Global Rundown
- Communities in North Sumatra, Indonesia, are celebrating a ‘fragile win’ following the revocation of a controversial mine’s permit to build a tailings dam.
- India’s push to increase renewable energy output — which centers the production of green hydrogen — may be limited by water scarcity, studies show.
- In one of Nigeria’s worst floods of recent memory, 700 people in the central market city of Mokwa are feared dead.
- In western Uganda, where waterways are particularly susceptible to agricultural runoff, students are prioritizing sustainable growing practices.
The Lead
In late May, Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment revoked a permit it had issued in August 2022 to PT Dairi Prima Mineral, a developer whose proposed zinc-and-lead mine has been the subject of years-long protests both locally and abroad, Mongabay reports.
Communities and environmental officials have criticized the project’s tailings dam, which would store mining waste in what has been described by experts as “among the most dangerous possible locations” for such infrastructure.
Critics say that the location — susceptible to “high rainfall, frequent earthquakes, unstable volcanic ash, and landslide risks” — would endanger downstream communities’ water supplies should any natural hazard or extreme weather pattern occur.
The group of 11 villagers who challenged the mine’s permit won approval from Indonesia’s Supreme Court last August, though it took roughly 10 months for the Ministry of Environment to comply with the ruling.
This delay is representative of lingering concerns “that the company will not respect the decision.” Following last year’s Supreme Court ruling, the mine’s majority owner promised that the project would still move forward as planned. In the months since, the mine developers have reportedly set in motion a number of contingency and retaliatory plans: including work on a new environmental assessment, confrontations with the villagers who filed suit, and appealing the Supreme Court’s decision.
Recent WaterNews from Circle of Blue
- Nuclear Energy’s Unsettled Revival — Closed reactors to be reopened. New ones on the way.
- Trump Forces Mexico to Share More Water Along the Rio Grande — President’s stern diplomacy is criticized as temporary and damaging.
This Week’s Top Water Stories, Told In Numbers
24,000
Total gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy that India’s national grid could potentially support by 2070 as the country plans “a massive expansion” of solar power, wind power, and green hydrogen production, India Water Portal reports. But reaching the ambitious goal — which exceeds more than three times the 7,000 GW target needed to achieve its net-zero targets — would likely exacerbate existing water security concerns. A 2023 study published in the journal Nature Communications identified myriad countries, including India, as lacking the appropriate amount of land and fresh water required to produce enough green hydrogen to offset carbon emissions. According to a report published last fall by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, even producing enough of the resource to reach 1,500 GW “will trigger escalating challenges, with water scarcity emerging as a critical concern.”
700
Number of people feared dead in Mokwa after a weekend of torrential rains sparked devastating floods in Nigeria’s northern and central regions, BBC reports. A surging Niger River destroyed hundreds of homes and displaced thousands of people, and the market city’s drainage system was quickly overwhelmed. According to The Guardian, the event — influenced by a west African monsoon season typical for this time of year — is being described as the area’s “worst flood in 60 years.”
On the Radar
Lake Bunyonyi is the freshwater centerpiece of southwestern Uganda, a misty region where livelihoods rely heavily on agriculture. Crops grow on slanted, exposed hillsides above the lake, though this elevation puts Bunyonyi’s health at risk when pesticides and chemical fertilizers are washed by rainfall down slopes and into its waters, where birds, frogs, and otters congregate. The fishless body of water is nearly anoxic, and the effects of nearby, recent deforestation and wetland loss offer the local community a grim vision of what they have to lose if their lake continues to deteriorate, too.
Local schools are taking action: Deutsche Welle reports that Bwama Primary and Lake Bunyonyi Secondary are prioritizing environmental education by encouraging students to research and develop natural fertilizers, sustainable waste management techniques, and organic farming practices.
Fresh: From the Great Lakes Region
Carp Project Moves Forward: Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced last week that he had acquired a 50-acre piece of land in Will County needed to support a $1.1 billion project aimed at keeping invasive carp out of the Great Lakes, Fox 32 Chicago reports. Illinois’ involvement in the project had been put on hold following the uncertainty caused by President Trump’s sweeping spring cuts to environmental programs and efforts. In early May, Trump finally voiced his support for the project, for which “Congress had previously agreed that the federal government would cover 90 percent of the operational and maintenance cost.”
Chicago Water Bills: Chicagoans’ water bills spiked 4 percent this week, the latest increase “after seeing rates more than double over the past 15 years,” Inside Climate News reports. In response, community-based and nonprofit organizations, especially those on the city’s South and West Sides, are campaigning for water affordability reforms and assistance programs. These policy changes, organizers say, would improve residents’ ability to pay their bills and begin to alleviate Chicago’s current water debt, which sits at roughly $780 million.
In context: Water Debt
Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television, Michigan Public and The Narwhal work together to report on the most pressing threats to the Great Lakes region’s water. This independent journalism is supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Find all the work here.
- US officials release Line 5 environmental review; conclude project is needed — Bridge Michigan
- Broken trust and Bill 5: First Nations rally against Doug Ford’s controversial mining bill — The Narwhal
- Sturgeon Streams and Plastic Pollution — Great Lakes Now
- New wetland could show how Michigan can reduce agricultural runoff polluting Lake Erie — Michigan Public