ZERO BRINE is a four-year, €10 Million EUR Innovation Action project financed by the European Commission’s research and innovation programme - Horizon 2020 - and coordinated by TU DELFT.

Watch the full webinar here.

Photo credit: ZERO BRINE

The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has released the first $25 Million USD of its $100 Million USD commitment to the WaterEquity Global Access Fund.

WaterEquity was formed in 2019 by actor Matt Damon and social entrepreneur Gary White. It is the first-ever impact investment manager with an exclusive focus on ending the global water crisis.

The Fund is a $150 Million USD impact investment vehicle that targets inclusive financial institutions in emerging markets to scale up water and sanitation microloan portfolios.

The financing is expected "to empower at least five million people to access improved household water and sanitation across Asia, Latin America, and Africa".

“We are proud to work collaboratively with WaterEquity, which has pioneered a financially sustainable way to increase access to safe water and sanitation, especially for women and marginalized populations,” said vice president of DFC’s Office of External Affairs and head of global gender initiatives Algene Sajery.

The DFC says that the WaterEquity Global Access fund supports its 2X Women’s Initiative, which it describes as "a commitment to unlock a multi-trillion dollar investment opportunity by addressing the unique challenges women in developing countries face in accessing loans".

Paul O’Connell, President of WaterEquity said: “Ten percent of the world’s population lacks access to safe water, and one-quarter lacks access to a toilet," adding: "The burden of this crisis falls disproportionately on women. We believe that capital markets offer the best way to increase access to safe water and sanitation."

This first disbursement coincides with the first close of WaterEquity’s Global Access Fund, which has to date secured $125 Million USD in investments toward its $150 Million USD total market capitalization.

The United States International Development Finance Corporation is the development finance institution of the United States federal government, primarily responsible for providing and facilitating the financing of private development projects in lower- and middle-income countries. DFC was formed in 2019 through the merger of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Development Credit Authority of USAID.

Photo credit: Water.org