Global Water Crisis 'Unrelenting' as EPA Weakens Protections
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- Peter Gleick catalogs a worldwide cascade of water emergencies: severe drought cutting supplies to thousands in Puerto Rico, record-low water levels on Europe's Rhine and Po rivers, and the Colorado River's major reservoirs at their lowest levels since construction, with seven US states now fighting over unprecedented shortages.
- Hungary's only nuclear power plant is on the verge of shutting down because the Danube River lacks enough water to cool it.
- Toxic chemicals have been detected in all English water bodies, while desalination plants in the Middle East have been bombed in the war with Iran and US municipal water systems are being hacked.
- Water-related violence is worsening globally, with more conflicts over shared water resources recorded than at any point in history, Gleick writes.
- The EPA under the Trump administration has halted efforts to regulate new water pollutants and weakened existing regulations, while the administration pursues billions in cuts to the National Science Foundation, US Geological Survey, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
- Communities are mobilizing to block water-hungry datacenters over fears their local supplies will be drained.
- The worst El Niño in recorded history is unfolding in the Pacific, disrupting weather and water systems worldwide.
Why it matters: Gleick names specific, irreversible consequences if governments continue to fail: worsening water-related violence and deteriorating public and ecological health over the coming decades. The EPA's halt on new pollutant regulation and the proposed billions in cuts to NSF, USGS, and NOAA strip the federal coordination capacity needed to address the crises cataloged across five continents.
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