The sharp rise in water-related conflicts in recent years is in focus as the World Water Week conference begins on Sunday in Sweden’s capital, Stockholm, and online. With the theme “Water for People and Progress”, the conference is organised annually by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) and highlights growing global water-security challenges.

According to the Pacific Institute, a US-based nonprofit water think tank, 420 water-related conflicts were recorded in 2024 – a record high and a 78 percent increase from the 235 conflicts recorded in 2022. The increase is largely driven by attacks on water infrastructure and disputes over access, particularly in regions affected by prolonged wars.

What are the causes of water-related conflicts?

For more than three decades, the Pacific Institute has tracked global water conflicts through its Water Conflict Chronology, classifying each incident by whether water served as a casualty, trigger, or weapon of war.

• Casualty: Water infrastructure is damaged or destroyed during conflict, either deliberately or as collateral damage. This can include dams, pipelines, wells, treatment plants and power systems needed to maintain water supplies. In 2024, 55 percent of water-related conflicts were driven by casualty events.
• Trigger: Water scarcity, unequal access, or disputes over resources fuel violence, often involving communities, farmers, animal herders, or armed groups. Scarcity and access disputes remain widespread, with 28 percent acting as triggers for water-related conflicts in 2024.
• Weapon: Water is deliberately manipulated to harm or pressure opponents, including by cutting supplies, contaminating sources, flooding areas, or controlling access. Water weaponization is less frequent but persistent, underscoring the growing links between water stress, climate pressures and conflict, with two percent of incidents in 2024 categorised this way.

Where are water-related conflicts the biggest threat in 2026?

Palestine: In Gaza, 1.9 million of 2.1 million people remain displaced, while about 90 percent of water and sanitation infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed by Israeli attacks, according to UNICEF. Up to 70 percent cannot collect the minimum six litres of water per person a day for drinking and cooking and 90 percent of households faced moderate-to-high water insecurity. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) reported that water prices have risen by up to 500 percent. In the occupied West Bank, settler attacks and Israeli demolitions have damaged Palestinian water infrastructure, with repeated raids on the Ein Samiya wells east of Ramallah cutting supply to about 100,000 people.

Sudan: Since April 2023, fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces has displaced about 12 million people and created a humanitarian crisis affecting more than 30 million. A Geneva Academy report documented attacks on water infrastructure, including reservoirs, treatment plants and distribution networks, particularly in Darfur. The collapse of water and sanitation systems has fuelled cholera outbreaks and worsened food insecurity, with famine risks rising across Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile.

Iran: US and Israeli air strikes on Iran since February 28, have further strained a water system already weakened by years of drought, below-average rainfall, depleted groundwater and agricultural demand. Attacks reportedly damaged desalination plants and reservoirs in Qeshm Island and Hormozgan province, disrupting water supplies to tens of thousands of people. Damage to electricity networks and roads has hindered repairs. The attacks came as Iran’s reserves were critically low, with some reservoirs up to 92 percent depleted.

Gulf region: The war on Iran has exposed the vulnerability of critical water infrastructure in a region that is among the most water-scarce in the world. Across the Gulf, water security depends heavily on large desalination plants to convert seawater. They supply about 90 percent of drinking water in Kuwait, 86 percent in Oman and 70 percent in Saudi Arabia. Desalination plants were damaged in Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE and Iran during the war, though the reported impact on water supplies was largely limited.

Ukraine: Ukraine’s water crisis has worsened as the war with Russia damages vital water and energy infrastructure. UNICEF says 4.3 million people received safe-water assistance last year, while 12.7 million need humanitarian support. Attacks have reduced electricity generation by 70 percent, disrupting water and heating. In Kherson, strikes this month cut supplies to entire neighbourhoods.

Why This Matters

BozokMedia analysis shows that the surge in water-related conflicts is not merely a localized issue but signals a dangerous nexus between global security, humanitarian crises, and climate change. These conflicts directly contribute to displacement, food insecurity, disease proliferation, and regional instability, necessitating an urgent and coordinated response from the international community. This vicious cycle of water scarcity and conflict impacts millions of lives and poses significant impediments to achieving sustainable development goals.

Water is not merely a resource; it is the bedrock of peace and stability, and its weaponization signals a profound failure of global diplomacy.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Why have water-related conflicts increased so sharply since 2020?
• What role does climate change play in exacerbating water conflicts globally?