One person is shot and killed after violence erupts between the farmer and herder communities in Kenya where water and land disputes are a driver of conflict.
In Nigeria’s “Middle Belt,” dozens are killed in tensions between farmers and pastoralists over the use of farmland, grazing fields, and water sources.
A fight over water resources erupts in Oaxaca, Mexico, on May 17 between neighboring community members, leaving one dead, several injured, and numerous houses destroyed. The conflict began when one community, San Pedro y San Pablo Ayutla, connected to another community’s (Tamazulápam del Espíritu Santo) water pipes without permission.
Several farmers from Mwatate, Kenya are attacked, one killed, by camel herders after attempts to chase camels from the agricultural land. The camel herders have moved to the area to find land and water for their stock. Farmers are also concerned about the potential spread of disease and pollution of the local water sources from camel feces and urine.
A hacker targets a water plant in South Houston following earlier news (later discounted) of an electronic attack on an Illinois water plant, reportedly to raise awareness of concerns over lax security for critical infrastructure. The breach occurs after the attackers hack into supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) software used by the utility, and uses IP addresses that originated in Russia.
South Africa supports a bloodless coup by Lesotho’s defense forces. Immediately afterward, the two countries agree to share water from the Highlands of Lesotho, following 30 years of unsuccessful negotiations. There is disagreement over the degree to which water was a motivating factor for either party.
Severe political conflict in Syria has been aggravated by the multi-year drought gripping the region. More than 1.5 million people “mostly farmers and their families” have moved to cities and their outskirts. In 2008, US diplomats in Syria warn that the influx of rural people to cities “could act as a multiplier on social and economic pressures already at play and undermine stability in Syria.” Political unrest begins in March 2011 in Dara’a, and soon escalates into civil war as…
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is accused of poisoning the town of Pitalito’s water supply with heavy metals.
Just one month after the poisoning of a water supply in another small town in Colombia, the water supply for the the town of Libornia is poisoned as well.
A chemical agent is discovered in the main waterline supplying the city of Kukes, Albania. The water supply is shut-off, impacting Kukes and the surrounding villages.