13 Water Conflict

"Monsoon season in southern Asia has begun, and in India the rains arrived ahead of schedule, easing drought concerns. Monsoon rains can be disruptive and even deadly, but crucial for the farmers whose crops feed millions of people. Though concerns for flooding are prevalent, the arrival of the rains brings colorful celebrations and relief from the heat every year. -Leanne Burden Seidel (32 photos total)"

Water storage maps

"Project promises abundant energy for Ethiopia, but potential crop failures, power cuts and political tumult for Egypt"

"Construction of Grand Renaissance dam to continue despite Eygptian concerns over impact on water supply and farming"

"A £25billion rival to the Panama Canal could be built across Nicaragua - funded entirely by the Chinese. The hugely ambitious engineering project would give China control of a vital waterway to challenge the one completed by the US in Panama nearly 100 years ago. Legislation paving the way for a new canal was given the go-ahead by Nicaraguan politicians on Monday night and is expected to be approved by the National Assembly tomorrow."

"Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory have become the first two administrations to sign up to the Murray Darling Basin plan, committing both governments to replenish water to the key river system."

"South-north diversion project aimed at preventing water shortages has had no shortage of problems and criticism"

"Five hundred scientists meeting in Bonn last month warned that 9 billion people would face the consequences of severe water shortages within a generation or two, but did not point the finger at industries devastating fresh water supplies. Meanwhile, a battle against a metal mining industry that has ravaged freshwater supplies in El Salvador shows just how difficult it is for a developing country to build economic alternatives for a water-secure future."

"The UK's first self-closing flood barriers have been installed to protect a Lake District town hit by devastating flooding. The £4.4m scheme has been put in place in the Cumbrian town of Cockermouth, where the automatic barriers aim to prevent a repeat of the floods in 2009, when a month's rain fell in 24 hours, destroying 900 homes and forcing hundreds of people to evacuate."

"Authorities push forward plans for 314 metre-high dam on Dadu river which would affect rare plants and fish"

"Authorities push forward plans for 314 metre-high dam on Dadu river which would affect rare plants and fish"

Australia and US offer desalination and reverse-osmosis units as severe drought worsens in Pacific archipelago

"More than 100 environmental, social and indigenous organisations protested in the Chilean capital, Santiago, this week to demand that the state regain control of the management of water, which was privatised by the then dictatorship in 1981."

For the past two years Iraq, Syria, Jordan and parts of Turkey and Lebanon, have suffered the devastating effects of the worst drought the Middle East has experienced in decades.