In 2023, rivers dried up at the fastest rate seen in three decades, raising concerns over global water security, according to recent data.
Over the last five years, river levels have consistently been below average worldwide, with reservoirs also running low, the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) State of Global Water Resources report shows.
In 2023, over half of the world’s river catchment areas displayed abnormal conditions, with most experiencing deficits. This trend has persisted since 2021.
Severe drought and low river discharge were widespread across North, Central, and South America, with iconic rivers like the Amazon and Mississippi hitting record low levels. Across Asia and Oceania, major river basins—including the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Mekong—faced below-average water conditions across nearly all their territories.
The report also highlighted areas experiencing severe flooding. These included East Africa’s coastal regions, New Zealand’s North Island, and the Philippines, where excessive rainfall led to high river discharges.
Contrastingly, the UK, Ireland, Finland, and Sweden saw above-normal river discharge, with increased water flow in rivers during 2023.
“Water is the canary in the coalmine of climate change,” said the WMO secretary general, Celeste Saulo. “We receive distress signals in the form of increasingly extreme rainfall, floods and droughts which wreak a heavy toll on lives, ecosystems and economies. Melting ice and glaciers threaten long-term water security for many millions of people. And yet we are not taking the necessary urgent action.
“As a result of rising temperatures, the hydrological cycle has accelerated. It has also become more erratic and unpredictable, and we are facing growing problems of either too much or too little water. A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture which is conducive to heavy rainfall. More rapid evaporation and drying of soils worsen drought conditions,” she added.
These extreme fluctuations in water levels pose a serious risk to water availability. Currently, 3.6 billion people lack adequate water access for at least one month each year, a figure projected to rise to over 5 billion by 2050, according to UN Water.
In addition to river depletion, glaciers suffered unprecedented losses in 2023, shedding over 600 gigatonnes of water—more than any other year in the past 50 years of recorded observations. Glaciers in the mountains of western North America and the European Alps were hit particularly hard. In Switzerland alone, the Alps have lost approximately 10% of their remaining glacial volume in just the past two years.
The impacts of climate change, along with rising water demand, are intensifying water scarcity and contributing to the rapid decline of crucial water sources. With glaciers melting and river levels depleting, ecosystems and human communities reliant on these water sources face increasing vulnerability.
The WMO’s findings underscore the urgent need for improved water management and climate mitigation efforts. The organization calls for coordinated global action to manage water resources sustainably, adapting to increasingly severe droughts and floods driven by changing climate patterns.
“Far too little is known about the true state of the world’s freshwater resources. We cannot manage what we do not measure. This report seeks to contribute to improved monitoring, data-sharing, cross-border collaboration and assessments,” said Saulo. “This is urgently needed.”
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