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24 Jan 2023
The Disruptive Power of Open-Source Water Data: The Case of the Euphrates-Tigris Basin
Contradictory Data on Surface Water Flows The politics of water in the Euphrates-Tigris Basin has been marked by different periods of cooperation, confrontation, and compromise between Turkey, Syria, and Iraq since the early 1920s. For decades, factors such as, inter alia, global geopolitical contexts (e...
23 Jan 2023
Lesotho Highlands Water Project Phase II to boost water supply to South Africa
With the awarding of major contracts, Lesotho and South Africa are satisfied that phase II of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) is now underway. The LHWP is a multi-phase international project between Lesotho and South Africa established through a treaty signed by the two countries in 1986. Phase I involved the construction of a 185-metre-high dam and augmenting South Africa’s freshwater supply by transferring water from the Maluti mountains into the Vaal River system through a 48 km long tunnel and a tail pond...
22 Jan 2023
Atmospheric rivers in California and their responses
Since the 27th of December 2022, following three years of drought which triggered exceptional cutbacks on water allocations throughout the Colorado River basin, the state of California experienced a series of intense moisture laden storms known as ‘atmospheric rivers’. Depending on the location, rainfall across California has been between 200% and 600% above normal...
21 Jan 2023
Revised EU Drinking Water Directive Enters into Force
The revised requirements for the quality of and access to drinking water across the European Union entered into force on the 12th of January. The EU Drinking Water Directive provides an update on the EU’s Water Framework Directive (WFD) from 2000 which set the minimum requirements for freshwater quality and quantity across the EU...
19 Jan 2023
Japanese govt intends to release Fukushima water in the next six months
The government of Japan has announced its intention to release wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean within the next six months. In April 2021, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga had already announced the proposed release of 1,23 million mᶟ of water into the Pacific Ocean. On the 13th of January this year, the Japanese government announced its intention to start releasing the water into the ocean during the first half of the current year...
18 Jan 2023
Global Water Monitor Summary Report 2022: Water Cycle is Changing
The global water cycle is changing due to the influence of global warming. This is a key conclusion of the Global Water Monitor Summary Report 2022. The report states that overall, over 2022, a so-called la Niña pattern persisted in the Pacific Ocean for the third year in a row. La Niña is a weather pattern that forms part of a cycle that lasts between two and seven years and lowers the temperature of surface ocean waters on the tropical west coast of Latin America...
12 Jan 2023
Floods in Sudan destroy infrastructure and lead to internal displacements
AT least 24,860 homes have been destroyed and 48,250 homes damaged by floods in 16 of the 18 states of Sudan this year, according to the Sudan Situation Report by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released on Dec,2022. According to the Government’s Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC), humanitarian organisations on the ground, and local authorities, the number of people affected by seasonal rains and flash floods across Sudan has remained constant at 349,000 since 26 September,this year...
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...
12 Jan 2023
Overview of Multilateral Investments in the Water Sector
The month of December 2022 was punctuated by several announcements of investments or loans by multilateral development banks, in the water sector, in different parts of the world. 18 million loan to the Dambovita Region Water Company in Romania as part of a €325 million European Union Large Scale Infrastructure Operational Project to expand, rehabilitate and upgrade its water and sanitation infrastructure...
12 Jan 2023
Groundwater Summit Launches the Coalition for Transboundary Cooperation
On 7 and 8 December 2022, the Groundwater Summit took place at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. This summit was the culmination of a year-long campaign implemented by the UN-Water Task Force, coordinated by UNESCO and the International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre (IGRAC), entitled "Groundwater: making the invisible visible"...
12 Jan 2023
Post flood situation in Pakistan still critical
The situation in Pakistan continues to be critical. As a reminder, this year's monsoon rains have dumped five times the average amount of water seen in the past 30 years in some provinces, killing 1,730 people and destroying or severely damaging more than 1.1 million homes and vital infrastructure. UNICEF had already released just under US$200 million in early autumn to respond to the health emergency, including the risks of diarrhoea, cholera, dengue and malaria...
12 Jan 2023
Research shows global groundwater recharge rates to be underestimated
A paper published in Geophysical Research Letters on the 29th of November has shown that global groundwater recharge rates are much higher than previously thought. Groundwater is an important source of freshwater, especially in arid areas, it is used for around 40% of global irrigation, and is often used as an important source of drinking water in urban areas...