Global Rundown
- Up to 90 percent of environmental migration in Somalia between 2015 and 2021 was attributable to water scarcity, a new analysis suggests.
- Cities in India are restoring ancient structures to gain access to groundwater amid nationwide water stress.
- As part of its new water plan, California aims to add 3 trillion gallons of available water by 2040.
- After vanishing amid record drought more than two years ago, Lake Chilwa, the second-largest lake in Malawi, has been partially replenished this winter.
The Lead
According to a new analysis published in Nature Food, a vast majority of the human migration and displacement driven by environmental factors in Somalia over the past decade is directly attributable to water scarcity.
A study of 40,000 cases of Somali migration between 2015 and 2021 suggests that between 76 percent and 91 percent of these moves were connected to a lack of available freshwater – circumstances such as drought, food insecurity, and agricultural water insecurity. The effects of extreme hydroclimatic events are especially acute in the East African country, where about 80 percent of its 19 million people rely on pastoral and agricultural livelihoods.
Somalia is currently in the midst of one of its worst droughts in history. Nearly 6.5 million people —including 1.8 million children — are facing high levels of hunger and malnutrition as a result.
“The drought emergency in Somalia has deepened alarmingly, with soaring water prices, limited food supplies, dying livestock, and very little humanitarian funding,” George Conway, Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, says in a World Food Program statement. “Urgent life-saving assistance is essential to save lives and prevent a collapse of pastoral and farming livelihoods, as the coming months are critical with no rains expected at least until the next Gu rains in April-June.”
Fluctuating precipitation patterns are not unique to continental Africa. Droughts, floods, and storms accounted for 98 percent of the 32.6 million internal migrations recorded globally in 2022.
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This Week’s Top Water Stories, Told In Numbers
More than 3,000 tons of trash have been cleared from an ancient stepwell in Hyderabad, India as the country makes continued efforts to revive centuries-old water delivery infrastructure amid resource shortages and stress, the Guardian reports.
Multi-story stepwells, built primarily between the 11th and 17th centuries, used to connect India’s communities to underground aquifers via a series of descending platforms and steps. But of the more than 3,000 structures that have survived to the present day, most are in ever-deteriorating condition. Roughly 100 are located in the city of Hyderabad, whose metro population of more than 10 million people in Telangana state faces an increasing risk of a ‘day zero’ scenario amid growth and groundwater overextraction.
So far, about 25 stepwells have been revived in Telangana, though only one supplies potable water. Countrywide, 600 million Indians face extreme levels of water-stress. By 2030, the country’s water demand is projected to double, according to the World Economic Forum.
In Context: Groundwater Scarcity, Pollution Set India on Perilous Course
By 2040, the state of California seeks to add an extra 3 trillion gallons of water to its available supply to offset the effects of rising temperatures, drought, and disappearing snowpack.
“California’s hydrology is changing,” Karla Nemeth, director of the state’s Department of Water Resources, says in a statement. “We’re living that now. Extreme wet swings to intensely dry within the same season. The work of crafting the next California Water Plan will help us plan smarter to deal with the way climate change is testing our water systems.”
The California Water Plan is produced every five years to guide water resource decisions and “modernize water policy.” Officials say the 2028 plan’s ambitious goal of bolstering its supply by 3 trillion gallons will be achieved by a combination of nature-based solutions, improving reservoirs to better adapt to climate change, and expanding efforts to improve groundwater recharge and storage.
On the Radar
Water levels on Lake Chilwa, the second-largest lake in Malawi, have always fluctuated seasonally. But roughly two years ago, extreme drought pushed the ecosystem to the brink — people walked and vehicles drove on dry land where great volumes of water had once flowed. An estimated 77,000 people rely on its shallow waters and wetland networks for fishing, farming, and bird hunting, according to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention.
Communities remain caught between equally precarious economies. Strong rains this winter have helped replenish part of the lake, though fishing is no longer a reliable livelihood, Reuters reports. Meanwhile, farmers who were quick to plant rice crops in exposed damp soils have had their lands ruined by rainwater.
