Between 1980 and 1982, as part of President Barre’s “scorched earth” policy, government troops demolish water-points and berkads (catchments) in many of the towns and villages of Mudug and neighboring Nugal.
Iran claims to have bombed a hydroelectric facility in Kurdistan, thereby blacking out large portions of Iraq, during the Iran-Iraq War.
Regular destruction of power lines from Cahora Bassa Dam during fight for independence in the region. Dam targeted by RENAMO (the Mozambican National Resistance).
An anonymous letter writer threatens to contaminate New York City’s water reservoirs with plutonium unless charges against a man accused of vigilantism for shooting four African American men in the New York subway are dropped. Testing detects minute levels of plutonium in the water on but scientists could not conclude whether the threat to contaminate the New York City water supply would be actually carried out or whether the sample is contaminated prior to receipt.
A water truck is destroyed when a bomb placed underneath it explodes. The truck was outside the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan. Two people are injured.
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.
Law enforcement authorities discover that a small survivalist group in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas known as The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (CSA) has acquired a drum containing 30 gallons of potassium cyanide, with the apparent intent to poison water supplies in New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. CSA members believe that such attacks would make the Messiah return more quickly by punishing unrepentant sinners. The objective appears to be mass murder in the name…
During construction of the Ataturk Dam, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) destroys construction equipment and nearly 1,100 vehicles, severely delaying the project.