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Terms searched: Drought
Results: 59
8 Mar 2024
Joint Research Centre Produces Report on Drought in the Mediterranean
The Mediterranean coast is in the grip of an unprecedented drought, with reservoirs at exceptionally low levels, rivers experiencing low flow volumes, and groundwater levels 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...
6 Mar 2024
Catalonia faces worst drought on record
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...
5 Mar 2024
Persistent drought causes acute water shortages in Mexico City
Mexico City is facing a severe water shortage following a persistent drought across large parts of the country, with supplies to residents being restricted to several hours a day. 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...
12 Dec 2023
Spain battles critical drought amid political division and complex water challenges
The drought situation in Spain remains severe, especially affecting the mid-southern and eastern regions. Approximately 10 million people, roughly a quarter of the country's population, are currently subject to water restrictions due to this prolonged condition. In Catalonia, the ongoing water crisis has persisted for 36 months, surpassing the severity of the drought recorded in 2008...
3 Dec 2023
International trade rerouted as Panama Canal cuts traffic due to drought
On the 27th of November the Panama Canal Authority (PCA) launched a programme to auction transits through the canal. The new system will auction the transit three days prior to the route becoming available, and is a response to the strongly reduced availability of water to feed the canal. From the 3rd of November, the Panama Canal Authority (PCA) implemented additional reductions in the number of vessels travelling through the waterway in an effort to conserve water...
5 Jun 2023
Somalia floods follow years of drought
Following heavy rains and flooding in March this year, central Somalia again experienced heavy rains in mid-May, killing 22 people and affecting an estimated 450 000 people, of whom 219 000 have been displaced. The long rains, which had provided little relief during the past three years due to an ongoing drought, came early in Somalia this year, arriving in March and April rather than May...
26 Apr 2023
Unseasonal heatwave and drought in Spain
The Spanish Meteorological Agency AEMET forecast a heatwave towards the end of April, with temperatures reaching 36-38⁰C. In some areas, the temperature was 10-15⁰C above average for this period of the year. On the 8th of May, AEMET reported that April 2023 was the hottest April experienced by the country since records began in 1961...
12 Jan 2023
Drought triggers Emergency Water Sharing Measures between Mexico and the United States
For the first time since the signing of the 1944 treaty sharing the use of the Colorado River between Mexico and the United States, the International Boundary and Water Commission (CILA) between the two countries has had to extend the drastic measures adopted in August 2022. Agreements signed in 1972 and 2008 allow the city of Tijuana in Mexico to purchase emergency water deliveries from California, and on August 1st, the state public utilities commission ordered 4 million mᶟ of Colorado river water...
23 Nov 2022
Catalonia undergoing water restrictions as drought persists
Barcelona and large parts of north-eastern Spain will undergo water restrictions as the drought which started this summer persists through November. Patricia Plaja, the spokesperson for the Catalan Government, announced that the measures will affect 6.7 million people, which amounts to 80% of the region’s population...
7 Oct 2022
Moroccan Dams at 25% as Country Struggles with Drought
The worst drought Morocco has seen in 30 years has brought reservoir levels down to an average of 25%, as compared to 40% this time last year. The Kingdom’s Ministry of Water and Logistics, which had declared in July that the country was in a “state of water emergency”, announced that currently a mere only four billion m³ of water were available as against a maximum capacity of 16 billion m³...
6 Oct 2022
Drought and infrastructure destruction lead to rise in Cholera cases in Syria
On the 12th of September, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria expressed serious concern over the ongoing cholera outbreak in Syria. On the 10th of September, the Syrian Ministry of Health declared an outbreak of cholera in Aleppo governorate following 15 confirmed cases and one death...
5 Oct 2022
China releases water into the Yangtze River in response to drought
Starting on the 12th of September, in response to the ongoing drought, the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources started discharging an additional 1.8 billion cubic metres of water from the main reservoirs in the river. This follows a similar release of 3.6 billion cubic metres in mid-August. Despite the gradual lowering of temperatures in China after the hottest and driest summer since records began, water levels in the Yangtze River Basin (YRB) have continued to drop during September...