Adult sandfish in the Biedouw River. Photo © Jeremy Shelton/Freshwater Research Centre

Global Rundown

  • More than 300 new species of freshwater fish were identified around the world by scientists last year, the third most in a year since 1758.
  • Tampa Bay is facing one of its worst water shortages in decades as the entire state of Florida is gripped by drought. 
  • More than 60 people have died in mudslides in Ethiopia after heavy rains moved north from Kenya, where at least 66 people were killed in floods last week.
  • Rising international demand for mezcal is affecting the freshwater landscape in Oaxaca, Mexico, where agave plants are grown.

The Lead

309 new species of freshwater fish were identified by scientists around the world in 2025, the highest number in a single year since 2017 and third-highest since scientists began keeping records in 1758. More than half of these fish were discovered in Asia (165 species), followed by South America (91), Africa (30), North America (20), and Europe (three). 

The discoveries are described in a new report published jointly by Shoal Conservation — a global freshwater conservation nonprofit — the California Academy of Sciences, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The fish were discovered in a diversity of habitats including peatlands, seasonal wetlands, small tributaries, and karst caves. These varied waterways, scientists say, gave rise to unique adaptations.

“Among the standout species is Yang’s Plateau Loach (Triplophysa yangi), a cavefish from [China’s] Yunnan Province whose expanded swim bladder chambers protrude visibly from its body, giving the impression of a built-in lifejacket,” the report’s authors write. “Adapted to the perpetual darkness of karst rivers, it appears to hover motionless in the water column — an elegant solution to life where energy is scarce.”

Freshwater fish are among the planet’s most threatened species. According to a 2024 IUCN report, the population abundance of 284 migratory freshwater species declined by 81 percent between 1970 and 2020. More than half of these species — 65 percent — saw their populations decline on average.

Though most of the newly discovered fish have not yet had health assessments, one so far — a new species of killifish discovered in Kenya — has been immediately considered critically endangered.

It is possible — perhaps even likely — that a great number of these species were already well-known to the Indigenous peoples who have lived near and amongst the waterways, in many cases for hundreds or even thousands of years. 

In Context: To Save A Disappearing Fish, South African Farmers Open Their Ponds

Recent WaterNews from Circle of Blue

This Week’s Top Water Stories, Told In Numbers

All of Florida is currently enduring some form of drought, with more than 90 percent of the state experiencing “severe” or “extreme” conditions according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data last updated on Monday afternoon. 

The situation is especially critical in Tampa Bay, which is facing one of its most severe water shortages in half a century. Roughly 40 percent of the region’s drinking water is supplied by rivers, which — due to the prolonged dry spell and low flows — are no longer viable sources. The area’s rainfall in February was 1.35 inches, 1.45 inches below normal. 

The local utility, Tampa Bay Water, issued a statement earlier this month declaring an extreme regional supply shortage and urging residents to reduce water usage at home. Without the ability to siphon river water, the utility is drawing water exclusively from underground wells and a regional reservoir at a desalination plant, reports WUSF Public Media. 

Supplies are running out quickly. With three months of Florida’s dry season still to go, water levels in the 15.5 billion gallon reservoir have dipped to about 45 percent capacity.

One week after heavy rains killed dozens of people in Nairobi, Kenya, at least 64 people have died in mudslides and floods just north of the border in Ethiopia, both AFP and AP report. The casualties were reported in the Gamo Zone of the South Ethiopia Regional State, and more than 100 people remain missing.

A 2024 report published by World Weather Attribution found that the impacts of human-caused climate change on the intensity of flooding and severity of rainfall were most acute in several regions of East Africa.

H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, the chairperson of the African Union Commission said in a statement of condolences that he “expresses concern over the wider impact of severe flooding across the region and underscores the importance of investing in disaster risk management, early warning systems, and climate resilience to better protect communities from the increasing threat of extreme weather.”

2026 is the African Union’s “Year of Water Sustainability.”

On the Radar

The growing popularity of mezcal is destabilizing the freshwater balance of Oaxaca, Mexico, where agave — the plant from which the alcoholic beverage is made — is primarily grown. Between 1995 and 2022, the area of two major Oaxacan agave plantations expanded by 400 percent to meet the demands of international markets, the Associated Press reports.

This growth has promoted deforestation in the Mexican state, which in turn has accelerated soil erosion, created heat deserts, and reduced the area’s ability to recharge groundwater. Land cover losses were greatest in Tehuantepec River basin, according to a 2024 study on the region’s changing ecology. Scientists say these compounding losses make Oaxaca — which suffered its worst drought in a decade in 2024 as wells dipped to their lowest-ever water levels — less resilient to climatic extremes, such as long dry spells or sudden flooding. 

Meanwhile, agave is a water-intensive crop. It takes 10 liters of water (2.68 gallons) to ferment and distill one liter of mezcal (0.26 gallons). Traditional farming practices, including those that reforest the land with native plants and promote water-saving techniques, are increasingly taking a backseat to monoculture farming — an agricultural approach that sacrifices sustainability for harvest volume.

Christian Thorsberg is an environmental writer from Chicago. He is passionate about climate and cultural phenomena that often appear slow or invisible, and he examines these themes in his journalism, poetry, and fiction.