The suffix -cide, derived from the Latin caedere meaning "to kill" or "to strike down," carries a heavy weight, signifying acts of deliberate destruction or killing. While it often appears in scientific and technical contexts, its most harrowing uses highlight humanity’s darkest realities. From the persistent horror of femicide, driven by gender-based violence, to the mass atrocities of genocide that have claimed millions of lives in the last century, these acts demand urgent attention. Recognising these “-cides” is not merely an acknowledgment of the past but a vital call to confront the atrocities still unfolding today.
We argue that the destruction of human, political and ecological systems is now accompanied by a new 'cide' – hydrocide. Whether as a weapon of war, or through corruption, mismanagement and criminal behaviour – or even just wanton neglect – humans are actively or passively destroying water systems (natural and built) on an unprecedented scale. The term has been used before (Lundqvist, 1998) [1], but it has never been more relevant or important as now.
A post by Alan Nicol and Rebecca Sands*
Hydrocide is happening and it needs to be recognised
Like most things in 2024, hydrocide is enabled and intensified by climate change and corruption. Recognising that all life depends on these systems, we put forward the idea that hydrocide be recognised by human rights and water professionals alike and that measures are put in place to identify and stop perpetrators – wherever and however they operate.
Hydrocide, like ecocide, involves destruction of natural systems but goes further. Whereas ecocide encompasses large-scale environmental destruction across entire ecosystems, hydrocide specifically focuses on the depletion or contamination of water resources and includes the destruction of systems for water service provision. Importantly, both can be weaponised as tools in genocide, as the destruction of ecosystems or water supplies can force populations into displacement, starvation, or death.
As we celebrate the UN Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed by the UNGA in 1948, we remember article three in particular: “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person”. From this cascades the international laws, conventions, and declarations that help to protect people and the planet, from the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child to the recognition of the rights to water and sanitation by the UNGA in 2010. The right to water carries an international acknowledgment that systems that deliver water to people and nature fundamentally underscore the right to life. Hydrocide undermines this right.
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The weaponisation of water and its links to hydrocide
The weaponisation of water and hydrocide are intimately linked. In conflict, we don’t have to look far to identify possible hydrocide. Most recently, the war in Gaza by Israel’s defence forces has included the massive destruction of water infrastructure (see here and here). Destruction of the territory is so widespread that water resources are also contaminated. This has led to accusations that the IDF has deliberately weaponised water as a means to control and punish the Palestinian people by making large parts of the Gaza Strip uninhabitable.
In other theatres of war, water infrastructure has also been systematically targeted. Most recently in Ukraine in 2022, controversy surrounded the destruction of the massive Nova Kakhovka dam – though neither side denied it had been deliberately destroyed. Elsewhere in Yemen and parts of sub-Saharan Africa, water has been drawn into conflict with deliberate destruction of water systems, exacerbated by weak governance.
All these acts are committed in spite of legal protections accorded civilian populations and infrastructure under the Geneva Conventions.
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How mismanagement and corruption are destroying water systems
Hydrocide does not just happen in war time, there is other, non-weaponised hydrocide too. It can be a product of corrupt and criminal activities or failing systems due to wilful negligence and/or poor integrity. In some cases, it manifests as a combination of the two: corruption or poor integrity that weakens institutions and governance, making water systems vulnerable to exploitation.
And in our current era, the risk is further amplified by conflict and by natural systems reaching critical tipping points due to global warming and human population growth.
In England, water companies are releasing unprecedented amounts of semi-treated and raw sewage into waterways and along the coastline. And intensive farming is packing formerly pristine rivers full of destructive chemicals. The systems failure of government regulation and monitoring combined with the undervaluation of nature by private industry has led to a decline in species biodiversity and the capacity of water systems to hold, nourish and nurture life. This further compromises water and sanitation service delivery. It is not uncommon to receive boil water notices for issues that could be avoided.
This has become a critical political issue, uniting people by geography and across opposing ideological lines. Hydrocide is a potent political term – and should, we argue, become widely known.
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Turning awareness into action
Having defined the concept of hydrocide, the challenge is what to do next.
As water professionals, natural and built hydrological systems form the core of our professional life. Our concern is for their continued capacity to generate and sustain life in the face of mounting shocks and pressures – both from the demands placed upon them by economic growth, social pressures, and the wider disruptions caused by climate change. We are responsible for the oversight and sustainability of these systems, especially as they come under attack by a ‘toxic triangle’ of climate change, corruption, and conflict.
Operationalising the term "hydrocide" may therefore be extremely valuable for water professionals, as it not only underscores the gravity of the challenges we face but also emphasises the urgency to address its related issues beyond the water sector.
The first practical way forward has to be identification and recording instances. Calling out systematic destruction of water systems as a war crime (and potential tool of genocide) against civilian populations wherever this occurs in a methodical and legally sanctioned manner is an important start. This could include establishing a UN-backed global surveillance system to document and address attacks on water systems, in similar vein to WHO’s system for tracking attacks on healthcare infrastructure.
Additionally, the expansion of international legal frameworks to explicitly address hydrocide, building on the work to bring ecocide to the ICC, would expand the potential legal jeopardy involved for those that display wilful negligence or intent on harming civilian water systems. This could spur on a more focused effort at using strategic litigation to uphold water justice, with the potential to give legal identity to water systems themselves – whether in nature or not – as essential to life and, therefore, fundamentally underpinning human rights.
Above all, water professionals, policymakers, human rights advocates, and global institutions must collaborate to address the toxic triangle of climate change, corruption, and conflict through new networks and systems of reporting and data collection.
We as water professionals cannot stand by as water systems are destroyed. We have to help build a future where these systems remain a source of peace and survival for all, not a tool of destruction or means of enrichment for some.
[1] Lundqvist, Jan. “Avert looming hydrocide.” AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment 27 (1998): 428-433.
*Alan Nicol is Principle Researcher at IWMI, writing in his personal capacity.
Rebecca Sands is Programme Lead for Tools, Climate, Gender and Social Inclusion at WIN.
Disclaimer: At WIN we value honest and open discussion. We are a multi-stakeholder network and our site brings together perspectives from across the board. Not all views expressed here reflect official policies.