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 challenges to the 1970 U.S.-Mexico Boundary Treaty. This treaty sets out the framework for transboundary cooperation between the two countries on the shared waters of the Rio Grande and Colorado rivers. It also responded to a number of challenges in defining the precise border between the two countries and clarifying the sovereign limits of each. However, recently, in a way that was probably never envisaged by the negotiators of the treaty, initiatives taken by the Governor of Texas in relation to border security have led to legal challenges by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ).

The measures taken by Texas involved the placement of a chain of giant spherical buoys in the center of the Rio Grande as well as shipping containers and concertina wire along the banks of the river to deter unauthorized entry into Texas. However, the placement of the buoys led to complaints from Mexico and the International Boundary and Water Commission (IWBC) related to the prohibition in the treaty against altering of the flow of the river. Established in 1889, the IBWC is the organ responsible for applying the boundary and water treaties between the United States and Mexico and settling differences that may arise in their application. In 2008, already, border security related plans to construct concrete barriers on the top of lower Rio Grande levees as well as through floodplains met with concerns that the barriers would exacerbate flooding of the river if it occurred.

In terms of the 1970 boundary treaty, both in the case of the Rio Grande and in the case of the Colorado, the boundary between the United States and Mexico is set by the deepest channel of the river. However, the dynamic and changing nature of the rivers has meant that tracts of land have been swapped between the countries, and that there have been different interpretations of what constitutes a ‘major change’ to the course of the river in question changes to the river. Since 1944, the IWBC has been empowered with the authority to interpret and apply all boundary and water treaties in force between the two countries.

Within the 1970 treaty, article IV is relevant to the current challenges in that it obliges the governments to prohibit the construction of works that would deflect or obstruct the flow of the river to the disadvantage of the other country. Similarly, the two governments are under obligation to remove or modify works that do cause damage and repair or make compensation for any damage resulting from those works.  Each country is permitted to construct works for the stabilisation of the riverbanks on condition that they do not have an adverse effect on the other country or deflect the location of the boundary.

In 2011, the Mexican section of the IBWC reacted to designs by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the construction of barriers adjacent to the Rio Grande in Hidalgo and Starr counties, arguing that they would constitute a serious obstruction and deflection of the flows of the Rio Grande. However, the U.S. section of the IBWC responded that their diagnostics indicated that no deflection would be caused by the construction. When, in 2019, a private construction company moved ahead with constructions in spite of objections from the Mexican parties that their hydraulic impact assessment was flawed, the U.S. section of the IBWC the filed a lawsuit with the Southern District of Texas claiming a treaty violation.  

It is against this background that in 2023, when Texas’ Governor Abbot announced a plan to place a chain of giant spherical buoys in the center of the Rio Grande, the IBWC determined that the buoys would intrude on Mexico’s sovereign domain, while submerged skirts could trap debris and alter the river’s flow. A Mexican team was sent to verify whether the buoys did infringe on Mexican territory and found that indeed it did.

At this point, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) then sued Texas, referring amongst others to potential infringements of the 1970 Treaty. On the 6th of September 2023, a federal judge of the U.S. Western District in Austin, Texas, ordered the removal of the buoys, siding with the Department of Justice.  The State of Texas responded by appealing the decision, submitting it to the U.S, Court of Appeals, where the case will be heard in May this year.

The authors of the report point to the unique role of the 1970 Treaty in developing and cementing the bilateral relationship between Mexico and the United States, as well as its role in bringing confidence to both parties on their territorial sovereignity and joint management of riparian boundaries. The IWBC, also, is an important binational institution, which consults subnational entities in the management of the boundaries and the water resources shared by the two countries. Challenges to this authority are, they argue, short sighted because of their potential to fan dispute between the countries over the implementation of the treaty.  In fact, they argue, both countries are best served by honoring the boundary treaty system that has worked so well to secure their respective national interests.

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 session of the United Nations Environmental Assembly in Nairobi between the 26th of February and the 1st of March, the World Restoration Flagship awards are part of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The announcement was made by Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in a letter addressed to Pakistan's Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination.

“The Living Indus initiative presents a unique opportunity to enhance the resilience of the Indus ecosystem in the face of climate change,” said Ahmad Irfan Aslam, Pakistan’s Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination. “This holistic strategy employs community-led, gender-responsive, and transparent nature- based solutions for restoring the entire Indus Basin, safeguarding its resources for the people of Pakistan.”

The initiative for the World Restoration Flagship awards is led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). It aims to prevent, halt, and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean. Under the initiative, countries have pledged to restore 1 billion hectares of nature by 2030.

The Living Indus Initiative is an initiative within Pakistan which aims to restore 25 million hectares of river basin, representing 30 percent of Pakistan’s total area. Currently, the basin-wide initiative has already restored 1,350,000 hectares through 25 different projects – and the total cost is estimated at up to USD 17 billion.

The Indus River rises in the Hindu Kush, Karakoram and Himalaya mountains and flows in a south westerly direction to the Arabian Sea. It is the 12th largest river basin in the world and is shared by four countries: Afghanistan, China, India and Pakistan, with most of the basin located in India and Pakistan. It has an annual flow of some 243 km³. It is a crucial resource for Pakistan, as more than 90% of the country’s population lives within the boundaries of the basin. In addition, it is the main source of water for the country: more than 80% of Pakistan’s arable land is located in the basin, and production on this land represents 90% of the country’s agricultural output. The river system is highly biodiverse, being home to at least 668 different bird species and more than 150 fish species. Last but not least, nine of Pakistan’s largest ten cities are located within 50 km of the Indus.    

The river basin however is exposed to multiple risks and challenges: recent predictions suggest that by 2025, the water storage capacity will have reduced by over 30% due to climate change. Over 60% of the waters of the upper Indus originate from ice and snow melt. Water scarcity is increasing: by next year, the country’s effective water deficit is expected to reach 32%, leading to a food deficit of about 70 million tons. In addition, the basin is exposed to flood risks: in July and August  2022, Pakistan experienced extreme rainfall conditions which led to the loss of more than 1,440 lives and the destruction of 65%  of the country’s food crops.

In response to these challenges, the ecological restoration of the Indus River for a climate resilient future was proposed in 2022 in a partnership between Pakistan’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, provincial authorities, and UN bodies. The ‘Living Indus Initiative’ is a broad initiative which aims to use all the tools in the toolbox: it is a movement to mobilise tools and ideas at every level of state and society and combine different areas of work towards the restoration of the basin. Primary areas of intervention across the 21 different projects are governance, biodiversity, pollution, livelihoods and groundwater.   

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 experts that this initiative may be losing ground.  A group of 28 European stakeholder organisations in the water sector submitted an open letter to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen on the 5th of March  to express their regret at the delay in the launch of the Water Resilience Initiative.

 On the 13th of September 2023 during her State of the Union Speech, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced a number of priorities and flagship initiatives for the coming year, which included a European Green Deal within which policy was to be publicly unveiled on a Water Resilience Initiative by the European Commission by the 12th of March.  

According to sources in Brussels, a draft communication on the Water Resilience Initiative was indeed prepared under the lead of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Environment. Subsequently, a stakeholder meeting had been organised at the end of November 2023 to get stakeholders' views on the initiative. In early February, the draft communication was about to be sent to the interservice consultation (the European Commission's standard internal process for consulting all services before any document is released), when the decision was made in the week of the 12th of February this year to put this process on pause. The topic was withdrawn from the agenda of the College of Commissioners for the 12th of March. At a press conference of the Commission on the 15th of February, the announcement was made that the Water Resilience Initiative had been postponed.

The decision was met with widespread concern. EurEau, which represents the European water utility sector, stated to The Water Diplomat it was “deeply concerned over the emerging news that the European Commission will postpone the publication of the Water Resilience Initiative”.

EurEau’s Secretary General Oliver Loebel further stated: “Europe’s water resources are under increasing stress. We just have look at the headlines of the past 12 months regarding severe drought and rain events, but also regarding pollution. If we do not act in a coordinated and forward-looking way, we will see ever-increasing competition for a scarce resource (which also needs to be available in the right quality). We therefore call for a strategic, long-term water resilience strategy.  The strategy should estimate long-term water needs, both natural and societal (agriculture, energy generation, industry, public water supply, tourism etc.) taking into account population development, economic outlooks, climate change impacts etc. This should be compared with available resources.

From such an estimate, you can derive actions bringing long-term supply and demand in balance, and this includes both water quantity and quality (river water many not be available for irrigation due to pollution). Quantity-related action should include water-saving practices in agriculture and industry, leakage reduction in public water supply and giving public water supply priority access to water in the event of shortages. Quality-wise, we should of course avoid pollution at the source so that surface and groundwater bodies are largely uncontaminated and water reuse is possible. We therefore call on the COM to publish its initiative on 12 March as initially planned. Postponing/abandoning it, will not solve any problem but exacerbate the situation for all sectors concerned (and for nature). In times when an increasing number of regions struggle to meet society's water needs, this sends a negative signal to farmers, industry, tourism, water suppliers and, last but not least, nature itself. Water is central to every aspect of our life, economy and society”.

The World Wildlife Fund’s Claire Baffet stated “I am appalled that the von der Leyen Commission has taken the irresponsible decision to halt the water resilience initiative when intense floods and droughts are already drowning or parching parts of Europe at an immense cost to communities, farmers, our food supply and nature. It makes absolutely no sense and can only be intended to make political gains in the run-up to the election. All of the available science points to the fact that the issue is becoming more urgent and more pressing and the decision of the Commission to push the pause button is giving a bad signal because it ignores the available information, including that from its own drought research services. It creates the impression that the response can wait while in reality it cannot. “ 

In October 2023, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) had called on the European Council to develop a ‘Blue Deal’ for Europe which would see water given priority status at the European level. The Blue Deal was to be a radical effort to anticipate needs, to preserve water resources and to adequately manage related challenges through a comprehensive and coordinated roadmap. The EESC had written directly to EC President Ursula von der Leyen, calling on her place water high on the priorities of the European Commission's agenda. This was followed by the inclusion of an initiative on water resilience in EC President von der Leyen's letter of intent for 2024.

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 dropping. The winter precipitation that is typical of the region’s climate has been well below average – from the 1st to the 20th of January the Mediterranean region experienced critical drought conditions,  and a quarter of Europe and North Africa is currently under drought conditions.

On the 20th of February the European Commision’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) released a technical report entitled ‘Drought in the Mediterranean’ which analyses both the persisting droughts across the Mediterranean and their impact across the region. The report was produced under a broader mission of the Copernicus Institute and the Copernicus Emergency Management Service to provide evidence-based scientific support to the European policymaking process.

The report extracts information across a range of key drought related indicators such as a combined drought indicator, a precipitation index, temperature, and a snow water index which monitors the extent of snow water resources.

Based on these indicators, the report concludes that following the severe and prolonged drought events that impacted northern Africa during the last 6 years, and Europe for over 2 years, drought conditions are again affecting large parts of the Mediterranean region.

The combined drought indicator shows severe and potentially critical drought conditions across the Mediterranean region. Drought warnings are in place (or advised) for southern and eastern Spain, southern France, most of Italy, Malta, eastern Poland, central Romania, southern Greece, Cyprus and central Türkiye, while drought alerts are in placed or advised for southern Italy, southern Spain and Malta.

In the area of precipitation, persistent shortfalls of precipitation have been experienced by many parts of southern and eastern Europe for more than a year with the exception of most of the Iberian Peninsula and Greece. However, for the eastern region, the drought quickly receded in November 2023.

Temperatures across the region during the whole of 2023 were also above normal, with the northern Mediterranean experiencing average temperatures of more than 3°C above average and the rest of the region experiencing temperatures at least 1°C above average.

In the area of snow water resources, the snowpack across Italy is very limited, at approximately one third of the snow water volume that has been recorded for the decade between 2011 and 2022. The Alps by contrast have received two extensive episodes of snowfall in the last quarter of 2023, which melted fairly rapidly after a shortfall in snow in January 2024.  

The report also points to seasonal forecast predicting a warmer spring in southern Italy, Greece, the Mediterranean islands, and northern Africa. As the drought’s severity is expected to persist, concerns rise about its impacts on agriculture, ecosystems, drinking water availability and energy production.

The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has predicted that heatwaves and droughts will become more frequent and severe in many regions in the coming decades. The Mediterranean basin is one of the few regions expected to experience a severe reduction in precipitation.

The situation is thus expected to continue to impact the region, highlighting the need for adaptation strategies to reduce the effects of the drought. Investments in drought early warning systems, increasing the water efficiency of existing and new technologies, changing to more drought resistant crops and improving access to water resources are crucial for improving community preparedness and resilience.

However, managing droughts is complex. A pragmatic approach to drought management and adaptation planning requires an impact-based risk assessment, which in turn should rely on drought impact observations. Therefore, the JRC and its European Drought Observatory for Resilience and Adaptation (EDORA) partners have collaborated on the development of the first European Drought Risk Atlas, aimed at assessing drought risk using innovative technologies.

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 humanitarian organisations.

The British Foreign Secretary, David Cameron, warned on the 12th of February that Israel would be in breach of international law if it fails to provide food and water to the people of Gaza. Israeli authorities, he stated, should ‘stop and think seriously’ before taking further action in Rafah. A World Health Organisation emergency situation update from the 30th of January highlights the fact that the lack of adequate, clean water and safe sanitation is leading to ongoing outbreaks of communicable diseases since October, amongst which 161,285 cases of diarrhea (of which 85,410 are children).

On the same date, a series of airstrikes in Rafah, where more than half (some 1,3 million) inhabitants of the Gaza strip have sought refuge, killed 67 people.  The attacks are endangering the local population and making the delivery of humanitarian aid to the area extremely difficult. Noelia Monge, Head of Emergencies for Action Against Hunger, stated to Reliefweb that If the military operations in Rafah continue and expand, Action Against Hunger will be forced to suspend its activities in the area. These include include water trucking, solid waste collection, cleaning services, and the distribution of hygiene kits and food. Doctors Without Borders, which is also distributing 1,100 litres per day to the area, reports that over half the water and sanitation facilities in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged by the war, and as a result, 70% of the population are currently drinking contaminated water. Hygiene is very much under pressure, with only one shower available per 4,500 people. Water supplies, which need to be above 50 litres per capita per day to ensure basic hygiene in addition to drinking water requirements, dropped to 3 litres per person several weeks after the hostilities commenced.

Martin Griffiths, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, stated on the 13th of February that the humanitarian response is currently in ‘tatters’. Humanitarian workers have been attempting to serve people in need for four months at great personal risk, and this effort has been undermined further by a gradual breakdown in law and order. In addition, humanitarian responses have been severely affected by the decision made by western donors to pause funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).  The UNRWA works in Palestine, but also has humanitarian activities in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, where many Palestinian refugees reside.

In January, Israeli intelligence reports, made public by the Wall Street Journal, accused UNRWA of having been infiltrated by Hamas, alleging that some 10% of UNRWA staff have links to terrorist organisations and that 12 employees had links to or were directly involved in the October 7 onslaught against Israel.  In response, Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner General at UNRWA, stated that he immediately terminated the contracts of these staff members and launched an investigation to establish the truth of the allegations. In the two weeks following the allegations,  a total of nine countries announced that they would pause or review their contributions to UNRWA, representing a total financial pledge of U.S. $ 667 million. The countries currently involved in defunding UNRWA are Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The following information has been obtained from Action Against Hunger (ACF) on the situation in Rafah and the broader Gaza strip:  

The Water Diplomat: Currently it is being reported that there is an increase in the outbreak of communicable diseases in the Gaza strip with 161,285 cases of diarrhea of which 85,410 are children. To what extent do you think this can be attributed to deteriorating Water, Sanitation and Hygiene conditions? What is Action Against Hunger's observation on the current WASH situation in the areas where you are working?

ACF: The increase of outbreaks of communicable diseases in the Gaza strip is directly linked to the fact that most people in the Gaza Strip have no access to clean drinking water, sanitation services are wholly ineffective, and people across Gaza find themselves surrounded by unmanaged solid waste, sewage and wastewater flooding the streets and coastlines. Almost 2 million Palestinians in Gaza are facing a public health catastrophe and one in four families are on the brink of famine, all whilst facing continued insecurity under the constant military attacks.

As part of our work and as a member of the WASH Cluster, Action Against Hunger is leading a mapping process of the areas where humanitarian actors, the Palestinian Water Authority and UNRWA are distributing water. Only one in three Mekorot water pipelines from Israel is currently operational, with Bani-Saeed operating at just 47% of its full capacity. Only two out of three main water desalination plants are partially functional, none of which are operating in the North. Only 17 percent of groundwater wells are operational, with 39 destroyed, 93 severely or moderately damaged, and 48 possibly damaged. Reports say there are areas still not covered, and even if served, amounts are of less than 3L/p.d. This is due to a range of issues such as lack of fuel, accessibility, and security. The quality of the water distributed is not being tested without an operational lab in the strip. Not a single wastewater treatment system is working. Access to water and sanitation are internationally recognised human rights, essential to the health, dignity, and prosperity of all people. Action Against Hunger teams are working relentlessly to distribute safe drinking water along the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the conflict, as well as installing latrines, managing solid waste, and distributing hygiene kits.

The Water Diplomat: There have been reports of increased attacks in the Rafah area where many civilians are seeking refuge, and humanitarian organisations are stating that it is becoming difficult to operate. Action Against Hunger is quoted as stating that if the strikes continue it will become very difficult for the organisation to continue to provide humanitarian support. I assume that currently the organisation is still providing support, is that the case? How and when would you take a decision to stop operations?

ACF: Our teams in Rafah are still providing support despite being part of the more than 1.3 million people that have sought refuge there and are now facing military attacks, hunger, and disease. In the last 4 months, we have been able to provide fresh and dry food baskets, cash assistance and water, hygiene, and sanitation projects to some 320,000 people trapped in Rafah, a place where more than half a million people are suffering from a catastrophic food crisis. The continuation of military operations where was supposed to be a safe haven for Gazan puts at risk our activities, and the scarce humanitarian aid entering Gaza by trucks from Egypt and Jordan continues to decrease, are continuously analysing the feasibility of our activities based on access to providers, basic items, and the safety conditions. Our hope, and what we’re calling for, is that an immediate and permanent ceasefire is reached so we can not only not pause our activities but scale them up to provide a meaningful humanitarian response at the scale required to meet the needs of the population in Gaza.

The Water Diplomat: According to Doctors without Borders, the water supply infrastructure has deteriorated to the extent that 70% of the population are drinking contaminated water. Do you have any evidence to support this from the field work that you are doing?

ACF: No water quality tests are being conducted without operational labs or availability or entrance into the area of the required equipment. The outbreaks of diseases such as diarrhoea and hepatitis A are clear indicators of the severe health crisis in the Gaza Strip due to poor water and sanitation conditions. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), from October 16 to February 13, 2024, there have been 312,693 reported cases of acute respiratory infections, 222,620 cases of acute watery diarrhoea (of which 117,989 are children under 5 years old), 74,712 cases of scabies and lice, 49,052 cases of skin rashes, 6,625 cases of chickenpox, and 8,829 cases of acute jaundice. These figures far exceed the incidence of previous years. The inability to detect, diagnose, and report infectious disease outbreaks masks the true extent of the public health emergency. Furthermore, disease spread is a significant concern: for instance, individuals with hepatitis A may have been contagious for several weeks.

The lack of clean water, safe sanitation, shelter, health infrastructure, and humanitarian supplies exacerbates the situation, hindering adequate response and prevention efforts for outbreaks, including the need for isolation to prevent spread and contamination.

The Water Diplomat:  I understand that the work of Action Against Hunger is focused on water trucking, solid waste collection, cleaning services and the distribution of hygiene kits. How is the necessary equipment currently being brought into the area and are there currently limitations on your supplies compared to some months ago?

ACF: We have been working in Gaza since 2005 and, for more than four months, Action Against Hunger has been working in extreme and dangerous conditions to provide clean water in water trucking, distribution of hygiene and shelter items and fresh food to Gazans, both Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and host communities. We have also implemented cleaning activities and solid waste management services for IDP shelters, and construction and provision of showers, latrines and hand-washing facilities. Despite this unprecedented situation, our teams were able to reach 340,000 people in total in Gaza - approximately 60,000 families - from 18 October to 21 December 2023. Almost half of them (48 per cent) were children.

As soon as there is a ceasefire and a humanitarian corridor into Gaza, Action Against Hunger will be able to scale up our emergency response. Until then, the funding we obtain from public and private donors is allowing us to work with all the contractors we already know inside Gaza who still have materials and services available thanks to our extended experience, even now that the cost of these has skyrocketed. We are planning to preposition materials at border crossings, which will help us to be ready and deliver more aid as soon as that’s possible.

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 for climate change and water security. Looking back at COP 27, the researchers highlight the evidence of disinformation campaigns launched by fossil fuel companies and lobby groups that were active during the climate discussions. There are examples of disinformation (intentionally deceitful information), misinformation (unknowingly misleading information) and information influencing (sharing faulty information in different forms) which serve to erode trust in science, national governments, and international organisations. It is noteworthy that misinformation and disinformation also feature relatively prominently in The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2023.

In the field of water diplomacy, the authors argue, water negotiation processes in geopolitically complex environments, such as the Eastern Nile, the Euphrates and the Tigris, and the Jordan River Basin, have been affected by the spread of disinformation. The policy brief focuses on information manipulation, mainly disinformation, spread through social and online media, using two cases which were selected to cover different aspects of climate and water information manipulation. The first case to be covered is Ukraine – a case of manipulated information on water availability during a war – and the Eastern Nile region – a case of information manipulation in the context of sensitive transboundary negotiations on shared water resources.  In both cases the authors focus on disinformation shared on social media platforms.

In the case of Ukraine, the war that commenced in 2014 has resulted in the targeting of civilian infrastructure, including water supply infrastructure. The destruction of the Kakhovka dam in June 2023 in particular has had far reaching human and environmental consequences and featured both sides in the conflict blaming the other for the destruction. Additionally disinformation spread by Russian media and state-affiliated actors targeted residents in Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kherson with narratives -often spread anonymously through social media - for example claiming that supplies of drinking water were finished, that drinking water had been contaminated, or that humanitarian aid, including water, would not be distributed.   

In the case of the Eastern Nile region, the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in the Blue Nile has been the source of tensions between Ethiopian on the one hand which has asserted its right to use its share of the Nile waters through construction and operation, and Egypt and Sudan on the other hand, downstream countries which are vulnerable to any variations in water supply as a result of interventions in the Nile. A study conducted between 2019 and 2022 established that diplomats, journalists, citizens and foreign audiences all used misinformation and disinformation narratives on the GERD on social media to push their viewpoints.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has concluded its water programme in northern Jordan and is handing over its work to local authorities, and it has also shared lessons learned with other actors with longer term presence in the region. Over the past decade, the ICRC has worked to improve access to sufficient domestic water for both Jordanian host communities and Syrian refugees in Jordan’s northern governorates.  The ICRC’s water programme in Jordan – known as the “Host Communities Critical Infrastructure Rehabilitation Programme” - was initiated as a response to the conflict in Syria and the influx of refugees into the country. It intended to improve domestic water supply though the rehabilitation or extension of underperforming infrastructure in rural areas, addressing concerns related to its sustainability as well as its capacity to cope with the large influx of displaced people. The programme has also tackled the need for strong coordination among humanitarian, development actors and local service providers.

The programme intervened in 51 water facilities, on average increasing by 250% (from 32 litres per capita per day to 85) the amount of water available per capita and increasing the resilience of the water supply system (efficiency increase of 45% on average). In total, domestic water has been supplied for 1,2 million people in Jordan since the programme started in 2012. The programme consisted of three phases:

During the first phase, starting in 2013, the programme focused on emergency response, tackling the immediate humanitarian needs of Syrian refugees in border areas by providing water, sanitation, shelter and health facilities in prefabricated centres. This ensured that those displaced by the conflict had access to basic needs and essential services.

In the second phase, starting in 2014, the ICRC water programme was launched in collaboration with the Jordanian Ministry of Water and Irrigation, aiming to enhance the availability of domestic water, primarily in the areas of Irbid and Mafraq governorates. During the 8-year programme, a series of water projects with a cost of U.S. $ 30 million were implemented. The great majority of efforts went into the development of pumping stations and transmission pipelines. The ICRC constructed a total of 20 pumping stations and replaced approximately 70 km of pipes, in addition to other rehabilitation works on wells, water reservoirs and other infrastructure.

In the third phase, starting in 2023, the ICRC focused on sustainability: two projects were initiated which aimed to enhance the operation and maintenance capabilities of the Yarmouk Water Company (YWC). A workshop and training centre for the technical teams of Yarmouk Water Company was built in Hofa district in Irbid. This was designed to support maintenance and provide training to YWC staff, boosting their operations and maintenance skills. In addition, a curriculum was developed for operators training, and 50 technical staff members working at pumping stations participated in training courses, enhancing their knowledge and skills. This and previous phases resulted in an increase in the resilience of the existing water system.

The ICRC’s water programme in Jordan was concluded in 2023 and addressed the critical needs in the northern governorates of Jordan, particularly for rural communities and Syrian refugees. An evaluation of the program found that it had achieved its objective of meeting the needs of both Syrian refugees and Jordanians in the most affected host communities by providing equal access to safe and adequate water by improving water infrastructure and strengthening the capacity of water utilities. For example, the operational efficiency of water pump stations increased from 22% to 86% after the intervention and physical losses in the conveyance systems were reduced from 70% to zero in some cases. Also, the number of persons who receive less than 20 litres per capita per day dropped from 26,000 to 6,000 persons (- 77%) while the number of people receiving between 20 and 80 litres per day increased from 381,000 to 427,000 persons – a gain of 12%. The maintenance of the pumping stations by water companies, including access to spare parts and the number and capacity of staff equipped to ensure maintenance, remains a challenge going forward.  

Beyond those positive, direct, and measurable outcomes, the ICRC's program in Jordan stands as a compelling example of successfully combining short-term and long-term actions—a demonstration of the humanitarian-development nexus. Moreover, working in close proximity to those affected, including both Syrians displaced by the conflict and host communities impacted by the influx, the program has also arguably contributed to a more peace-conducive environment. One can therefore only hope that such success stories will serve as inspiration for humanitarian and development policymakers, donors, and actors at large.

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 first ever global report  on the status of migratory species has been published. Researched and written for CMS by conservation scientists at the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), the report provides an overview of the status of billions of migratory animals, which travel to a variety of habitats for feeding, breeding and resting, and contribute to the maintenance of these ecosystems during their stay. These species depend to a large extent for their survival on the success of (inter)national cooperation efforts in the field of environmental conservation.

At the previous COP, a mandate was provided to review the current conservation status of the migratory species listed within the convention. The animals – birds, terrestrial mammals, aquatic mammals, fish and reptiles – are listed in two different annexes. The first annex lists the species which are endangered, and the second lists the species for which the conservation status is ‘unfavourable’ and require extra efforts for their protection.

The report’s statistics are stark: more than half of the key biodiversity areas that are important for CMS listed animals do not have protected status, and in 60% of the sites that are monitored, species are experiencing unsustainable levels of pressure. Of all the species covered by the convention, some 44% are in decline. Of the endangered (‘Annex I ‘) species, the report found that 82% are threatened globally, while of the species which have an ‘unfavourable conservation status’ (‘Annex II) species, 18% are threatened. In total, one in five of the species listed under the convention are threatened with extinction.  Most affected are fish species: there has been a 90% decline in CMS-listed fish populations since 1970. For example, the European eel, which had the longest migratory route among eels, used to make up some 50% of freshwater fish biomass in European waters in the 1970’s, but populations have declined by 90%. It played a major role in freshwater ecosystems in Europe, but physical barriers to its migration and overexploitation of young eels through fishing have contributed to its decline.  

For freshwater ecosystems in general, the report states that habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation are among the main drivers of global biodiversity loss. For freshwater fish, the extensive use of dams places pressure on migratory routes: dams act as physical barriers which prevent migratory fish from reaching their spawning grounds, alter water flow regimes and prevent juvenile fish from dispersing. Only 37% of the world’s long rivers have connectivity along their entire length, and the rest have dams and other types of artificial infrastructure. In this context, the global swimways programme  aims to balance development with conservation by highlighting river systems that support a high diversity of migratory fish species. In fact, there are no assessments of the connectedness of marine and freshwater protected area networks.

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 particular, the report warns that if global warming is not limited to less than 2°C, revenue from crops could be cut by 30%, losses in GDP could range between 11.2% and 26,6%, and 50 million more Africans will experience water stress.

Because of the effects of climate change, extreme weather events that only occurred once in ten years are now already occurring 2.8 times in ten years, and this will increase to 4.1 times in ten years if the global temperature increases by 1,5°C on average. The rising frequency of extreme weather will have an impact on the natural world, and because humanity depends on ecosystems and a stable climate, these disruptions can be expected to negatively impact on broad sectors of the economy, human health, and water resources.

Developing countries in particular carry with them the risk that their economies have a low adaptive capacity, as the food, water, health, and infrastructural systems which are in place can be expected to be weakened.

To come to their conclusions, the researchers conducted a literature review of existing studies on topics related to climate change in combination with existing studies on topic related to socioeconomic indicators such as economic growth, income, poverty, welfare, health, agricultural productivity, and water resources. Ultimately, the research brought together evidence from 139 studies, most of which had been published after 2017. The studies had a mixed geographical focus, i.e. there was a combination of global studies with country specific studies. Similarly, there was a mixture of the socioeconomic themes that the studies covered, even if a very large proportion of the studies highlighted the impacts of climate change on agricultural productivity.

Across different studies there are differences in the models used to project the economic impact of climate change, and the economic impact also depends on the severity of the climate change that can be expected under different emissions scenarios. Nevertheless, the different models tend to agree that the economic impact increases strongly with an average temperature increase above 2°C. At that point, the annual percentage reduction in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per year is predicted to be around 2%.

The socioeconomic impacts of climate change do appear to depend on the region. At the global level, studies shows that the overall impact of climate change on agricultural production is likely to be relatively small. However, some areas such as North America and the former Soviet republics can expect production gains as a result of climate change, while in Western Europe and most developing countries, climate change will reduce agricultural GDP.  Nevertheless, at the global level, significant price increases can be expected for key products such as rice and maize, which will have a socioeconomic impact through reduced buying power.  

The authors stress that the management of water resources is critical for achieving sustainable development. They quote the World Meteorological Organisation’s 2022 State of Global Water Resources Report which states that whereas currently, about 3.6 billion people in the world face inadequate access to water resources at least a month per year, by 2050 this number is expected to rise to 5 billion people. In general, higher global temperatures are expected to translate into drier conditions with diminishing surface and groundwater conditions. However, the picture is generally mixed and complex at the regional level, with some areas experiencing heavy precipitation and flooding – such as during monsoon periods or under the influence of tropical cyclones. Other areas – such as the horn of Africa - have experienced severe drought.   One study suggests that climate change increases water resource stresses in some parts of the world (the Mediterranean, parts of Europe, Central and Southern America, and Southern Africa) while in some parts of the world average runoff is likely to increase (South and South East Asia).  

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 contains enough calcium, boiling the water can act to encrust the plastic particles, forcing them to precipitate out of the water and purifying the water in the process. Boiling the water can effectively remove up to 80% of polystyrene, polyethylene, and polypropylene particles suspended in the water.

In the January edition of The Water Diplomat, it was reported that while previous attention to plastic particles focused on microplastics, in fact if nanoparticles are included it appears that one litre of water could contain up to 250,000 particles. With the results of the recent study, it would appear that boiling with calcium rich water is a simple and effective way to remove large quantities of particles.  This finding refers to particles that are between 0.1 and 150 nanometres in diameter, i.e. to microplastics, so it is not yet clear from this study what happens to smaller, nanoparticles, although one would assume that the same principles apply.

In a separate scientific development, medical scientists have found that patients whose blood samples are contaminated with microplastics have a significantly higher risk of suffering strokes or heart attacks than people who do not have such contamination. A study into the health of  305 patients who already suffered from arterial disease, of whom 257 were followed for almost three years, showed that those who has plastic particles in their arteries were 4.5 times more likely to suffer from a stroke, a heart attack, or to die from another cause.    

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 implementation of the South Tarawa Water Supply Project, involving the construction of two desalination plants and a solar PV system to augment Kiribati’s water supplies.

Kiribati is a remote country which is highly dispersed geographically, with its population being spread over 21 different islands. This in itself creates water supply challenges, but in addition the small island state faces significant water supply challenges due to its vulnerability to climate change. Kiribati has no natural lakes or other surface water sources, and the water supply – often in the form of wells - is almost entirely dependent on shallow groundwater.

The quantity and quality of this groundwater are currently seriously threatened by climate change-induced inundations, prolonged drought and the infiltration of salt water from the ocean and leachate from waste. Should such events occur simultaneously or in quick succession, they may reduce the yield of groundwater sources to zero for periods of up to five years. Against this background, the development of alternative sources of water supply is important and urgent to ensure water security in the country and boost resilience against the effects of climate change.  

The Kiribati Public Utilities Board (PUB) is responsible for the provision of water to the people of south Tarawa. Through a system of above ground reservoirs water tanks and water tank towers, PUP serves some 60,000 people on South Tarawa. However, the supplies are limited: PUP has some 1,600 m³/day which is not enough to supply the whole population.

 Through the South Tarawa Water Supply Project, an additional water source will be added to the country’s water supply infrastructure.  The project aims to reduce the climate vulnerability of the entire population of South Tarawa through increased water security by providing them with a reliable, safe, and climate-resilient water supply. This will be done through the construction of two reverse osmosis sea water desalination plants with a combined capacity of 6,000 m3 / day, supported by a solar power plant which will provide electricity from a renewable energy source for the benefit of the desalination plants. A water and climate change visitors center is incorporated in one of the desalination plants building. This innovative addition aims to raise awareness and educate visitors about the impacts of climate change, our water resources and the vital role of desalination plants in addressing water scarcity. In addition, the existing water supply system will be upgraded and expanded to reduce leakages and expand the overall proportion of the population covered by a water service.

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 the sidelines of the 37th African Union Summit held in Ethiopia on the 17th and 18th of February, will mobilise financial and technical resources to improve the development and management of water resources, support livelihoods and restore peace in the region.

The Lake Chad basin provides a source of livelihood for some 2 million people and contributes to food security for a further 45 million people living in the basin. The lake receives its water from the Chari-Logone River system, which has its source primarily in the high rainfall areas of the Central African Republic and which flows more than 800 km to the lake itself. The basin is an important freshwater resource shared by Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria, Chad and the Central African Republic.

The surface area of the lake has shrunk by more than 90% since 1964, largely as a result of climate change, the expansion of irrigation and the increase in water demand for other purposes. The loss of the lake’s waters has negatively affected the livelihoods of fishing, farming, and herding communities, leading to internal displacement and increasing insecurity and conflict. Reliefweb estimates that some 3.2 million people have been internally displaced of which the majority – 2.2 million – are in Nigeria.   

At the African Union Summit, the Minister of Water for Chad, Passalet Kanade Marssela stated: “The population living in this ecosystem are facing major socio-economic challenges – add to that the insecurity situation due to terrorist groups which brings loss of livelihood, destruction of households, forced internal displacements and beyond our national frontiers” .

In addition, Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, the African Development Bank Vice President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery, stated that the agreement provides a framework for projects and programs to improve the quality of life for millions of Africans.

“This Memorandum of Understanding involves transforming living conditions in the hydrographic basin of the six member countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, namely Chad, Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, the Central African Republic and Libya. As the main financial partner of the Commission for several years, we will consolidate the gains made, through a new integrated regional programme that accelerates sustainable solutions to the challenges of Lake Chad and further improves the living conditions of the basin's population,” she said.

The Lake Chad Basin Commission named the African Development Bank the “Champion Lead Partner for resource mobilization for the revival of the Lake Chad.”

Ambassador Mamman Nuhu, Executive Secretary of the Lake Chad Basin Commission said:

“Our shared goal is to ensure the sustainability of the Lake Chad Basin, especially the Lake, which has dramatically shrunk due to climate change and increased human demands. This…is a manifestation of our commitment to ensuring water security, economic prosperity, and stability in the region. It is an integral part of our shared goal to build climate resilience and sustainable growth.”

The African Development Bank has historically provided support for the goals and activities of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, having provided a total of U.S.  $ 241.3 million across several  projects in the water, transport, environment, and social sectors. For instance, the AfDB support and an ongoing multinational programme to rehabilitate and strengthen the resilience of Lake Chad basin systems. 

The Bank is also developing a multi-year institutional capacity building programme for the Lake Chad Basin Commission which will enable it to carry out in-depth environmental, technical and economic studies that will inform solutions, decision-making, and financing requirements for Basin restoration. In addition, the Bank’s African Water Facility is financing the development of the second, five-year investment plan to build a pipeline of projects for the sustainable and beneficial use of water resources in the basin, as well as prepare the groundwork for further investments.

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 reach a tipping point if not further protected, with consequences for water supplies across the region. The researchers analysed the existing evidence for five major drivers of water stress in the Amazon basin. The Amazon Forest is a complex system of interconnected species, ecosystems and human cultures that provide important services for life on earth and as well for humanity. In water terms, the forest acts as a so called ‘atmospheric pump’, contributing 50% of the rainfall in the region as well as being crucial for moisture supply across South America. The forest also supplies water and moisture beyond its own limits, through river flow and rainfall supplied to more arid regions such as the Pantanal Wetlands and the La Plata River Basin.

In addition to its importance for water systems across South America, the forest also holds a large part of the earth’s (land based) biodiversity, it stores the carbon equivalent of 15-20 years of global emissions, and it has a powerful cooling effect on the global climate.

Although the Amazon Forest has remained essentially stable for the last 65 million years, unfortunately, currently, large parts of the Forest are exposed to the risk of collapse due to the dual influences of climate change and land use changes. There is evidence that the resilience of the forest – its ability to withstand change - has been declining since the early 2000’s. The forest is a very complex and varied ecosystem with different kinds of internal feedback loops which occur in response to changes. When a complex environment like this is exposed to a number of different kinds of stresses, it is difficult to pinpoint accurately what the overall outcome will be. Knowing that the Amazon is exposed to a number of ‘new’ stresses caused by human activity, the researchers analysed a range of new conditions to which the forest is exposed, with a focus on the risks of ‘critical transitions’. Critical transitions are transitions whereby the ecosystem crosses a critical threshold or ‘tipping point’ at which even small changes in the system can lead to abrupt shifts in the system. Across the  Amazon, five drivers of water stress are identified by the authors.

The first driver of water stress is climate change. Global warming is expected to change the rainfall patterns in the Amazon, with the eastern and southern stretches of the forest experiencing more seasonal rainfall. Different scenario’s predict that droughts in the Amazon region will increase in length and intensity, and that exceptionally hot droughts will become more common. The number of dry days in a year is expected to increase by between 10-30 days by 2050 depending on the pattern of our greenhouse gas emissions.  The average temperature in the region has increased by 0,27°C per decade since 1980, creating thermal stress for plants and reducing annual rainfall by up to 20mm per year.

The second driver of water stress is annual rainfall. Large parts of the rainforest thrive at high levels of rainfall, and there is evidence to suggest that if rainfall drops below 1,000mm per year, forests are more likely to collapse if they are disturbed than if they have sufficient moisture. Lower down in the floodplains, this threshold is lower, as these trees require 1,500 mm per year to remain in a stable condition.

A third driver of water stress is the seasonality of rainfall: trees thrive when there is less variation in rainfall between seasons. There are indications that if the inter-seasonal rainfall gap increases beyond 400 mm, forests are more likely to collapse when severely disturbed than forests where the inter-seasonal shortfall of water is less intense.

Fourth, the length of the dry season is a driver of water stress: the forest remains relatively healthy with a dry season that lasts up to 7 months. However, beyond 7 months, the forests are again more vulnerable to collapse if disturbed.

A fifth driver of water stress is deforestation itself. The critical threshold is estimated to be at around 20% accumulated deforestation, whereby the forest becomes unstable if more than one fifth has been removed. Beyond 20% deforestation, there is evidence of accelerated mortality, causing large reductions in regional rainfall and a fundamental change in the forest itself.

In conclusion, the authors note that the resilience of the Amazon Forest is being affected by a number of mutually reinforcing disturbances. Most models agree that a large scale collapse of the forest is unlikely in the 21st century. However, there are real dangers that different disturbances will interact and have quite severe impacts which can trigger unexpected ecosystem transitions. Therefore, we must take actions that contribute to maintain the Amazon forest within safe boundaries. At the global level this implies taking action to stop greenhouse gas emissions. Locally, strong action is needed to stop deforestation and forest degradation, as well as to promote forest restoration in degraded areas.  

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 drought emergency for some 80% of the population.  This is the third consecutive year of drought for the region, and with low levels of snowfall during the winter, the situation is critical. Officially, such a declaration of a drought emergency takes place once water reservoirs drop below 16% of full storage capacity, and the current measures will affect a population of about 6 million people.  By comparison, in the rest of Spain, the average current reservoir levels are 46%. 

The government has announced the introduction of measures under phase I of its drought response plan for the Ter Llobregat system, which covers a total of 220 municipalities. The drought response system stems from a law passed by the Regional Government of Catalonia - Decree 84/2007 on the adoption of exceptional and emergency measures regarding the use of water resources - during a previous, exceptional drought in 2006/7. During 2008-2009, it was necessary to adopt emergency measures, such as diverting water from the Ebro through a pipeline and supplying drinking water by boat from Marseilles and Almeria (Andalusia).

The current measures include a restriction of domestic water consumption to 200 litres per person per day, a reduction by 80% of water consumption in agriculture, 50% in stock keeping, and 25% in industry and recreational facilities. In the case of the stringent measures being applied to irrigated agriculture, ‘survival’ irrigation of woody and fruit trees and botanical gardens can be carried out if it is done with reclaimed water from a treatment plant or with groundwater. However, this is only allowed if it does not affect water for domestic consumption.

In 2023, the city of Barcelona launched a strategic plan which implied the implementation of a holistic approach to water management at the level of the whole water cycle, from management of the catchment through the value chain through to retail delivery of water and sanitation services. This plan aims amongst other things to increase the guarantee of supply, increase the efficiency of water systems, increase resilience to climate change, and to adapt systems for future requirements.  Already, the city reduced its water consumption from 88 million m³ in 1999 to 61.6 million m³ in 2021. The city has one of the lowest levels of per capita water consumption in Europe at 106 litres per capita per day.  

Already, for the agricultural sector this has meant that the planting of water intensive crops such as alfalfa and corn may have to be halted in some regions.  Many of the grain crops that have been planted cannot be harvested because of the small size of the grains. Fruit crops, both irrigated and rainfed, were also too small to be sold, with grape production down by between 30% and 70%. The wine harvest losses have reportedly increased each year since the beginning of the drought, with losses averaging 5-10% in  2021, 25-50% in 2022, and 50-70% in the past growing season.

In the field of augmentation of supply, previous policies have favoured investments in additional desalination, the enlargement of existing plants, the development of interconnections between water treatment plants, and the encouragement of water-reuse systems.  Spain has announced the intention to invest € 467 million in the development of two desalination plants on the Catalan coast. 

Currently, the option of expanding the Ebro water transfer to the Barcelona metropolitan area has been dismissed. Both the national progressive government and the Catalan government, led by the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), aim to sidestep the revival of longstanding territorial disputes. This scenario is distinguished by the endorsement from pro-independence parties for the progressive national coalition government. This stands in stark contrast to many autonomous communities, which are managed by the Spanish national conservative party Partido Popular in collaboration with the far-right VOX party.

In Spain, the water planning landscape over the past two decades has been fraught with disputes between political parties, autonomous communities, and a range of stakeholders. In Catalonia, issues related to water have, until recently, not been central to the sovereignty debates among left-wing pro-independence parties such as ERC and Junts. The latter has attracted a significant share of the electorate previously aligned with the extinct conservative nationalist party, CIU. However, the growing urgency of these issues, exacerbated by increasingly severe drought conditions, is bringing them to the forefront.

In terms of the Spanish Constitution, Catalonia possesses the authority to manage its internal basins — hydrographic basins confined within the territorial limits of an Autonomous Community—covering 52% of its territory and serving 96% of its population. Despite what appears to be an advantageous position, this mandate has not been without its challenges and controversies.

The Catalan territory is also traversed by the Ebro River basin, the most voluminous river on the Iberian Peninsula. Legally, it constitutes an inter-community basin, shared among six autonomous communities, making its management predominantly reliant on the central government's administration of these waters. The geopolitical dynamics of the Ebro basin are significantly influenced by the upstream location of Aragon (a region preeminent in both area and population) and Catalonia, situated downstream. A principal concern is the establishment of water flows in the Ebro delta, in accordance with the EU Water Framework Directive. The imperative of maintaining an ecological flow to ensure the water's good ecological status influences both the water demands of the basin and the potential for water surpluses. These political struggles are intricately tied to the national hydrological planning.

The debate over water transfers, the enlargement of irrigated zones, or the preservation of river ecosystems extends beyond local boundaries and political agendas. The Ebro topic has featured in the electoral strategies of Catalan political parties, against the backdrop of broader Spanish politics. Thus in 2001, the Partido Popular (PP) supported the idea of diverting water from the Ebro to the Barcelona metropolitan area and to the eastern Mediterranean regions of Valencia and Murcia. This was linked to an agreement between the PP and the Catalan conservative nationalists (CiU), which ultimately enabled José María Aznar to assume the role of Prime Minister of Spain.

In response, large scale protests erupted in Barcelona in 2001, leading to a shift in public favor towards left-wing parties which opposed the water transfer. In 2003, a coalition of three left-wing parties (the Catalan Socialists, Green Left, and left-wing independentists) assumed power in Catalonia for the first time. This government was responsible for repealing the transfer project and initiating the AGUA program, which led to the construction of desalination plants along the Spanish Mediterranean coast in Valencia, Murcia, and Eastern Andalusia—regions long considered strongholds of the Spanish right.

Left-wing Catalan political parties continue to oppose water transfer projects for environmental reasons. The Catalan nationalist center-right party Junts per Catalunya - does not dismiss water transfers but instead subtly refrains from openly advocating for them, instead demanding complete control over water resources within Catalan territory.

However, the Catalan government's insistence on increasing the flow in the Ebro delta, in line with the basin plans outlined by the Water Framework Directive—whether employing an environmentalist rhetoric for delta protection or not—effectively ensures enhanced water availability within its territory. Concurrently, such demands complicate any technical and legal approaches to facilitate water transfers to other regions. This situation further intensifies the calls from the Valencia and Murcia regions, whose tourism and agriculture sectors are advocating for new water transfers.

All in all, the response of water policy in the Catalan region will likely be primarily shaped by recent shifts in the Spanish political landscape. In essence, Catalonia's situation underscores the increasing geopolitical significance of water issues in Spain.

Infographic by Cassini group with thanks to Dr. Darío Salinas Palacios

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.  According to a report released on the 15th of February by Mexico’s National Water Commission CONAGUA,  almost 60% of the country is currently experiencing moderate to exceptional drought. In Mexico City, water restrictions were announced across 284 neighbourhoods in late January, implying that these areas would only receive water for several hours at during certain days of the week. These restrictions follow a 8% cut in water supplies in October and a further cut of 25% in November.

Mexico City obtains a large proportion of its of its water through the Cutzmala system, a complex inter-basin transfer scheme built on the Cutzmala River between during the 1980’s and 1990’s to transfer water eastwards from mountainous and forested sub basins in Michoacan and Mexico state to supply 15m³/second to the capital city.  The development of this inter-basin transfer infrastructure is ultimately the result of a fundamental geographical mismatch between water supply and demand in Mexico. Precipitation in the country ranges from below 500mm/annum in the north of the country to more than 2,000mm/annum in the southeast, and around 650 mm/ annum in the central region where Mexico City is located.

Most of the metropolitan valley in which Mexico City is located lies within a river basin – the Valley of Mexico Basin - surrounded by mountains and volcanoes which function as the water towers for the city, historically providing the surface and groundwater resources that enabled urban growth. For decades, groundwater from local aquifers provided the bulk (68%) of the water supply for the city, and the rapid growth of the city meant that these groundwater sources were increasingly overexploited.

Writing in 2006, Professor Cecilia Tortajada commented that “throughout the decades, the population growth and the planned and unplanned urbanization have resulted in an uneven race for the federal and local governments to construct infrastructure and provide essential services to the population, including water supply and sanitation”.

Recently, researchers at the Autonomous University of Mexico have warned that ensuring access to water and the distribution of that water across the city may become unsustainable as soon as 2028. According to the researchers, there is an urgent need to invest in the improvement of the water distribution network to reduce leakages, in rainwater harvesting systems, and in water treatment and reuse systems.  Key aspects such as the current level of water leakage in the city.