Drought, falling rainfall and unsustainable water use have pushed Iran into severe water stress. The US-Israel war on Iran has added further strain after reports of damage to desalination plants, pipelines and other civilian water infrastructure in the early weeks of the conflict. In 2025, Iran’s 92 million people consumed around 100 billion cubic metres of water, nearly 13 billion more than its renewable resources could provide. Many families are leaving rural communities in search of more secure livelihoods.
The amount of water flowing in the Colorado River has decreased while the number of people depending on it has never been higher. Drought, climate change and overuse threaten delivery of a sustainable supply. The Gila River Community in Arizona cut water loss in half by encasing irrigation channels in concrete and upgrading infrastructure with modern water pumps.
As climate pressures intensify, experts warn that Central Asia is vulnerable to water scarcity and its inability to manage growing systemic risks. Per capita water availability across Central Asia has declined to approximately 2,500 cubic meters over the past four decades. Global warming is accelerating faster than regional coordination mechanisms. Without urgent adaptation measures, agricultural productivity in parts of the region could decline by up to 30 percent by 2050. Around 5.1 million people may face climate-related displacement.
Dave Owen argues that western water management often treats cities as villains. In recent decades, cities have helped improve water management in many ways, such as reducing per capita water use, water recycling, and outdoor water-use efficiency practices. Urban water districts usually have lots of money because they serve lots of people, rich and poor.
Ogallala Aquifer supplies 30% of all groundwater used for irrigation in the U.S. Since the 1940s, the aquifer has lost 286.4 million acre-feet of water. Large parts of Western Kansas have lost 50% of their aquifer depth. Texan wells are down as much as 265 feet. In Kansas a plan to restrict water use has sparked a lot of controversy.
Some 418 million Africans still lack basic drinking water services, while 779 million lack basic sanitation. Africa loses billions of dollars every year through unfair sovereign credit ratings, illicit financial flows, and mounting debt repayments. Africa’s external debt service reached $84.4 billion in 2024.
James Hepp is a first-generation farmer in northern Iowa. He tills only narrow strips of land and avoids applying nitrogen fertilizer when he’s not growing crops. He is one of three "Lobe Rangers" who have taken to social media to highlight the gap between the Nutrient Reduction Strategy and the actual adoption of conservation practices on cropland.
Climate change is not a forecast in South Africa. Cape Town came within weeks of shutting off its municipal supply. Towns across the Eastern Cape rationed water for years at a stretch. Half of the country’s surface water comes from less than a tenth of its land. The Endangered Wildlife Trust spends much of its time on wetland restoration projects.
The Central Asia Water and Land Nexus Programme (CAWLN) was officially launched at the Eighth Global Environment Facility Assembly in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on June 10. CAWLn is a USD 30 million GEF-funded initiative implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and designed to manage water, land, biodiversity and food systems as one interconnected system. Central Asia faces increasing environmental pressures linked to land degradation, water scarcity, biodiversity loss, and climate change.
In May, Global Voices covered positive environmental stories from the global majority. The Aral Sea in Central Asia was partially restored. Governments are not ignoring the problems of the climate crisis. People are not trapped on a road to inevitable doom, even in the chronically under-resourced and usually dismissed global majority, according to Global Voices.