Our Scans · (LF.6) Clean Water and Sanitation · Weekly Summary

In September 2015, 193 world leaders agreed to 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development. If these Goals are completed, it would mean an end to extreme poverty, inequality and climate change by 2030.
Goal 6. Ensure availability of water and sanitation for all.

• [New] Amazon has set a target of becoming water positive by 2030, meaning it would return more water to communities than it consumes. Crypto Briefing
• [New] The water usage, we are told, is 75% of the way to Amazon's goal - announced in 2022 - of being water positive by 2030. theregister
• [New] Texas communities face severe water shortages that threaten families, jobs and economic growth and should evaluate every available source of supply. Insurance Journal
• [New] The downstream application potential is enormous: India has 140 million small farmers, 20,000+ kilometers of coastline, climate vulnerabilities across agriculture, water, and disaster that space data is uniquely positioned to address. Deep in DeepTech
• [New] A recent AWWA analysis titled Beyond the Replacement Era: Balancing Compounding Infrastructure Needs with Household Availability shows that drinking water infrastructure needs will exceed $2.1 trillion over the next 25 years, requiring a 168% annual increase in capital investment. Municipal Sewer and Water
• [New] Prolonged dry periods linked to El Nino could have wider consequences for Bangladesh's water system. The Daily Star
• [New] Worldwide, three-quarters of people could face drought impacts by 2050 all while datacenters use 9.3 tn liters of water in the coming decade, enough to meet the drinking water needs of the planet's human population for over a year, the United Nations has estimated. The Guardian
• [New] The multiplying datacenters across the US are set to demand as much as 73bn gallons of water a year by 2028, up from about 17bn gallons in 2023. The Guardian
• [New] By 2030, AI's energy use could double to consume 3% of the world's electricity, produce emissions to equal the UK and deplete more water for cooling than the annual drinking water need of the global population. Live Science
• [New] By comparison, the North West, the North East and Yorkshire & the Humber will be less vulnerable to severe water stress. Kingfisher group
• [New] More than half of the world's population will be affected by water shortages by 2032, causing severe health consequences, unless urgent action is taken. PubMed Central (PMC)
• [New] Water scarcity driven by climate change could cost India $2.5 trillion by 2050 if irrigation infrastructure is not overhauled. The New Indian Express
• [New] Amazon says it already uses recycled water for cooling at 24 data centers globally and plans to expand water recycling to more than 120 U.S. locations in states and counties where it operates by 2030, preserving more than 530 million gallons of drinking-water supply annually. Tank Transport
• [New] Total Texas data-center water use could climb to roughly 3% to 5% of statewide demand under lower-capacity futures and 5% to 9% under high-capacity futures by 2030 to 2040. Tank Transport
• Around 700 million people worldwide suffer from water scarcity, a number that is predicted to rapidly increase in coming decades. ClimateCheck
• Climate change has aggravated water stress and may cause significant danger to global health and productivity, and will continue to do so as global temperatures rise and weather patterns change. ClimateCheck
• Canada, Venezuela, Brazil, Russia, Australia, and the U.S. have the most renewable water resources in the world, yet every community will have different levels of water resources and will be affected by water stress differently. ClimateCheck
• The increased prevalence of drought has a high potential to disrupt water sources and strain water supply in communities across America. ClimateCheck
• Agricultural forecasters in the U.S. now expect farmers to lose more than 40% of the cotton crop, while many acres of farmland are being left unplanted because of water shortages. The Council of Industry
• Google announced five AI data center water commitments, including a goal to become water-positive by 2030, local infrastructure investments, and greater transparency around water usage. Tech Startups - Tech News, Tech Trends & Startup Fundin
• Asia is predicted to be one of the regions most exposed, with intensifying heat and drought predicted to put major stresses on agriculture, power grids and water supplies. The Guardian
• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory predicted in a 2024 report that hyperscale data centers could consume up to 33 billion gallons of water by 2030 if they relied heavily on evaporative cooling. Wired
• Under climate change, many regions in the EU - especially southern European Member States - and globally are expected to face severe water scarcity. EU Blue Economy Observatory

Last updated: 15 June 2026