Water increasingly a focal point in conflicts around the globe

Data: Conflicts over water becoming more common
Dam explosion in Ukraine one of most recent examples
Researchers hope to prevent future crises

Updated: Dec 28, 2023 / 10:42 PM CST

FILE – Houses are seen underwater in the flooded town of Oleshky, Ukraine, June 10, 2023. An AP investigation has found that Russian occupation authorities vastly and deliberately undercounted the dead in one of the most devastating chapters of the 22-month war in Ukraine – the flooding that followed the catastrophic explosion that destroyed the Kakhovka Dam in the southern Kherson region. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)

(NewsNation) — Conflicts around the globe this year have been marked by fights over water, a nexus that has seemingly become more common, according to analyses.

One of the freshest attacks came six months ago, when an explosion destroyed the Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine, resulting in floods that killed at least 58 people, though the death toll could be higher.

Even fresher are Israeli retaliatory strikes on Gaza, including attacks on water wells and pumping stations.

Both incidents were logged by the nonprofit Pacific Institute in Oakland, California, which maintains a database of water-related clashes.

Environmental scientist Morgan Shimabuku helped developed the so-called Water Conflict Chronology, according to Nature magazine.

“What we do see right now is a really large increase in the total number of water-related conflicts around the globe,” he told the news outlet earlier this month.

There have been 543 water-involved conflicts since 2020, according to the Pacific Institute, with an additional 629 from 2010-2019. By comparison, the group logged just 444 incidents total in the years from before 0 BC to 2009.

Disputes over water have triggered war elsewhere, including in India, Kenya and Yemen, the Los Angeles Times reported. In the Middle East, Iran and Afghanistan are feuding over the Helmand River, a dispute that came to a head in May when a Taliban soldier and two Iranian guards were killed, the Atlantic Council reported.

The Pacific Institute categorizes events based on the role water played in the conflicts: where water or water systems have been a trigger of violence, used as a weapon or are a casualty of violence.

Peter Gleick, the Pacific Institute’s co-founder and senior fellow, told the Los Angeles Times that global droughts are increasingly leading to violence.

“We know that climate change is worsening severe droughts, and that makes me worry that these kinds of incidents will become more common,” Gleick said.

Advocates who track this data say the goal is to prevent future crises.

Samantha Kuzma, a data scientist at the World Resources Institute, told Nature: “We want to put points on a map and show people where water conflict is happening so that we can better apply solutions.”