Global Rundown
- Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Ecuador this week to protest a gold mine that many say would pollute a crucial regional water source.
- For the third consecutive year, Colombia is the world’s leader in environmental defender deaths, according to a new global report for 2024.
- Groundwater pumping in central Texas will be mandatorily restricted after a major aquifer is reclassified to “exceptional drought” status.
- In England and Wales, sewage is spilling into rivers in national parks at more than twice the rate occurring in non-protected areas.
The Lead
An estimated 90,000 people marched through the streets of Cuenca, Ecuador this week to protest a mining project that residents say will contaminate a major source of drinking water if operations begin, Reuters reports.
In June, the Ecuadorian government issued an environmental license to Dundee Precious Metals, allowing the Canadian company to begin construction on the $419 million Loma Larga gold mine in the southern province of Azuay. Over 12 years, the mine is expected to yield more than $6 billion worth of gold and generate more than 1,000 jobs.
But these gains will come at a significant environmental cost. The mining concession lies within the UNESCO-designated El Cajas Massif Biosphere Reserve, which spans 2.4 million acres and is additionally listed as a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance. Within this reserve, high-altitude moors “act as giant sponges and supply the bulk of drinking water to major cities there.”
Concerned residents chanted “Water is worth more than anything!” during this week’s protests, continuing a mounting opposition that has thus far been a measured success. In August, Ecuador’s energy minister suspended Loma Larga’s construction until Dundee Precious Metals completes an environmental assessment plan. Independent reviews have cast scrutiny on the company’s own impact study, and provincial leaders continue to reject the project.
The fates of Loma Larga and the region’s waters are being decided during a contentious era of the country’s environmental movement. In August, President Daniel Noboa signed an executive order to fold the government’s Environment Ministry into the Ministry of Energy and Mining, a move that signaled national interest in creating partnerships with foreign mining companies.
Recent WaterNews from Circle of Blue
- Chicago Prepares Development Plan For Industrial Zone With Priority for Water and Wetland — Restoring neglected waterways of the Southeast Side are major challenge.
- Can the Mekong, the World’s Most Productive River, Endure Relentless Strain? —Grizzly Bear-Size Catfish are among the River’s Mysteries on the Brink
This Week’s Top Water Stories, Told In Numbers
146
Number of environmental defenders who were killed or disappeared in 2024, according to the latest report from Global Witness, an international NGO that investigates human rights abuses and environmental exploitation. The majority of last year’s murders — 117 of 142 — occurred in Latin America, which for more than a decade has consistently been the deadliest region for environmental activism. Columbia, for the third year in a row, led the world with 48 deaths, followed by Guatemala (20), Mexico (19), and Brazil (12).
Small-scale farmers and Indigenous people were the most-targeted groups, with 45 defenders of both identities either killed or disappeared last year. According to the report, the vast majority of killings were connected to mining operations, logging, and agribusiness developments that threatened land reform and water pollution. In Honduras, for example, Juan López, an anti-mining activist, was killed one year ago this week in the municipality of Tocoa while protecting the Guapinol and San Pedro rivers from encroaching mines.
254,808
The cumulative number of hours during which sewage spilled into national parks in England and Wales last year, the Guardian reports. This figure averages to 549 hours of unchecked sewage outflow per park, “the equivalent of eight hours a day for two months.” Astoundingly, areas outside of national parks averaged 266 hours of sewage outflow.
The Rivers at Risk report, published this week by the Campaign for National Parks and Rivers Trust, provides further evidence of the United Kingdom’s worsening river pollution crisis. The organizations found that 57 percent of river water in national parks fail to meet minimum ecological standards.
On the Radar
On October 1, for just the second time in 40 years, the Barton Springs-Edwards Aquifer Conservation District in central Texas will implement a Stage 3 “exceptional drought” status as groundwater levels continue to fall, My San Antonio reports. Under this condition, customers with groundwater pumping permits will be required to reduce their usage by between 30 percent and 100 percent.
As of this week, USGS well readings taken just south of Austin showed the aquifer’s water depths at more than 196 feet below the surface. These levels mirror the conditions that sparked the declaration of the first Stage 3 status in December 2023, and are roughly 33 feet below the water’s mean depth over the past 12 years. Between March and September, 17.1 inches of rain fell on the area, compared to the recent average of 22.2 inches during that span.
According to the National Integrated Drought Information System, the counties south of Austin remain in a moderate drought, while conditions across the greater San Antonio area range from “severe” to “exceptional.”
Wetland Watch
Middle Peninsula: A new study published this summer in the journal Nature-Based Solutions calculates that the tidal marshes, natural wetlands, and living shoreline projects in Virginia’s Middle Peninsula generate $90 million annually for the region’s communities. Stakeholder surveys, spatial modeling, economic forecasts, and environmental data were used to arrive at this valuation, which later informed the creation of SHORE-BET, an online tool that estimates the benefits of marsh restoration projects based on location and size.
