Category Archives: Water

US rejects Mexico’s request for water as Trump opens new battle front

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State department turns down special request to supply city of Tijuana in drought-affected north for first time ever

The United States has refused a request by Mexico for water, alleging shortfalls in sharing by its southern neighbor, as Donald Trump ramps up a battle on another front.

The state department said on Thursday it was the first time that the United States had rejected a request by Mexico for special delivery of water, which would have gone to the border city of Tijuana.

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‘Cataclysmic’: environmentalists fear effects of Trump cuts on Great Lakes

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Advocates warn firings and funding freezes already risk poisoning drinking water and decimating fish population

Donald Trump’s and Elon Musk’s attacks on federal agencies and funding freezes will be “cataclysmic” for the environment of the sensitive Great Lakes region if not reversed, industry and environmental advocates in the region warn.

Initial actions taken since Trump returned to the White House in January – and put Musk in charge of slashing the federal government – already risk poisoning drinking water, decimating fish populations, and risking the jobs and health of tens of millions of people who rely on the lake system, they add.

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‘All the birds returned’: How a Chinese project led the way in water and soil conservation

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The Loess plateau was the most eroded place on Earth until China took action and reversed decades of damage from grazing and farming

It was one of China’s most ambitious environmental endeavours ever.

The Loess plateau, an area spanning more than 245,000 sq miles (640,000 sq km) across three provinces and parts of four others, supports about 100 million people. By the end of the 20th century, however, this land, once fertile and productive, was considered the most eroded place on Earth, according to a documentary by the ecologist John D Liu.

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Destruction of Ukraine dam caused ‘toxic timebomb’ of heavy metals, study finds

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Researchers say environmental impact from Kakhovka dam explosion comparable to Chornobyl nuclear disaster

The destruction of a large Ukrainian dam in 2023 triggered a “toxic timebomb” of environmental harm, a study has found.

Lakebed sediments holding 83,000 tonnes of heavy metals were exposed when the Kakhovka dam was blown up one year into Russia’s invasion, researchers found.

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US pauses water-sharing negotiations with Canada over Columbia River

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Break in negotiations comes as Trump escalates trade war with Canada and threatens its sovereignty

The United States has paused negotiations with Canada on a key water-sharing treaty as Donald Trump continues both his threats to annex his northern neighbour and to upend major agreements governing relations between the two counties.

British Columbia’s energy ministry said officials south of the border are “conducting a broad review” of the Columbia River Treaty, the 61-year-old pact that governs transnational flood control, power generation and water supply.

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Balance of power: why Loch Ness hydro storage schemes are stirring up trouble

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As Scottish energy firms race to meet challenges of storing power, critics fear plans will affect delicate hydrology of loch

Brian Shaw stood at the edge of Loch Ness and pointed to a band of glistening pebbles and damp sand skirting the shore. It seemed as if the tide had gone out.

Overnight, Foyers, a small pumped-storage power station, had recharged itself, drawing up millions of litres of water into a reservoir high up on a hill behind it, ready for release through its turbines to boost the UK’s electricity supply. That led to the surface of Loch Ness, the largest body of freshwater in the UK, falling by 14cm in a matter of hours.

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‘The sewage scandal ends now’: UK water company fines to be used to clean up rivers

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After fears £11m would be diverted to Treasury, money will be spent on restoring polluted areas where penalties issued

Millions of pounds of fines imposed on water firms will fund environmental schemes to protect the country’s waterways after fears the money would be diverted to the Treasury.

The water restoration fund was set up by the Conservative government to ensure that polluting water firms paid for the damage they caused. The fund received £11m in fines and penalties from April 2022 to October 2023.

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River campaigners to sue Ofwat over water bill rises

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Group claims regulator signed off on ‘broken system’ making customers pay for industry’s neglect

An environmental group is to take legal action against Ofwat, the water regulator, accusing it of unlawfully making customers pay for decades of neglect by the water industry.

River Action will file the legal claim this month, arguing that bill rises for customers that have been approved by the regulator could be used to fix infrastructure failures that should have been addressed years ago.

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DeSantis urged to declare emergency over toxic red tide algae off Florida coast

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Harmful algae bloom off south-west coast blamed for deaths of marine life and poses threat to beaches

Environmentalists in Florida are calling on the governor, Ron DeSantis, to declare an emergency as a worsening “red tide” algae bloom off the state’s south-west coast threatens popular tourist beaches and is being blamed for the deaths of wildlife including fish and dolphins.

Several counties have issued health alerts in response to the outbreak, which scientists say began in the Gulf of Mexico last year when Hurricanes Helene and Milton tore up nutrient-rich waters that feed the algae.

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Water companies in England ‘use greenwashing playbook to hide environmental harm’

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Researchers say companies have prolonged injustice and exaggerated cost of solving infrastructure problems

Water companies are adopting disinformation tactics similar to those used by the fossil fuel and tobacco industries with the widespread use of greenwashing to downplay the environmental harm they cause, a study says.

Environmental scientists analysed the communications of the nine main water and sewerage companies in England, and compared them with a framework of 28 greenwashing tactics employed, researchers say, by the tobacco, alcohol, fossil fuels and chemical industries.

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‘Drinking PFAS’: water providers call for broad ban on ‘forever chemicals’ amid proliferation fears

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Fifty-one sites in NSW have significant PFAS contamination requiring continued monitoring and remediation, EPA tells Senate inquiry

Experts and water providers have called for a broad ban on so-called “forever chemicals” at a Senate inquiry into PFAS, warning of environmental harm and increasingly costly removal.

The Water Services Association of Australia’s executive director, Adam Lovell, said a ban should be imposed on PFAS in non-essential consumer products. “We need to reduce now, as much as possible, how much PFAS is in the environment.

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Treasury seeks to keep water firm fines earmarked for sewage cleanups

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Exclusive: Restoration fund in England could be ‘siphoned off’ to be used for general government spending, not repairing rivers

Rachel Reeves’s Treasury is looking to keep millions of pounds levied on polluting water companies in fines that were meant to be earmarked for sewage cleanup, the Guardian has learned.

The £11m water restoration fund was announced before the election last year, with projects bidding for the cash to improve waterways and repair damage done by sewage pollution in areas where fines have been imposed.

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3M knew firefighting foams containing PFAS were toxic, documents show

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Exclusive: Newly uncovered documents reveal chemicals giant was aware ‘environmentally neutral’ products did not biodegrade

The multibillion-dollar chemicals company 3M told customers its firefighting foams were harmless and biodegradable when it knew they contained toxic substances so persistent they are now known as “forever chemicals” and banned in many countries including the UK, newly uncovered documents show.

From the 1960s until 2003, 3M made foams containing PFOS and PFOA (perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoic acid), synthetic chemicals that can take tens of thousands of years to degrade in the environment and have been linked to cancers and a range of other health problems such as thyroid disease, high cholesterol, hormonal problems and fertility issues.

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Water rates in Northern Ireland suggested to help address wastewater crisis

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Manager of Lough Neagh Partnership praises actions so far on lake’s algae crisis but warns of wider problems

The introduction of water rates in Northern Ireland could address crumbling wastewater infrastructure and the impact on waterways, it has been suggested.

It comes as the Stormont executive works to halt an environmental crisis at Lough Neagh, where noxious blooms of blue-green algae have covered the surface of the water across the past two summers.

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Water firms push for higher shareholder returns as Ofwat considers bills increase

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Companies say higher returns are needed to ensure record infrastructure investment across industry is delivered

Water companies want to see higher returns for shareholders to ensure record investment into sewage infrastructure, pipes and treatment plants is delivered.

As Ofwat, the water regulator for England and Wales, prepares to announce its decision on how much customer bills will be allowed to rise by to fund tens of billions of pounds in investment across the industry, water companies said higher returns were needed.

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Cruise ships urged to ‘clean up their act’ amid concerns toxic effluent being dumped on Great Barrier Reef

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Environmentalists say marine park waste regulations need updating to limit grey water and exhaust chemicals as passenger cruise numbers rise

Environmentalists and tourism operators on the Great Barrier Reef say authorities must enforce stricter pollution standards on cruise liners visiting the world heritage area amid growth in passenger cruise numbers and concern that ships are dumping toxins into the water.

The Whitsunday Conservation Council says the definition of “waste” used to prevent marine discharge on the reef – which dates back to the 1970s – does not restrict discharge from sulphur “scrubbers” that have become commonplace in the shipping industry.

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Environmental groups demand EPA to start monitoring microplastics in water

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Legal petition filed by 170 groups pushes environmental agency to tackle pressing health threat of pollution

A new legal petition filed by more than 170 top environmental groups demands that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) begin monitoring for microplastics in drinking water, an essential first step to reining in pollution viewed as one of the nation’s most pressing public health threats.

The scale of microplastic water pollution, the extent to which the substance is lodged throughout human bodies, and the many health implications have come into sharp focus in recent years, but the EPA still has not taken meaningful action, public health advocates say.

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Regulator stops customers from being billed for ‘undeserved’ bonuses

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Ofwat uses new powers to ensure investors pay at Thames, Yorkshire, and Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water

Investors at Thames Water, Yorkshire Water, and Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water will be forced to pick up the tab for executive bonuses after the regulator determined that the sector had awarded “undeserved” extra payments, worth £6.8m.

Ofwat said on Thursday it had used new powers to ensure that shareholders and bondholders at the three companies paid for bonuses because they had not “adequately reflected overall company performance issues”.

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Floods, explosions and asbestos: Thames Water faces potential problems on all fronts

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Exclusive: Senior managers say they are forced to press ahead with orders for vital items without approval

When Sarah Bentley and Sarah Albon met at Beckton sewage treatment works in east London, the choice of location was designed to underline Thames Water’s predicament.

The site is Europe’s largest sewage treatment operation, with Grade II-listed parts of the site dating to the 1860s. It is now connected with the new Thames Tideway super-sewer, but insiders say several parts of the site are simply crumbling. The site is also riddled with asbestos.

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Thames Water supply ‘on knife-edge’ with £23bn repairs needed

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Exclusive: Company has failed to tackle serious safety concerns or upgrade vital IT systems, Guardian investigation reveals

Thames Water has £23bn of assets that are in urgent need of repair and the supply of water to its 16 million customers is “on a knife-edge”, a Guardian investigation can reveal.

Britain’s biggest water company has failed to tackle adequately serious safety concerns, has not upgraded essential IT systems and has tolerated a culture of intimidation among staff, according to insiders and an analysis of documents.

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