BP Report on Oil Spill Disaster Met with Scepticism

The report released Wednesday by energy giant BP of its internal investigation into the catastrophic explosion in April of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and the subsequent spill from the Macondo oil well has been met with criticism by watchdog groups who question the company's motives.

Africa’s Water Security Hinges on Better Infrastructure

As Africa continues its seemingly endless struggle for water security, why is the beleaguered continent lagging behind Asia and Latin America - despite commitments and declarations by political leaders?

ZIMBABWE: A Long Dry Season

Headmaster Njabulo Mpofu has weathered long dry spells before, but the water troubles affecting his school in the arid Midlands region of Zimbabwe are severe.

Scarce Water Diverted by Greased Palms

The battle to resolve the global water crisis is being grossly undermined by bad governance: bribery, extortion, embezzlement and high-level corruption.

Fighting Dirty Water Is World’s New Ecological Battle

A primary topic of discussion at a weeklong international water conference here can best be summed up in two words: "dirty water".

Time Running Out Faster Than Water, Experts Warn

A major weeklong international water conference opened in the Swedish capital Monday with an ominous warning: time is running out faster than fresh water.

Poor Thirst as Nile Taps Run Dry

The midday sun punishes a group of veiled women as they wait in line to fill their buckets and jerrycans. They have travelled on foot to a rusty tap on the outskirts of Cairo that gushes irrigation water never intended for human consumption.

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill’s 30-Year Legacy

A surprisingly small number of scientists have studied the impacts of the oil spill resulting from the 1979 blowout at the Ixtoc I oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Wes Tunnell, who first studied the spill’s effects in July and August of 1980 and has returned many times since, is one of the few exceptions.

U.N. Lagging on Water and Sanitation Development Goals

The United Nations stands accused of marginalising water and sanitation in its much-touted Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aimed at improving the lives of billions of people in the developing world.

Fish Kills Worry Gulf Scientists, Fishers, Environmentalists

Another massive fish kill, this time in Louisiana, has alarmed scientists, fishers and environmentalists who believe they are caused by oil and dispersants.

ZAMBIA: Water Committee Prospers in Lusaka

Residents of Lusaka's George Compound remember the bad old days in the early 1990s, when the area suffered ugly outbreaks of waterborne diseases.

BOTSWANA: Acquiring a Taste for Recycled Water

Many Batswana are quick to recoil at the mere mention of drinking treated wastewater.

US: Govt Claims Slammed as “Final Kill” Looms for Gulf Oil Leak

Between April and August this year, 4.9 million barrels of oil were spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. How much remains today is not yet clear and is a hot topic of debate among academic and government scientists.

Mississippi Shrimpers Refuse to Trawl, Fearing Oil, Dispersants

The U.S. state of Mississippi recently reopened all of its fishing areas. The problem is that commercial shrimpers refuse to trawl because they fear the toxicity of the waters and marine life due to the BP oil disaster.

MALAWI: Local Management the Tonic for Water Woes

Hop over a seep of filthy sludge behind a bathroom screened with ragged sacks, turn past the toilet with battered cardboard walls, crab between mud-brick shanties roofed with rusty metal... There: emerge into a small, neat yard where a dozen women and girls are filling plastic buckets from five water taps sticking out of concrete wall.

BRAZIL: Environmental Impact Studies on Dams Count for Little in Amazon

"It's a fait accompli," acknowledges André Villas-Boas, head of the independent SocioEnvironmental Institute (ISA), resigned to the fact that the legal actions and protests have failed to block the construction of the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in Brazil's Amazon jungle region.

ZIMBABWE: Questions Raised Over Water Treatment Funding

The memories of Zimbabwe's 2008-2009 cholera outbreak are fresh in the minds of everyone except the people who have the safety of the country's water in their hands.

Ocean Losing Its Green

The oceans are the lifeblood of our planet and plankton its red blood cells. Those vital "red blood cells" have declined more than 40 percent since 1950 and the rate of decline is increasing due to climate change, scientists reported this week.

ZIMBABWE: Badly Needed Work Begins on Bulawayo Water System

Dispersing feasting flies and angry residents from a manhole cover spewing sewage from people’s homes and into the road: another day in the working life of Njabulo Siziba. It's a dirty, frustrating, thankless job as a civil engineer for Bulawayo city council, but help is at hand for Siziba and the city he serves.

VENEZUELA: Chronic Oil Leaks Sully Lake Maracaibo, Livelihoods

Dark oil slicks are spreading from the middle of Venezuela's Lake Maracaibo towards the shores -- the wetlands, mangroves, beaches and docks. Oil is permeating fishing nets, coating the garbage dumped into the water, killing off wildlife and driving away residents and tourists.

GUATEMALA: Reviving Lake Atitlan

"There are hardly any tourists now, and nearly all the hotels are empty," says Rosa Rosales, who works at the Hotel Pa Muelle, on the shores of Guatemala's Lake Atitlán, a natural treasure that has been overcome by pollution.