Lake Tanganyika, located in the heart of East Africa, is an exceptional ecosystem with a surface area of 32,900 km² - an area larger than Belgium. It is the deepest African lake (with a maximum depth of 1,470 m) and simultaneously the longest lake in the world (with a maximum length of 673 km). Also, with a volume of almost 19,000 km³, it is the second largest lake in the world, accounting for 18% of the world's fresh surface water.

The lake's catchment area covers nearly 250,000 km², divided unevenly between Tanzania, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi and Rwanda. The Malagarasi, Lufubu and Rusizi rivers are its main tributaries, and the Lukuga river is its only outlet, connecting the lake to the Congo basin.

Lake Tanganyika also boasts a rich freshwater biodiversity, including some 500 endemic species. Its North/South orientation makes it highly sensitive to the trade winds, which have a seasonal influence on its hydrodynamics and trophic levels. In addition to its limnological characteristics, the lake is a major fishing ground and many species of cyclidae are sold as ornamental fish to aquarists.

The lake is also a communication route, mainly for trade in goods between the riparian countries.

However, the wealth and assets offered by this unique ecosystem are threatened by human pressures linked to the population growth, the degradation of catchment areas, erosion, overfishing, invasive species, urban pollution and climate change, which is causing lake levels to fluctuate, leading to flooding since 2020.

Managing such an ecosystem requires a cross-sectoral and regional approach, which has led to the creation in 2003 of the Lake Tanganyika Authority (LTA). Following recognition of the lake as a global – but threatened – heritage, a transboundary diagnostic analysis was carried out in the early 2000’s, leading to the elaboration of a Convention on the Sustainable Management of Lake Tanganyika, overseen by the LTA. 

The LTA is responsible for the preservation of the lake's resources and ecosystem services. Its mission is to implement a strategic action plan to control human pressures and ensure a level of protection and restoration of the lake and its aquatic ecosystems, while ensuring that these resources are used in a sustainable manner.

The LATAWAMA project

Since 2019, the European Union (EU) has invested a budget of 6.9 million euros in the Lake Tanganyika Water Management (LATAWAMA) project, for which Wallonia has also contributed with a budget of 0.5 million euros. Its implementation has been entrusted to the Belgian development agency, Enabel, in collaboration with LTA.

The LATAWAMA project supported the implementation of the LTA's strategic action plan, specifically in the acquisition of environmental data on the lake, through the establishment of a water-quality monitoring network, and in the management of solid waste and sanitation in the towns surrounding the lake.

In relation to this strategic plan, Mr. Sylvain Tusanga Mukanga, LTA’s Executive Director, stated: “The LATAWAMA project is one of the projects drawn from the Strategic Action Programme’s pillars and most particularly aims to reduce pollution and to improve the quality of the lake’s waters. It also aims to develop a monitoring network involving four laboratories (currently equipped). This project also includes solid waste management and support for optimising the Bujumbura wastewater plant. Based on the Convention on the lake water management, the decisions are taken on scientific evidence. The database developed will therefore enable informed decision-makers for the protection of the lake”.

On the water-quality monitoring network, Professor Pierre-Denis Plisnier, a limnologist of the University of Liège specialised in Lake Tanganyika explains: "There is an urgent need to implement a harmonised and continuous multidisciplinary regional monitoring system linked to the ecology of the lake. Five areas are essential: limnology (water qualitative and quantitative aspects), fisheries, meteorology, soil erosion and biodiversity. Limnology enables us to understand the lake's hydrodynamics, which are the basis of its productivity, and regular, reliable quantitative data on essential parameters are needed to inform managers and political decision-makers. Despite the immense potential for local knowledge, which deserves in-depth study, we cannot rely on subjective assessments. A project able to put in place a long-term system of monitoring and environmental surveillance of the waters (recording the essential parameters without interruption) would be a great success".

As recommended by Professor Plisnier, the LATAWAMA project laid the foundations for a harmonised network for water-quality monitoring in Lake Tanganyika, by supporting research centres and regional laboratories in the four riparian countries.

In parallel with these environmental monitoring activities, pilot pollution control actions such as wastewater, solid waste and watershed management were implemented in the towns of Bujumbura (Burundi), Kigoma (Tanzania), Uvira (DRC), Mpulungu (Zambia) and Rusizi (Rwanda).

Mr Ferdinand Filimbi, Finance Manager at the Municipality of Kigoma stated: “The LATAWAMA project supported the Municipality of Kigoma to improve the solid waste collection process. We have a series of activities underway in our city. These include support for equipment at various levels, training, repair of equipment, fuel support, purchase of containers, etc. We are grateful for the improvement of the solid waste collection process in our municipality. However, the challenges still remain immense”.

Mr Cléophas Bizabishaka, representative of OBUHA (Burundian Office of Urbanism, Habitat and Sanitation) in charge of the Bujumbura wastewater treatment plant, specifies: “The sludge drying beds of the plant were no longer operational. Thanks to the LATAWAMA project, we had the opportunity to rehabilitate them in order to improve the efficiency of the water treatment ponds. The project has even supported the treatment plant’s laboratory through analytical equipment and reagents, as well as the digitalisation of the wastewater connection network”.

The EU engagement on transboundary water cooperation

In 2021, the EU presented its Council Conclusions in 2021 on water, especially transboundary water cooperation, as a tool for peace, security and stability. Making the case based on its experience in terms of regional integration and cooperation, this position was strongly recalled during the UN 2023 water conference.

Lake Tanganyika and its basin stand amongst the priority transboundary basins supported by the EU. With its Member States, a Team Europe Initiative (TEI) on ‘Transboundary Water Management in Africa’ to support development and regional integration across the continent has been established. This TEI falls within the scope of the EU Global Gateway strategy and African Union – European Union Investment Package.

To pursue these efforts on the longer run, in November 2023, the EU agreed to fund a second phase of 31 million euros, through TAKIWAMA programme entitled “Tanganyika and Kivu Water Management”.

The TAKIWAMA programme will cover the Lake Tanganyika and Lake Kivu basins through five different components. The first of these is an environmental monitoring network: the water-quality network will be strengthened, and a new component of water-quantity and biological monitoring will be added. Second, the programme will provide institutional support: the legal framework related to transboundary water management will be strengthened, and the riparian countries will be encouraged to accede to the UNECE Water Convention. Third, in the realm of scientific research: European and African research institutes and universities will collaborate to analyse and manage in situ and satellite data for better understanding the lakes’ behaviour. Fourth, in the area of pollution control, activities aimed to combat water pollution will be developed on wastewater and solid waste management, as well as watershed protection, through a circular economy approach. Finally, in the area of transport governance, the safety, security, communication and information exchanges on water transport will be strengthened in the Lake Tanganyika.

With this new chapter engaged, the EU and Team Europe support to the Lake Tanganyika Authority will not only boost regional integration among basin countries, but also fortify economic connections and cooperation.

A film on the LATAWAMA project is available on the EU website.

In early March, Croatia’s Karlovac County Assembly officially confirmed the protection of the Mrežnica and Tounjčica rivers and the establishment of two new protected areas. The two rivers are among the last free flowing rivers in Europe, and there is a growing number of stakeholders who have worked together to achieve its protection.

The decision was reached following an initiative led by the Public Institution for Nature Protection, Natura Viva, and supported by the Karlovac County and The Nature Conservancy (TNC). According to Martina Furdek Hajdin, the Mayor of Karlovac County, the river is an important recreational area with tourism potential, but there has also been a lot of construction along the river in recent years, and there was a need to protect the river by setting rules for infrastructure development.

According to Irma Popovic Dujmovic of TNC, the Mreznica is a typical karstic river, which means that the riverbed is composed of limestone and is generally poor in plant nutrients. A special characteristic of the river is that the chemical characteristics of the river support the growth of tufa stone. Tufa is a special stone, that grows in specific physio-chemical conditions of water by deposition of calcium carbonate on algae and moss. As it grows, tufa stone creates barriers and waterfalls (the most famous ones are on Plitvice lakes). It grows some 2-3 mm a year and is very fragile and closely depends on physio-chemical characteristics of the water. In addition, it can break easily on impact, and therefore most human activities such as paddling or walking, can result in damage. The preservation of tufa is the main conservation purpose of river Mreznica. Tufa has many biodiversity values – it creates different habitats - rapids, waterfalls, deeper parts and shallows, which are all home for abundance of animals and plants. Additionally, it gives unique and scenic value of the landscape, which is a special feature for Mreznica. There are more than 100 of tufa barriers on 64 km of Mreznica river.

As a result, the upper part of Mreznica and Tounjcica rivers have been protected as a ‘Monument of Nature’ which the International Union for the Conservation of Nature , IUCN, classifies as a ‘category III’ monument.  

This decision builds on recent precedents to protect the Krupa, Mura, and Drava rivers and comes as the result of robust community engagement through the United for Rivers initiative—a cross-regional coalition of NGOs working to protect 13 rivers across five Western Balkan countries. These areas mark the first official protections resulting from this campaign and longstanding efforts led by local communities to preserve these iconic rivers.

The decision to establish a monument to nature in the upper course of the Mrežnica River and a significant landscape in its middle course is of great importance for both nature and local communities. It ensures the implementation of conservation measures on one of Croatia’s most spectacular rivers, providing sanctuary for diverse plant and animal species, and protecting the dozens of tufa waterfalls the river is known for.

“We are pleased with the large number of people who were involved in the public consultation during the declaration process for the protection of the Mrežnica River. We hope that local communities will continue to show interest in protecting this area to ensure its sustainable management and the preservation of important species and habitats. We still have a lot of work that can only be accomplished through constant communication and the inclusion of all stakeholders in the process, finding joint solutions based on nature”, said Antonija Bišćan, director of the Public Institution Natura Viva.

This decision is not merely a legal designation; it is a promise to safeguard the natural beauty, biodiversity, and social and cultural significance of Mrežnica and Tounjčica. The Public Institution Natura Viva, Karlovac County, and TNC are committed to continued collaboration, ensuring proper implementation of conservation measures, and commitment to sustainable management of new protected areas.

“Residents of Karlovac County appreciate their rivers, and the Mrežnica is special in that regard. We affectionately refer to it as ‘a beauty,’ ‘a pearl,’ a truly unique and magical river. Therefore, I believe that this is a significant step in our efforts to preserve the Mrežnica River for generations to come. We aim to ensure sustainable management of this valuable natural resource in collaboration with relevant ministries, the non-governmental sector, and the local community. This decision puts us on the right path to achieve it,” said Martina Furdek Hajdin, Karlovac County Prefect.

The protected areas will play an important role in preserving the natural and social values of the river, offering sustainable recreational opportunities for locals and visitors alike while preserving important habitats and species.

“The Nature Conservancy views the protection of Mrežnica and Tounjčica as flagships and exemplary models aligning with our strategy for durable river protection. Engaging closely with local communities through our United for Rivers initiative, we recognize them as the backbone of river conservation and the sustainable use of river resources. We are delighted to witness the successful protection of Mrežnica and Tounjčica, and proud to contribute to this process. We are fully committed to providing ongoing support for the continuing conservation of these rivers and we hope this milestone will inspire other countries in the region to strengthen their river conservation efforts,” said Irma Popović Dujmović, TNC Freshwater Program Director for Croatia.

Authors from the Center for International Development and Environmental Research and the Institute for Advanced International Studies have published a policy brief on the impact of Afghanistan’s water developments in the Amu Darya basin of Central Asia. This region, with its dry climate, has undergone significant institutional change since 1991 as former Soviet states each pursued their own programmes for water resources development. Each development has had an impact on regional water allocation, as upstream development for hydropower tended to conflict with downstream water needs for irrigation.

Against this background, the authors investigate the development of the Qosh-Tepa canal in Afghanistan, which has raised the stakes on water in the region. This canal project envisages the development of irrigation on more than 550 000 hectares of land in Afghanistan by diverting 650 m³/second from the Amu Darya River. The project is not a new development, but has long been discussed in Afghanisatan, including the commissioning of a feasibility study which was completed in 2019.  

In the scenario presented by the feasibility study, the bulk (80%) of this water would be abstracted during the grown season, putting pressure on the limited resources of the Amu Darya River. This is taking place against the context of changes in the regional climate, whereby the region’s temperature increases are expected to lie between 2-4°C by 2050, i.e. twice the global average. The region is expected to become more arid, especially in the western parts of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and  Kazakhstan.

In this context the planned peak extraction of 13 km³ of water through the canal calls into question the 2.1 km³ allocated to Afghanistan under the 1992 Almaty Agreement , increasing the need for cooperation between Afghanistan and downstream countries. Agricultural water use already accounts for more than 90% of water use in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, and in dry years, countries only receive 50% of their water allocations. Northern Uzbekistan has already witnessed soil salinization, environmental degradation and outmigration from the region. Turkmenistan also diverts more than 30% of the flow of the Amu Darya for irrigation purposes.

Further reductions in water flow in the river can be expected to have negative consequences for water quality, affecting access to safely managed drinking water.

The authors conclude that Afghanistan’s current plans to develop water resources is a zero-sum game in the regional context (whereby the gain of one party implies loss to another party). The desire of Afghanistan to pursue the development of water resources is understandable in a historical context, but the actors in the Amu Darya Basin are already experiencing difficulties in addressing the water management challenges, and further reductions in water availability will have an impact throughout the region. Nevertheless, these shared challenges can also create space for collaboration and provide common ground for identifying shared opportunities.

A resurgence of violence on the border between North and South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo has led to a large new wave of internally displaced people arriving in Goma in need of humanitarian assistance. In its press release on the 22nd of March, the Executive Director of the World Food Programme Cindy McCain stated: “The city of Goma - in itself located between lake Kivu and the border with Rwanda - is surrounded by tens of thousands of temporary shelters, and the numbers are growing every single day. The displaced people crammed into them urgently require food, clean water and sanitation. WFP needs the support of donors and partners to step up our response to this worsening crisis and provide badly needed assistance to people living in the camps before it’s too late.” Doctors without Borders is reporting an increase in the risk of epidemics in the refugee camps, especially of cholera, as a result of the critical health situation and urgent needs in the camps.

Since January, the population in the displacement camps in the outskirts of Goma has almost doubled. The nutritional and health conditions of the population arriving in the camps is deplorable. The number of severely malnourished children under 5 years old admitted by Action Against Hunger in Lushagala camp 1 and 2 has multiplied by four since November 2023. In February, ACF received up to 10 new cases per day of children in severe acute malnutrition. Malnutrition, in turn, weakens the body’s capacity to respond to diseases, increasing the vulnerability of the displaced populations.  

According to the Norwegian Refugee Council, the advance of armed groups towards the town of Sake, located to the north-west of Goma, which is a key link between Goma and the rest of the country, poses a threat to the entire aid system in the region.  According to Joachim Giaminardi from the Norwegian Refugee Council, the road north to Rutshuru has been blocked since November 2023 when the ceasefire fell apart. Similarly, another road to Mwesu has been closed since November, and since that time the fighting has moved towards Sake, which has cut off supplies to Goma from the DRC side. About eleven informal settlements sites have sprung up on the road between Sake and Goma in which about 400,000 people are currently located

Goma is already home to more than 2 million people and an additional half million internally displaced persons. The displaced persons are living in extreme conditions as most people are located in overcrowded locations with a lack of land for settlement and insufficient shelter. An assessment carried out several weeks ago in informal settlements indicated that on average, each individual has access to no more than 3.8 litres of water a day.  

Across the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a 2024 humanitarian needs assessment , it is estimated that some 6,9 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in the area of water and sanitation, of which the majority are located in North and South Kivu.   

In less than 10 days, more than 250,000 people have fled the conflict area and are seeking shelter with host families and in pre-existing, unofficial displacement sites to the west of Goma.  In these sites, families are crowded into makeshift shelters that offer little to no protection from the rain. Medical staff are apprehensive that with the influx of new people into the region in combination with limited supplies of safely managed water are creating the conditions for a surge in the cholera cases that they have signaled.  The International Committee of the Red Cross reports that more than 39,000 people have sought refuge in Kanyabayonga in the northern part of north Kivu. An earlier report by Oxfam from late February made mention of 133,000 people who had fled the violence in north Kivu and were living in very difficult conditions without a single toilet or safe water source. The same report mentions that host communities are charging U.S. $ 0.40 for the use of a toilet or shower, and that women have to walk up to 25 kilometres to fetch water, exposing them to violence from armed groups.   The water supply situation is difficult as the area overlies layers of volcanic rock and therefore access to groundwater is limited. Nevertheless, UNICEF built a supplementary water supply pipeline to extend the municipal network and provide water to an estimated 150,000 displaced individuals. This has replaced the expensive water trucking to sites such as Bushagara and Kanyaruchinya.

The 2024 World Water Development Report Water for Prosperity and Peace was launched on the 22nd of March - World Water Day - explores water’s capacity to unite people and serve as a tool for peace, sustainable development, climate action and regional integration. In his foreword to the 2024 report, UN Water Chair Alvaro Lario stated that water, when managed sustainably and equitably, can be a source of peace and prosperity.

The report explicitly links peace and prosperity. Water infrastructure and its management systems, the report argues, promote growth and prosperity by securing a reliable water supply for key economic sectors such as agriculture, energy, industry, and a broad range of businesses and services that support livelihoods worldwide.

Although it is not easy to directly link GDP to water availability because of the huge diversity of ways in which water influences the economy, in low and lower-middle-income countries, an estimated 70–80% of jobs are water-dependent. In addition, safe, accessible and functioning water supply and sanitation systems foster prosperity by enhancing the quality of life, supporting education and ensuring a healthy workforce. The cost-benefit ratio of investments in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services has been shown to provide significant positive returns, especially through co-benefits such as health, education and employment.

In the realm of peacebuilding, the report emphasises the positive role that water plays in fostering cooperation, ranging from community-led initiatives that have relieved local tensions to dispute settlement at the transboundary level. And although water is not usually a trigger for conflict, inequalities in the allocation of water resources or in access to water services can be undermine peace and stability. This is all the more so in the context of factors which may exacerbate the problem, such as climate change, geopolitical unrest, pandemics, or mass migration.

Against this broader background, the report presents some thematic and regional observations. Agriculture, in particular, is a key driver of broad-based sustainable development and it is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Investment both in smallholder production and in larger infrastructure for development remains critical, but this needs to be carried out in a context where water tenure is well governed- a theme current under investigation by the Food and Agriculture Organisation. 

In human settlements, more collaborative and inclusive approaches are needed to overcome differences between formal and informal areas in cities and inequities in service provision between rural and urban areas. In conflict settings, essential water infrastructure can be either directly damaged or break down, and providing sustainable water and sanitation services remains a challenge. Furthermore, focusing on disaster risks is important in settlements to reduce the risks associated with flooding.

For industry, which lies at the heart of prosperity in many areas, water quality and accessibility are key to maintaining production, with implications for economic growth. Water scarcity and pollution issues can lead to conflicts involving industry, with a particular emphasis on mining which is particularly prone to conflicts with local (indigenous) populations.  

A lot of potential remains for transboundary cooperation to ensure the joint management of shared rivers, lakes and aquifers to ensure economic, social, environmental and political benefits which lie at the heart of peace and prosperity. Ideally, all shared waters would be covered by an operational agreement for cooperation, but presently, only 32 out of 153 countries responding to the UN Water questionnaires for reporting on SDG 6 progress, have more than 90% of their transboundary area covered by an agreement.

Looking at the different regions of the world, the report makes some general observations in relation to the most important peace and prosperity issues in each location. For the African continent, the emphasis is on economic water scarcity, whereby water resources are generally available but the financing options for infrastructure development are insufficiently available. In this context, given that Africa has the highest proportion of transboundary basins relative to other continents, there is a string premium on collaborative action to ensure water, energy and food security.

In North America and Europe, there is a high prevalence of transboundary agreements on water which facilitate inclusive dialogue on water management. Nevertheless, there is armed conflict in some areas which has had a devastating impact on water and sanitation infrastructure. In Latin America there is a high prevalence of multipurpose dams which are central to economic prosperity. At the same time a healthy dialogue is needed among stakeholders in order to maintain a balance between the needs of different sectors, ensure that decisions are taken on the basis of a solid evidence base and include indigenous communities in decision making.

In Asia and the Pacific region ensuring access to basic services for all remains a challenge, especially in rural areas, while water quality is deteriorating across the region. The vulnerability to climate change and associated extreme weather events remains high in this area.  In the Arab region, water scarcity is high and transboundary cooperation is of crucial importance. Many countries in the region have been in conflict in recent years, with wide ranging implications for water supply and infrastructure.       

To respond to these challenges, the report argues that action is required in the area of governance, through investments in collective, multi-level action over water allocation and reallocation. This will contribute to prosperity and peace by addressing competition and resolving disputes and ensuring effective and equitable water allocation within a perspective for investment and benefit-sharing. Science and technology have their role to play also, with the emergence of techniques for remote sensing, sensor equipment and artificial intelligence. To manage water effectively, adequate data and information is necessary on water’s location, quantity, quality, temporal variability and demand. Capacity development is important, especially in the areas of law, policy and institutional development that lie at the heart of cooperation on water.  Lastly, in the area of financing, there is room to make better use of existing resources and to mobilise new sources of capital. There is a need to direct these resources more towards developing countries, as well as to mainstream water security concerns within the decision making in other sectors.

The report concludes that sustainable water management generates a plethora of benefits to individuals and communities, including health, food and energy security, protection from natural disasters, education, improved living standards and employment, economic development, and a variety of ecosystem services. It is through these benefits that water leads to prosperity, and by equitably sharing these benefits, peace is promoted.  

This year’s theme for the World Water Day was been “Water for peace”. This is a powerful signal because it is time to include water when we think about security. Unequal access to clean freshwater and disease-causing wastewater are major drivers of tension and conflict. Climate change, population growth, and increased water consumption for industry and energy will accelerate this global development. The anticipated consequences include heightened migration and an increase in armed conflicts related to water.

In a European context, it is particularly the water problems in Africa and the Middle East that constitute the potentially largest destabilising factor. According to the World Resources Institute, North Africa, and the Middle East (MENA) are today the world’s most water-challenged region, and the situation will only worsen towards 2050, when the entire population will suffer from water scarcity.

This deeply concerning water scarcity occurs in parallel with exponential population growth leading up to 2050, which will result in the doubling of the population in the MENA region to 725 million people. It is evident that this development is fragile and unsustainable, and it will likely trigger migration and significantly increase the risk of local conflicts and wars over water resources. This trend also holds true for the rest of Africa.

The development mentioned above is one of the reasons why NATO, in its annual security foresight from January, clearly emphasises that water challenges will exponentially increase migration movements, thereby provoking economic and social instability. Europe is particularly under pressure, and NATO also predicts that authoritarian states like Russia will exploit water challenges to fuel radicalisation and conflicts. Most recently, Weekendavisen, a weekly Danish newspaper, reported that Russia plans to send hundreds of thousands of African migrants through Africa and the Maghreb, across the Mediterranean, and up through Italy and France. Independent of Russia’s plans, we can already observe rising migration. According to the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (frontex) nearly 400,000 illegal migrants crossed the EU border in 2023, the highest level since 2016.

The above development is one of the reasons why the Danish Defense Intelligence Service, in its latest risk assessment, highlights coups and armed uprisings in countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger as consequences of water scarcity. However, the water crisis is even more significant as a global security problem. The Pacific Institute reported from 2017 to 2022 a global increase of 550% in number of armed conflicts related to water – raising from 47 to 230 conflicts. Unfortunately, the trend for 2023 does not look any better. Water is increasingly being used as a weapon, as exemplified by the conflict in Ukraine. In the first three months of the war, 64 specific water-related attacks were recorded in Ukraine according to the scientific journal Nature. This underscores how water is also weaponized!

It is time for the water crisis to receive the appropriate attention in security and foreign policy. The threat to security is dominated by Russia in the short term and China in the longer term, while for the softer “security policy themes,” it mostly revolves around cybersecurity, energy supply, and access to critical raw materials. While these are certainly relevant, we often overlook the role of water as an underlying factor in creating crises, migration, conflicts, and wars, which we subsequently must address. Both NATO and the UN have recognized this, but there is still insufficient political awareness in many countries.

Fortunately, there is a great opportunity for politicians to harness the potential of water. Better water solutions that are in demand worldwide and can be a powerful asset in security and foreign policy. We need to make these investments all around the globe to face the new security challenges. So let the freshwater flow and wastewater be purified for the benefit of the EU and the whole world.

In a paper published in the journal Frontiers in Water , a research team led by the Department of Sanitation, Water and Solid Waste for Development at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology has developed an accessible tool which helps to visualize urban water flows. In the context of rapid urbanization, population growth, and climate change, water resources are under pressure. Therefore, the presence of a visual tool which can facilitate understanding between stakeholders in dialogues on urban water security is seen as a useful instrument for effective water management.   

Through the tool, the complexities of urban water management are presented in a format that is easy to understand for a broad range of stakeholders. The data is presented in a Sankey Diagram (a visual tool used to visualise flows) which has been enhanced with a colour coding which highlights the flows as ‘appropriate’ or ‘problematic’.  The aim of the tool is to literally ‘visually highlight’ areas where urban water management can be improved and, in this way, to support dialogue between different stakeholders around conflicting interests and opportunities around water use. This, it is hoped, can trigger action towards more sustainable urban water management.

The tool has been field tested in four locations drawn from Europe (Bern), South America Rio Pardoa de Minas, Brazil), Southeast Asia (Santa Maria Bulacan, Philppines) and Africa (three Suburbs in Dakar, Senegal).  The researchers report that the visuals created for these cities have helped to highlight different key water management issues for each city. They include pollution from agricultural production, the lack of wastewater and sanitation infrastructure, high water losses in the distribution networks, water exports leading to a lack in local supply and sewer overflows during heavy rainfalls.

For the Swiss city of Bern, most of the water flows are depicted as being in the ‘green’ zone which is associated with ‘appropriate’ water management. The city only has 5% loss of treated water in the distribution network (in some cities this can run as high as 40%), most of its wastewater is treated in an advanced wastewater treatment facility prior to its release back into the local river. Some issues of concern (‘inappropriate water management’) included the fact that some of the piped water was used in agriculture and sometimes polluted the surface and groundwater. Also, roughly 15% of wastewater in the sewer system was discharged into he environment without any form of treatment.

In the Brazilian city of Rio Pardo, the majority if water flows were labelled as ‘problematic’. The agricultural sector dominates water utilization and this water, potentially contaminated with pesticides and fertilizers, infiltrates into groundwater and surface water. Furthermore, inefficiencies in water use are apparent, as with the existing irrigation methods, more than 70% of water is lost through evapotranspiration. In comparison, domestic, industrial and public uses of water were minor, but these uses nevertheless polluted both surface water and groundwater.  In the case of urban piped water, it appeared that 25% of the water is lost through the network.

In the Philippine city of Santa Maria Bulacan a large proportion of the water flows were also labelled as ‘problematic’. The city receives the majority of its water (70%) from groundwater sources, and the agricultural sector is the main consumer of water (34%) after domestic use (41%). Prominent issues in the city are the absence of a sewer network – wastewater is collected in septic tanks and pit latrines, but little of this wastewater is transported to a wastewater treatment site. In the case of agriculture, some 60% of water is lost to evapotranspiration, and a small proportion of agricultural wastewater flows into surface water bodies or percolates into the groundwater.  

For Dakar’s suburbs in Senegal, more than half of the groundwater extracted was pumped to the capital city Dakar, while 47% of the water was used for agricultural purposes. The water that was used for agricultural purposes was likely polluted with fertilisers and pesticides, which is expected to have a negative effect on groundwater quality. In addition, it is estimated that 60% of the water used for agriculture is lost to evapotranspiration.   

In order to compile a Water Flow Diagram, data on water flows is required, which was mostly obtained from government services, utilities, industries, universities and reports of intergovernmental organizations. The researchers report positive results from the four cases in facilitating stakeholder exchanges and stimulating debate on water management, which in the case of Senegal will probably also lead to the model being replicated and used in other urban areas. 

Water resources constitute the most significant natural resource for the survival of humankind and the socio-economic development of nations. The relevant knowledge of water resources is consequently a prerequisite condition for the elaboration of development projects and to appraise sustainable resources. However, this knowledge of water resources is intricate, taking into account its multidimensional character and the varied utilisations.

Given population growth in arid and semi-arid regions, the erratic and variable rainfall, poor soil fertility, and limited possibilities to increase cultivated area, the agricultural priority across all farming systems is to increase biological and economic yield per unit of water. In rainfed fields, improvement can come only from conserving rainfall water in the rooting zone of crops, and from managing the field and the crops to use water more efficiently. In limited cases, supplementation of water collected from off-site water harvesting can be used to bridge small periods of water deficit. Actual water use efficiency in current farming systems in the drought prone countries of West Africa is often very low.

In the populated arid and semi-arid regions, people are by definition exposed to irregularity or insufficiency of rains. These effects are sometimes catastrophic for agricultural production, and peoples’ very survival is often threatened because of the recurring drought and desertification. Under such conditions, irrigation could have been the ideal solution if the basic infrastructure were put in place.

It is for this reason that during the last 50 years, a number of governments and institutions in West Africa especially in the Sahel region have launched programmes and projects aiming at the conservation of water resources and improving rainfed agriculture.

The Concept of Surface Water Harvesting

According to FAO, water harvesting in its broadest sense is defined as “the collection of runoff for its productive use”. Water harvesting is the collection for productive purposes. Instead of runoff being left to cause erosion, it is harvested and utilised. In the drought-prone areas where it is already practised, water harvesting is a directly productive form of soil and water conservation. Both yields and reliability of production can be significantly improved with this method.

Runoff may be harvested from roofs and ground surface as well as from intermittent or ephemeral watercourses. A wide variety of water harvesting techniques for many different applications is known. Productive uses include the provision of domestic and stock water, concentration of runoff for crops, fodder and tree production and less frequently water supply for fish and duck ponds. Water harvesting can be considered as a rudimentary form of irrigation. The difference is that with water harvesting the farmer has no control over the timing. Runoff can only be harvested when it rains. In regions where crops are entirely rainfed, a reduction of 50% in the seasonal rainfall, may result in a total crop failure. If, however, the available rain can be concentrated on a smaller area; reasonable yields will still be received. 

Typology of RWH Systems

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems can be divided into  two runoff farming types, i.e. micro-catchment and  macro-catchment runoff farming. Micro-catchment runoff farming is a method of collecting surface runoff from a small area and storing it in the root zone of an adjacent infiltration area. It is also sometimes described as traditional or indigenous soil and water conservation technique or in situ water harvesting technique. Macro-catchment runoff farming, on the other hand, refers to runoff farming from long slopes, as medium size catchment water harvesting or as harvesting from external catchments systems stored and usually used for supplementary irrigation or other productive purposes. A wide variety of these water harvesting techniques are known and have been implemented during the past three decades to combat the effect of drought and to rehabilitate degraded land in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA). In West Africa, the most common water harvesting techniques are micro-dams, stonewalls, stone bunds, improved lowlands, and earthen dams. Concurrently, other techniques are applied in certain countries, which notably concern trenches, little walls, earthen bunds, half-moons, ‘zai’ or ‘tasa’, ridges, stone dikes, bench terraces, scratching techniques and impluvium, etc. Many techniques are easily reproducible and can be carried out manually and at low cost. Similarly, maintenance of the retention and collection devices can be done by hand - even though they may require considerable labour input. The cost of transportation of the material (stones) and the limited lifespan of certain types of structure constitute the principal constraints.

It has been reported that the adoption of water harvesting techniques and soil conservation practices did indeed improve food security in some arid and semi-arid regions of West Africa e.g. in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Additional advantages of water harvesting are erosion control as well as the replenishment of aquifers, as in other inter-tropical African countries, insufficient, irregular and spatially uneven rainfall limits crop production. Many efforts have been made by research and development organizations to improve crops. However, it must be recognized that  classical intensification techniques (such as fertilization, animal traction, improved crop variety) have not always guaranteed good agricultural production in the harsh, risky environment of the Sahel and the Sudanian zones.

Advantages of Rainwater Harvesting Systems

One of the main benefits of using the RWH techniques is the considerable increase in production it can generate when the appropriate technique or set of techniques are applied. Other benefits can be seen, such as improved spring flow, and more fodder and firewood, although most projects do not keep statistics on these side benefits.

Small-scale, low input and long-lasting technologies are the most beneficial ones for farmers and the most promising ones in achieving sustainable outcomes. This is especially true for small and medium stone constructions, for terraces, for vegetation barriers and for soil pits and half-moons, the former being more low cost and sustainable and the latter easier to individually setup and manageable. In the Bam Province (Burkina Faso), ameliorated plots under millet and sorghum show an average increase of yield in comparison to non-ameliorated plot. The region’s most widespread types of construction are permeable rock bunds which vary from small stone lines to larger dikes and dam.

Constraints

There are two main constraints to the development of RWH systems in many regions of SSA – labour shortages and land tenure. In general, soil and water conservation work suffers from labour constraints because it is usually conducted between January and June, a period which coincides on the one hand with intensive vegetable cultivation and harvesting and, on the other hand, with the out-migration of the most able-bodied villagers. Labour is often the most important economic factors if local material is used. The construction of contour ridges of 0.2 m height with an horizontal interval of 1.5 m needs 90 man days (MD) per ha in the first year and 50 MD in the second year.

Socioeconomic Considerations

The socio-economic impacts on revenue generation, land use, labour allocation and rural migration presented in recent surveys in the Sahel, indicate that the increase in food production and incomes in zones where there are few alternatives to water harvesting (ex: Sahelian zone in Burkina Faso, Plateau Dogon in Mali, Bassin Arachidier in Senegal, Hamdallaye watershed in Niger, etc.) constitutes the largest socio-economic impact of these techniques. It was also noted that there are effects set off, such as the reduction of rural outmigration and a positive impact on the organization of the farmers, because large operations require solidarity and cooperation. For these socioeconomic effects, the best results are obtained using water harvesting techniques such as stone dikes, terraces, zaï and boulis.

Access and use by gender

The accessibility to all these technologies varies greatly according to the type of producer, social class, the production objective and technical nature of production. For small, low-income producers, access to innovations that require a substantial allocation of additional resources, poses many problems. This category of producers often turns to technologies that enable them to manage risk and survive: their aim is not to obtain maximum yield. In the case of women’s groups, their access to certain natural resource management technologies is equally problematic due to difficulties they face regarding land ownership and acquisition for farming. By contrast, these womens groups have  easy access to innovations in processing and preservation of agricultural products. Generally, technology access and usage depend on the socio-economic conditions of each social class.

A lot of studies have proven that all social classes in a given community do not necessarily react in the same way to the same technology proposed to them. This situation is due to the fact that all these socio-cultural classes (women, men, the old, the young, rich, poor, literate, illiterate, etc) can present different profiles at the level of activities or tasks, as well as at the level of access to and control of resources. For example, women encounter difficult problems in making use of certain agro-forestry technologies (involving tree planting or water and soil conservation) because the traditional land tenure system in force does not give them any right to land ownership. Generally, men are more involved than women in decisions relating to water used for food production throughout water harvesting and irrigation schemes. Women’s lack of decision-making power follows from the position of men and women in relation to ownership of land.

BY: Pôle Eau de Dakar / Dakar Water Hub

A study published on the 7th of March in the journal Water International explores findings and evolution in thinking on transboundary water conflict and cooperation over the last three decades. 

As the authors point out, large proportions of the world’s water resources are transboundary in nature, including 313 shared river (and lake) basins, more than 300 wetlands and close to 600 aquifers. Over the years many academics have warned that pressures on these resources such as climate change, population growth and uneven economic development could generate the conditions for conflict between states.

However, so far, the evidence shows that in actual fact the majority – 67% - of interactions over transboundary freshwater resources have been cooperative and more than 650 agreements for the joint use of freshwater resources have been signed. Therefore, it is logical to ask the question to what extent shared waters harbour conditions conducive to conflict and/ or cooperation. This has been a line of inquiry for many researchers, in which many physical, political economic and institutional factors have been explored which could trigger either conflict or cooperation.

However, other researchers have pointed to the fact that conflict and cooperation are not individual events but a continuum in which conflict and cooperation can actually happen at the same time. In addition, it is not only at the state level that interactions over water take place, but in fact many different actors engage with each other over water resources. This has led to a more nuanced picture of water conflict and cooperation. Looking for factors that influence outcomes, the authors observe that each transboundary setting has a unique combination of factors that influence interactions over water, and that although cooperation outweighs conflict over the past decades, the most recent trend is one towards low levels of conflict.

Importantly, there does need to be institutional capacity in place to reduce the likelihood of conflicts, and therefore research has been focused on two critical issues, i.e. the presence (or absence) of both freshwater agreements and river basin organisations.    

In the case of freshwater agreements, the terms of cooperation between states on the beneficial use of shared water resources has anchored in accords, of which there are now 209 in existence. There have been certain periods – especially the 1970’s, 1990’s and 2000’s which saw a rapid proliferation of agreements, and these have been particularly concentrated in Europe and Africa relative to other regions of the world. While early agreements focused on a limited number of issues such as water allocation, the contents of the agreements have become more comprehensive over time, especially stimulated by the Rio Declaration in 1992, the 1992 Helsinki convention and the 1997 UN Watercourses convention.

Similarly, the establishment of River Basin Organisations (RBOs) which institutionalise cooperation has been shown to have a considerable role in preventing and mitigating conflicts. However, this depends on the institutional capacity of the RBO in question and the existenc of specific provisions and mechanisms to deal with conflicts. 

Nevertheless, even with an agreement and an RBO in place, there may be issues at play in a basin that are the result of power imbalances, either between states  - whereby one state wields disproportionate amount of power – or in gender terms – whereby water governance is masculinised, leading to an underrepresentation of women in leadership roles.     

For future research on transboundary conflict and cooperation, some emerging themes are for instance the effect of the increasingly ubiquitous availability of data on water, something that used to be the preserve of government institutions. Additionally, many transboundary agreements are anchored in cooperation on surface waters – which may or may not include groundwater – there are few examples of operational transboundary agreements on shared aquifers. Climate change and its impacts on transboundary cooperation are receiving more attention, as is the broader linkage to other key themes such as energy and food security.

In short, the understanding of transboundary conflicts and cooperation has changed significantly over the years. Data is emerging from databases such as the Transboundary Freshwater Diplomacy Database which has helped to cast light on the role of freshwater agreements and RBO’s. For the future, it will be necessary to develop a more nuanced picture which includes attention for power dynamics, representations of nature, indigenous and marginalised communities and women. Additionally, climate change and the impact of new technologies can be expected to present new opportunities and challenges for conflict and cooperation. Therefore, a much work remains on the research agenda in this area.   

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) recognises the urgent need for a comprehensive, innovative approach to water security.  It emphasizes – amongst others through its call to action - that water resources management is a top priority sector in National Adaptation Plans and other regional climate adaptation plans. In this context, the GCF and The Water Diplomat (TWD) are documenting and sharing a number of current key projects that serve to highlight some of the bold steps that are needed to ensure water security in a changing climate.

TWD was pleased to sit down with Mr. Keithroy Halliday, CEO of The Barbados Water Authority to review and discuss several initiatives geared to build a more climate resilient utility as part of the Government of Barbados active thrust to make the island more climate proof. With focus on adaptation measures, one of the key recently approved projects is one with the Barbados Water Authority in partnership with the Green Climate Fund and with the support of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC). The aim of this project is to reduce, reuse and recycle water as an adaptation measure in response to high levels of water scarcity and exposure to climate change. The project costs are U.S. $ 50 million, of which U.S. $ 39.4 million are sourced from the Green Climate Fund and the remaining U.S. $ 10,6 million is to be co-financed through a multilateral agency.   The project aims to have an impact on 277,000 beneficiaries, of whom 136,000 are direct beneficiaries.

Barbados ranks as one of the most water scarce countries in the world: with a per capita water availability of 305-310 m³ per capita per annum, the country falls into the category of ‘absolute water scarcity’. Although the country receives a lot of rainfall, the land surface consists of porous limestone, and therefore there are no perennial rivers. Water seeps into underground aquifers through gullies and sinkholes, and therefore more than 80% of its water supply is sourced from a thin lens of groundwater which overlies the salt water underneath. There are various competing demands for this water: 98% of the groundwater sources have been developed and therefore in many ways the country has reached the upper limits of its supply capacity. 

In addition, climate change is leading to higher average temperatures, more frequent heatwaves, and a decline in precipitation.  Rainfall patterns are becoming more erratic, resulting in severe storm conditions with flash flooding. These events appear to be occurring more frequently, disrupting the sewerage system and producing stormwater runoff that flushes debris, microorganisms and chemicals into the coastal zone, endangering the country’s coral reefs and fish species.  In 2018, a sewerage leak occurred during the tourist season, seeping across a large part of the popular south coast, leading to accelerated discussions on the upgrade to the sewage treatment system.

It is in this context that a project has been launched to reduce, reuse and recycle water on the island. In line with the principle of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), a stakeholder engagement process was developed in order to ensure that the project implementation process informs and responds to the positions of different actors during project implementation. The principal outcome of the project is the reuse of wastewater from the Bridgetown Sewage Treatment Plant, both for the purposes of aquifer recharge and for use in agricultural irrigation, boosting local food production.

The sewage treatment plant is to undergo an upgrade to a tertiary treatment system, after which a 9km pipeline from the plant will supply reclaimed water to support irrigation development on a total of 235 hectares of land, benefiting 155 farmers as well as aquifer recharge through at least 6 infiltration wells. In parallel, the wastewater treatment plant will be provided with solar power in an effort to reduce the energy footprint of the installation and to pursue a low emissions pathway for wastewater treatment.  This aspect of the project is expected to lead to 40,900 tons of avoided emissions – to be certified by the CCCCC.

Chief Executive Officer, Mr Keithroy Halliday confirms the above and additionally highlights that the project entails institutional development aspects such as the training of staff at the Barbados Water Authority concerning the management and monitoring of the upgraded treatment plant and the implementation of a risk management framework. Further, the  programme aims to facilitate the development of an enabling environment for broadening the use of water re-use as a water conservation method at the residential, agricultural and commercial levels through examination and strengthening of legislation and regulatory requirements as required along with all available mains of public outreach to change mindsets in general.  

A new water fund in Sierra Leone is the latest addition to a series of African Water Funds which invest in the protection of water towers for long term water security of the continent’s cities. The launch of The Western Area Peninsula Water Fund (WAPWF) was marked through an investment of U.S. $ 2 million – to leverage a U.S. $ 20 million initiative - to restore the watershed on which Greater Freetown depends.

The government of Sierra Leone has committed seed funding to the project, as a tool to leverage investment through a public private partnership model which aims to protect and restore critical ecological infrastructure in the Western Area Peninsula – a protected area of more than 180,000 km² that acts as the water tower for the capital Freetown.

According to Sierra Leone’s National Water Resources Management Authority, the Western Area Peninsula forests play an essential role in supplying water and in maintaining water quality. Forests serve as natural water collection, filtration, and delivery systems. Forested catchments in the Western Area Peninsula National Park (WAPNP) provide about 90% of Freetown’s water supply.

According to the business case advanced for the project, investing in ecosystem restoration yields considerable benefits for the water sector. Investments in engineered infrastructure solutions to combat water scarcity, it is argued, are important. However, without investments in ecological infrastructure to secure and augment water supply, even the best-built infrastructure will not have enough water to store and transport.

As a result, it is expected that an additional 11,000m³ of water will be available during the dry season in a manner that will ultimately save on the costs of water for poor households. In addition, through the positive changes in land cover that come from restoration of the forests, the amount of sediment entering rivers will be cut in half, thereby extending the lifetime of the Guma reservoir. By stabilizing the water cycle, damages from floods will be reduced. Furthermore , replanting trees will result in carbon sequestration and open up opportunities for agroforestry and nature based tourism. In terms of the business plan for the project, the activity is expected to generate a total of U.S. $ 55 million in economic benefits over a period of 30 years.

According to the Vice President of Sierra Leone, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, who launched the  initiative, the project is the first of its kind in West Africa. The project, which was launched on the 23rd of January with Presidential approval, is being implemented in partnership between the Catholic Relief Services and The Nature Conservancy.  

The dispute over the allocation of the waters of the Cauvery River in India flared up again during March amid an intense drought largely attributed to the El Niño climate phenomenon. The Chief Minister of Karnataka State in India declared in Mid-March that the state will not comply with central government requests to release water to the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is quoted as saying that even if the state of Tamil Nadu or the Indian central government were to demand the release of water, Karnataka would not comply due to the acute drought faced by the state.  

However, the leader of the opposition R Ashoka claimed that water had in fact already been silently released by Karnataka and tweeted pictures purporting to show ample water flowing in the Cauvery River.  

The allocation of the water of the Cauvery River between states is managed by the  Cauvery Water Management Authority . Disputed over the allocation of water of this river date back almost a century, and in 990, the Government of India constituted the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal to adjudicate upon the allocation of the water of the Cauvery River between the three Indian states of Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu as well as the Union territory of Puducherry. The water of the river is used primarily for irrigation purposes.

In a parallel development, the city of Bengaluru – the capital of Karnataka - has been strongly affected by the drought. It is reported that nearly 7,000 of the 13,900 boreholes have currently dried up. According to the 2023 national groundwater assessment report, groundwater in Bengaluru is over exploited across all rural and urban districts. According to Arun Krishnamurthy of the Environmentalist Foundation of India, there is a need for greater regulation of groundwater in India, as the country has some 40 million borewells and open wells and some 250 km³ groundwater is withdrawn every year, which is more than the USA and China combined. The Environmentalist Foundation is a conservation organisation which engages in habitat restoration, and in its vision, the restoration of degraded surface water bodies help to replenish groundwater supplies. Other commentators such as the Centre for Ecological Sciences have pointed out that Bangalore was previously known for being a city with extensive green areas as well as no less than 201 lakes.  These helped to capture rainwater and ensure infiltration of water into the underlying aquifers. The surface area of lakes has declined from the water spread area has dropped from 2,324 hectares in 1973 to 696 hectares in 2023, which has impacted on the water table.

The present drought is exceptional: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar stated that Karnataka has not faced a drought of this intensity in the last 30-40 years. Approximately 24% of India’s total land area was experiencing moderate to exceptional drought conditions in February this year, due in part to the El Nino phenomenon. In the same period, 9% of India’s land area was experiencing extreme drought conditions. In India, the El Nino phenomenon is associated with weakened monsoon winds and dry weather – historically, more than half of El Nino years have been associated with droughts in the monsoon

On the 14th of March, South Africa’s Minister for Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu and Zimbabwe’s Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development, Dr Anxious Masuka signed an agreement for the transfer of treated water from Zimbabwe to South Africa.

In terms of the agreement, the Beitbridge Water Treatment Works in Zimbabwe will supply Musina Local Municipality in South Africa with 15 million m³ of treated water per year. The water will be transferred through a 20 km pipeline Beitbridge Water Treatment Works to Musina, which is located at some 15 km from the border. The capacity of the Beitbridge Water Treatment Plant 35 million m³/annum and this capacity is currently not fully utilized in Zimbabwe: only 10% of its current capacity is being used for Beit Bridge, a rapidly growing border town on the Zimbabwean side of the border. South Africa’s Department of Water and Sanitation had previously indicated that the construction of water storage infrastructure and water treatment plants would be a relatively expensive option in comparison with importing water. 

The agreement is the product of the bilateral agreement of cooperation on water resources management, and the establishment and functioning of the Joint Water Commission established by the two countries in 2015.

The transfer of treated water from Beitbridge Water Treatment Works in Zimbabwe to Musina, Limpopo, is a medium-term solution to address water supply challenges in the area. The population of Musina – approximately 132,000 people had been suffering from water supply challenges for a long time due to ageing and problematic infrastructure. In 2022, protests broke out in Musina following an unannounced water cut-off by the Vhembe District Municipality. This cut off had been the result of leakages along the main pipeline that supplies Musina with water. The municipality has a total of 36 boreholes which supply the town’s water reservoir, but 19 of these boreholes are out of service.  In 2023 residents confronted the minister, who was on a visit to the town to discuss the water problems, following weeks of water shortages, demanding a solution.

South African water Minister Mchunu has welcomed the signing of the present agreement and assured the community of Musina that the transfer of water from Beitbridge will alleviate water supply challenges in the area.

In terms of the agreement, an implementation plan will be set in motion in which the construction of a pipeline and pump stations will commence, to enable the water transfer to commence. The two implementing agents to oversee the construction projects include the South African Development Bank and the Zimbabwe National Water Authority. The project is expected to be completed in 2026.

The National Security Advisor and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sent a letter to all U.S. Governors urging them to secure critical water infrastructure against cyberattacks.  The letter from the White House, dated 18th of March, stated that disabling cyberattacks are striking water and wastewater systems throughout the United States. The letter recommends implementing basic cyber hygiene practices to utilities prevent, detect, respond, and recover from cyber incidents.

The letter cited two examples of attacks: one was reportedly affiliated with the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the other was affiliated with a Chinese government sponsored cybergroup. In the first case, operational technology used at water facilities had been disabled, while the second targeted and compromised the information technology of a broad range of infrastructure systems which included water.

The U.S. government is seeking closer partnership with water utilities in the various states in order to ensure that the water systems comprehensively address cybersecurity practices to identify and respond to vulnerabilities. Both the EPA and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) within the Department of Homeland Security are offering a broad range of resources to water institutions.

The recent initiatives are the latest efforts of the U.S. administration to protect infrastructure against cyber attacks in a series that go back to November 2021 when a joint cybersecurity advisory from four federal agencies drew attention to the vulnerability of US Water and Wastewater Systems (WWS) Sector facilities to “ongoing malicious cyber activity”. These included ransomware attacks on WWS facilities in Nevada, Maine, and California as well as attempts to compromise system integrity in the San Francisco Bay Area, Oldsmar, Florida and the Belle Vernon Municipal Authority in Pennsylvania.

As a result, in February 2022, the Biden administration increased the scope of cybersecurity measures to the water sector through a public private partnership known as the Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity Initiative (ICSCI). The policy had initially been developed for the natural gas and electricity sector but was extended to the water sector in early 2022.