Civil unrest erupts over use and allocation of water from Baiyang Lake, the largest natural lake in northern China. Several people die in riots by villagers in July 2000 in Shandong after officials cut off water supplies. In August 2000, six die when officials in the southern province of Guangdong blow up a water channel to prevent a neighboring county from diverting water.
A clash between villagers and thirsty monkeys leaves eight apes dead and ten villagers wounded. The duel starts after water tankers bring water to a drought-stricken area and monkeys desperate for water attack the villagers.
Massive protests, riots, and violence result from efforts to privatize the water system of Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Violent conflicts break out over water resources in the villages Burna Legan and Taina Legan, and in other parts of the region, as drought depleted local resources.
A water tank car is destroyed by a landmine in Grozny, Chechnya, Russia. A teenage girl is also wounded in the explosion.
Water supplies to more than 20 towns are disrupted after a bomb explodes near the town of Baalbek in Lebanon.
Clashes occur between Pokomo and Wordei ethnic groups over access to a water fresh source in Kenya.
Angry protests take place in various communities of Ain Berda province, Algeria over gas, water and electricity shortages. Youths build barricades and block roads during these demonstrations.
The president of the Codazzi Waterworks Labor Union, Aldo Mejia Martinez, is shot and killed by five unidentified people. Six months later, his successor, Engeniano S?nchez D?az, is also murdered. The murders may be linked to a larger trend of homicides in Colombia of trade-union leaders and activists.
In July, workers at the Cellatex chemical plant in northern France dump 5,000 liters of sulfuric acid into a tributary of the Meuse River after they are denied workers’ benefits. A French analyst points out that this is the first time “the environment and public health were made hostage in order to exert pressure, an unheard-of situation until now.”