Water

As Australia's Murray Darling Basin grapples with drought, rice and cotton crops allow farmers to choose when to produce depending on weather conditions. Farmers can therefore adapt to drought by purchasing water from those who did not produce. But they must still better reallocate water from irrigated agriculture to improve the environment's health.

In the Laotian village of Ekxang, the IWMI developed a pilot study that allowed community members to construct and manage a groundwater irrigation system. The system was only successful in the dry season and not as popular when subsidisation was removed, indicating that future efforts must consider the socioeconomic factors that influence farmers' decisions.

The capture of low and medium water flows has dried the upstream wetlands and floodplains at the ends of the Darling River's tributaries. Any water not diverted for irrigation is now absorbed by these parched ecosystems, leaving the lower reaches vulnerable when drought hits. Minimal flow and dry wetlands have reduced the river's ability to cope with long droughts.

As climate change threatens California's water supply, Governor Gavin Newsom must diverge from previous projects and implement measures that reduce flood risk, recharge depleted groundwater, and restore degraded wildlife habitat. He must also step up the timeline of the groundwater laws that require subsurface water to be measured, managed, and equitably shared.

The sustainable development of cities is threatened by a worldwide water crisis. Improved social learning is urgently needed to transform urban water governance and make it more integrated and adaptive. However, empirical studies remain few and fragmented

New research reveals that during drought in tropical rainforests, termites move ground water to the surface soil, increasing soil moisture to approximately 36 percent and also enhancing seedling survival by approximately 51 percent. The study is the first to measure the positive effects of termites in rainforests for reducing the impact of droughts on plants.

China has 20% of the world’s population but only 7% of its water. This problem is exacerbated by pollution and inefficient use.

This report argues that the scarcity of water in the north of China threatens social and economic stability, before then

Despite a freshwater scarcity, a new report finds that as many as 90% of India's more than 400 power plants depend on freshwater for cooling. This reliance on scarce regions compromises electricity generation and leaves less water for cities, farms and families. But implementing cooling technologies and renewable energy can boost resilience and save water.