G20 Countries Address Water Security from a Sustainability Perspective

The 2020 G20 Riyadh summit affirms the provision of clean and safe water as an important factor in overcoming the pandemic and protecting people. (Mishaal Al-Qadeer)
The 2020 G20 Riyadh summit affirms the provision of clean and safe water as an important factor in overcoming the pandemic and protecting people. (Mishaal Al-Qadeer)
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G20 Countries Address Water Security from a Sustainability Perspective

The 2020 G20 Riyadh summit affirms the provision of clean and safe water as an important factor in overcoming the pandemic and protecting people. (Mishaal Al-Qadeer)
The 2020 G20 Riyadh summit affirms the provision of clean and safe water as an important factor in overcoming the pandemic and protecting people. (Mishaal Al-Qadeer)

G20 countries, led by Saudi Arabia, have strived to enhance the sustainability and durability of global water systems in light of the many warnings and worst-case scenarios that were drawn around the water file.

Many warn that political pressure surrounding the water file threatens inevitable collision, especially as climate change, war and conflict are increasing poverty and challenging food security.

“We acknowledge that affordable, reliable and safe water, sanitation and hygiene services are essential for human life and that access to clean water is critical to overcome the pandemic,” G20 leaders said in their final communique.

They also welcomed the G20 Dialogue on Water as a basis to share best practices and promote innovation, and new technologies, on a voluntary basis, that will foster sustainable, resilient and integrated water management.

G20 demands on improving water security, however, are challenged by some countries trying to monopolize access to shared water resources.

For example, each of Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia and Uganda are vying for better control over their share of Nile waters.

Tensions among the African nations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile escalated, particularly after Ethiopia announced that it had started filling the GERD’s reservoir, an action contrary to Egypt’s mandate that the dam not be filled without a legally binding agreement over the equitable allocation of the Nile’s waters.

Water scarcity is one of the most pressing global challenges of the 21st century, as it constitutes a serious obstacle to achieving the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Many factors are at play when it comes to securing global demands for water supplies. They include population growth, rapid urbanization, the erosion of water infrastructure and the lack of proper investment.

The Saudi Presidency of the G20 forum worked on reinforcing international cooperation in the field of water management and on pushing to ensure water security for all through establishing vital policies, ensuring adequate financing and promoting innovation.

“Water scarcity affects more than 40 percent of the world's population. At least 4 billion people lack basic sanitation services such as access to latrines and more than 80 percent of wastewater resulting from human activities is discharged into water bodies without any pollution removal,” main representative to the United Nations for sustainable development goals Faisal Al-Fadhl told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Globally, nearly a thousand children die every day from diarrheal diseases that can be prevented by the process of distillation and filtration,” he noted.

“Approximately 70 percent of all water extracted from rivers, lakes and aquifers is used for irrigation purposes, while floods and other water-related calamities account for 70 percent of all deaths related to natural disasters,” he emphasized.



What to Know About the Flash Floods in Texas That Killed over 100 People

 Firefighters from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, transport a recovered body on the flooded Guadalupe River days after a flash flood swept through the area, Monday, July 7, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP)
Firefighters from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, transport a recovered body on the flooded Guadalupe River days after a flash flood swept through the area, Monday, July 7, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP)
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What to Know About the Flash Floods in Texas That Killed over 100 People

 Firefighters from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, transport a recovered body on the flooded Guadalupe River days after a flash flood swept through the area, Monday, July 7, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP)
Firefighters from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, transport a recovered body on the flooded Guadalupe River days after a flash flood swept through the area, Monday, July 7, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP)

Flash floods in Texas killed at least 100 people over the Fourth of July holiday weekend and left others still missing, including girls attending a summer camp. The devastation along the Guadalupe River, outside of San Antonio, has drawn a massive search effort as officials face questions over their preparedness and the speed of their initial actions.

Here's what to know about the deadly flooding, the colossal weather system that drove it in and around Kerr County, Texas, and ongoing efforts to identify victims.

Massive rain hit at just the wrong time, in a flood-prone place

The floods grew to their worst at the midpoint of a long holiday weekend when many people were asleep.

The Texas Hill Country in the central part of the state is naturally prone to flash flooding due to the dry dirt-packed areas where the soil lets rain skid along the surface of the landscape instead of soaking it up. Friday's flash floods started with a particularly bad storm that dropped most of its 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain in the dark early morning hours.

After a flood watch notice midday Thursday, the National Weather Service office issued an urgent warning around 4 a.m. that raised the potential of catastrophic damage and a severe threat to human life. By at least 5:20 a.m., some in the Kerrville City area say water levels were getting alarmingly high. The massive rain flowing down hills sent rushing water into the Guadalupe River, causing it to rise 26 feet (8 meters) in just 45 minutes.

Death toll is expected to rise and the number of missing is uncertain

In Kerr County, home to youth camps in the Texas Hill Country, searchers have found the bodies of 75 people, including 27 children, Sheriff Larry Leitha said Monday morning. Fatalities in nearby counties brought the total number of deaths to 94 as of Monday afternoon.

Ten girls and a counselor were still unaccounted for at Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along the river.

For past campers, the tragedy turned happy memories into grief.

Beyond the Camp Mystic campers unaccounted for, the number of missing from other nearby campgrounds and across the region had not been released.

Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday had said that there were 41 people confirmed to be unaccounted for across the state and more could be missing.

Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said during a Monday news conference he couldn't give an estimate of the number of people still missing, only saying “it is a lot.”

Officials face scrutiny over flash flood warnings

Survivors have described the floods as a “pitch black wall of death” and said they received no emergency warnings.

Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, who lives along the Guadalupe River, said Saturday that “nobody saw this coming.” Officials have referred to it as a “100-year-flood,” meaning that the water levels were highly unlikely based on the historical record.

And records behind those statistics don’t always account for human-caused climate change. Though it’s hard to connect specific storms to a warming planet so soon after they occur, meteorologists say that a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture and allow severe storms to dump even more rain.

Additionally, officials have come under scrutiny about why residents and youth summer camps along the river were not alerted sooner than 4 a.m. or told to evacuate.

Rice said Monday that he did not immediately know if there had been any communication between law enforcement and the summer camps between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Friday. But Rice said various factors, including spotty cell service in some of the more isolated areas of Kerr County and cell towers that might have gone out of service during the weather, could have hindered communication.

Rice said officials want to finish the search and rescue and then review possible issues with cell towers, radios and emergency alerts.

Officials noted that the public can grow weary from too many flooding alerts or forecasts that turn out to be minor.

Kerr county officials said they had presented a proposal for a more robust flood warning system, similar to a tornado warning system, but that members of the public reeled at the cost.

Monumental clearing and rebuilding effort

The flash floods have erased campgrounds and torn homes from their foundations.

"It’s going to be a long time before we’re ever able to clean it up, much less rebuild it," Kelly said Saturday after surveying the destruction from a helicopter.

Other massive flooding events have driven residents and business owners to give up, including in areas struck last year by Hurricane Helene.

President Donald Trump said he would likely visit the flood zone on Friday.

AP photographers have captured the scale of the destruction, and one of Texas' largest rescue and recovery efforts.