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Water scarcity

  • Wednesday, 28 May, 2025
    Brussels tells EU capitals to cut water use by 10% in face of droughts

    European Commission will for the first time suggest efficiency target

    A visitor sits under a tree in front of the exposed bed of the Po river in Calto, Rovigo in Italy in June 2022
  • Thursday, 15 May, 2025
    In charts: drought risk as England faces driest year this century

    Rivers and reservoirs are far below average — with the lowest levels in the north

    An aerial photograph taken with a drone shows the partially revealed bed of Woodhead Reservoir in Derbyshire on May 13 2025
  • Tuesday, 29 April, 2025
    Mexico
    Mexico reaches deal with US in water dispute

    President Claudia Sheinbaum says more water will be sent north in deal agreed amid tariff talks

    Mexican rancher Leopoldo Ochoa looks at dead cattle as he deals with the effects of a prolonged drought
  • Friday, 21 March, 2025
    Special Report
    Future of Water

    Supplies of freshwater across the globe are under pressure. As changing rainfall patterns bring extreme floods and droughts, we look at moves to address the challenges — from city planning to water rights and recycling sewage for drinking

    Close up of a woman’s hand filling a glass of filtered water right from the tap in the kitchen sink at home
  • Friday, 21 March, 2025
    Special ReportFuture of Water
    Pollution-busters look to AI for better speed and accuracy

    But the insights generated are only as good as the data

    A worker lowering a wheeled robotic inspection device into a manhole, with traffic cones marking the area
  • Friday, 21 March, 2025
    Special ReportFuture of Water
    Extreme rainfall puts cities on alert

    The need to boost resilience to rapid swings in weather is becoming urgent

    A public park with a pond featuring small planted islands and fountains, surrounded by leafless trees, with red-roofed buildings and a tall church tower in the background
  • Friday, 21 March, 2025
    Special ReportFuture of Water
    Trump backlash adds to challenges for California water policymakers

    Presidential interventions increase pressure on agencies managing constrained supplies

    A dam with a large reservoir, releasing water through a spillway, surrounded by hills and mountains
  • Friday, 21 March, 2025
    Special ReportFuture of Water
    Beijing faces pushback over ambitious hydropower project plans

    China’s leaders must balance making the best use of limited water with local, environmental and diplomatic concerns

    A large water control gate structure with modern architectural elements spans across a canal
  • Friday, 21 March, 2025
    Special ReportFuture of Water
    Mismanagement turns up pressure on South Africa’s water system

    Reservoirs may be full but poor maintenance, lack of investment and criminality are disrupting supplies

    A person collects water from an outdoor tap, filling a yellow bucket while a blue bucket sits below
  • Friday, 21 March, 2025
    Special ReportFuture of Water
    How a glass of recycled sewage helps on water shortages

    From Nasa to Namibia, treated wastewater is a cheap and effective answer to scarcity, but the idea may be hard to swallow

    An astronaut in the International Space Station performing an experiment while holding a plastic pouch and a syringe tool
  • Friday, 21 March, 2025
    Special ReportFuture of Water
    Winners and losers emerge in Australian water rights system

    The fertile Murray-Darling basin is a case study in competition policy on a scarce resource

    Aerial view of a vast rural landscape with agricultural fields, a reservoir, and patches of dry woodland, intersected by roads stretching across the terrain
  • Friday, 21 March, 2025
    Special ReportFuture of Water
    Big Tech under pressure to act on data centres’ thirst for water

    Calls for a rethink on taking a scarce resource to cool overheated facilities are growing in the US

    A technician installing a liquid cooling system in a data centre, adjusting thick insulated hoses and valves
  • Wednesday, 12 March, 2025
    Climate change
    More than half of world’s most populated cities are getting wetter, research finds

    Shift in weather patterns also sees cities such as Madrid and Hong Kong flip from wet to dry

    Rainfall in Lahore, Pakistan last December
  • Thursday, 27 February, 2025
    Jon Cunliffe
    Finding a way to restore trust in Britain’s water industry

    The system is a natural monopoly but has become a regulatory maze

    A waste water pipe with water discharging onto Abersoch beach, Wales
  • Friday, 3 January, 2025
    EU’s energy fixation has left water crisis unchecked, top official warns

    Environment commissioner Jessika Roswall says bloc must urgently address water shortages affecting business

    Jessika Roswall
  • Thursday, 2 January, 2025
    FT MagazineSimon Kuper
    Why goats are replacing cows in southern Africa

    A drought-hit province provides glimpses of the planet’s next phase 

    An hourglass against a blue background, with the top half containing a miniature savannah scene featuring elephants and trees, while sand flows into the bottom half
  • Monday, 30 December, 2024
    News in-depthSouth African economy
    Johannesburg bears brunt of South Africa’s water crisis

    Cost of supply cuts threatens to dwarf economic damage caused by country’s years of power blackouts

    Filling bottles from water storage tanks
  • Friday, 6 December, 2024
    Europe Express
    Why climate change will cause more people to flee to Europe Premium content

    Also in this newsletter: Is France Eurosceptic?

    Residents walk on cracked ground next to the village of San Roman de Sau, at Sau reservoir in Spain
  • Monday, 25 November, 2024
    Special ReportPlastics and Chemicals
    Regulators tighten rules on ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water

    As concerns mount about pollutants such as PFAS, the market for remediation is poised for rapid growth

    A hand in protective gear dipping a clear container into a shallow stream, capturing water for scientific analysis or environmental monitoring
  • Monday, 14 October, 2024
    Almost two-thirds of EU water in bad condition, report shows

    Pressure rises on agriculture and industry to reduce pollution and cut its share of use from 59%

    A water supply gate on an irrigation canal, alongside rice paddy fields on a farm in Spain
  • Monday, 7 October, 2024
    Utilities
    Water demand will soar because of wars and tech, says utility boss

    Cox chief expects needs to rise at 10-15% rate a year as company seeks to raise €300mn on Madrid Stock Exchange

    Water desalination plant in Ras al-Khair, Saudi Arabia
  • Thursday, 26 September, 2024
    Southern Water Ltd
    Southern Water makes plans to tanker supplies from Norway’s fjords

    Threat of drought and water shortages is pushing UK utility to make contingency arrangements

    Norway fjord in the summer
  • Monday, 2 September, 2024
    Moral Money
    Water pricing debate bubbles up in Portugal amid intensifying droughts Premium content

    As an artificial lake on the Iberian peninsula attracts more businesses, it has become a victim of its own success

    The Guadiana river flows into the Alqueva dam
  • Wednesday, 21 August, 2024
    News in-depthClimate graphic of the week
    Water emergency becomes part of Mediterranean summer ritual

    Greek, Italian and Spanish islands rely on rationing, tankers and desalination as global warming and tourists sap reserves

    A worker refills a water tanker
  • Sunday, 18 August, 2024
    Technology sector
    US tech groups’ water consumption soars in ‘data centre alley’

    Usage has increased by almost two-thirds since 2019 in the world’s largest concentration of computing infrastructure

    Birdseye view of high-voltage transmission lines providing electricity to data centres in Ashburn in Loudon County, Virginia
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