Global Rundown
- The U.S. government shutdown will prevent millions of people from renewing or purchasing policies from the National Flood Insurance Program, which currently covers $1 trillion of damage across the country.
- Heat stress, dehydration, and contaminated water are all linked to an epidemic of kidney disease in India’s agricultural regions.
- Madagascar dissolved its government this week as thousands of young demonstrators continue to protest against the country’s sweeping power and water shortages.
- Flash floods in Odesa, Ukraine killed at least nine people and left dozens of villages without electricity.
The Lead
For several days, thousands of young people have taken to the streets of Madagascar’s cities to protest against the government’s failure to provide them with reliable electricity and clean water.
Authorities have thus far responded violently to the Gen-Z led demonstrations, with accounts of tear gas, beatings, and mass detentions reported by several news outlets. According to Deutsche Welle, 22 protestors have been killed in clashes with the police in just the last week.
In response to the unrest, Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina dissolved his government in a nationally televised address and said he would be accepting applications for new officials immediately, including via email and on LinkedIn.
“I understand the anger, the sadness and the difficulties caused by power cuts and water supply problems,” he said. “I heard the call, I felt the suffering, I understood the impact on daily life.”
Protestors continue to call for Rajoelina’s resignation.
In 2022, the World Bank estimated that only 54 percent of Madagascar’s residents had access to basic water services, while just 12 percent had access to basic sanitation services. Many small villages have relied upon UNICEF intervention and foreign aid for the development of water supply systems, a lift that this year is disappearing in the aftermath of USAID cuts.
These losses are coupled with unfavorable climatological outlooks. A 2024 study published in the journal Water Research estimated that a combination of climate change, agricultural use, and population growth would contribute to acute water scarcity in the country’s major river basins by 2050.
Over the past 20 years, five major droughts linked to climate change have exacerbated water shortages and decimated the farming-based economy of southern Madagascar. Today, roughly 90 percent of the population in this region lives in poverty.
Recent WaterNews from Circle of Blue
- A World on Fire Is a Water Risk — Bigger, hotter fires harm ecosystems, infrastructure.
- “America First” Puts Big Hurt on International Water Programs — Influenced by the close of U.S.A.I.D, millions overseas are thirsty, while farm markets at home close.
This Week’s Top Water Stories, Told In Numbers
4.5 million
Number of homeowners, renters, and businesses currently covered by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), with the country’s collective policies totalling roughly $1 trillion, the New York Times reports. But the U.S. government shutdown, which took effect at midnight on Wednesday, has coincided with a lapse in the program’s funding. For as long as the shutdown persists, NFIP will be unable to issue new policies or renewals, with some research suggesting that 1,400 real estate transactions each day could be forced to move ahead unprotected, leaving many residents and homeowners in 22,600 NFIP communities across the country liable for any flood-related damages. According to the National Association of Realtors, 40,000 property sales each month depend on flood insurance.
1 liter
The median volume of water a worker in the salt pans of Tamil Nadu drinks during an eight-hour shift — well-below the recommended eight liters of water in eight hours, according to a 2023 study published in the journal Kidney International Reports. Dehydration coupled with heat stress, exposure to heavy metals and agricultural chemicals, and high amounts of silica in drinking water are all likely contributing causes to India’s epidemic of CKDu — a kidney disease that “is not linked with known precursors like high blood pressure or diabetes,” Yale Environment 360 reports. Its prevalence is particularly high in agricultural areas, studies show, and exacerbated by a warming climate. In the Uddanam region, for example, between 40 percent and 60 percent of the population is estimated to have CKDu.
On the Radar
Nearly two months of rain fell on Odesa, Ukraine, in a seven-hour span earlier this week, spurring flash floods that killed at least nine people, Al Jazeera and The Independent report. More than 30 villages near the southern city, which sits on the shores of the Black Sea, lost power, while 362 residents trapped in their homes were rescued by emergency services. Gennadiy Trukhanov, the mayor of Odesa, told news outlets that “no storm sewer system can withstand such a load.”
Wetland Watch
Floating Artificial Wetlands: A new study published this week in the journal ACS ES&T Water suggests that floating artificial wetlands can be a sustainable and cost-effective method of improving fresh water quality in rivers, lakes, and wastewater systems. Across 11 test sites in the United States, Australia, Pakistan, and Canada, the wetlands were consistently more cost-efficient at removing nitrogen from water than other engineered solutions.
