Overview
- The World Meteorological Organization released a report on Thursday, September 17, 2026, using data through the end of 2025 that shows terrestrial freshwater stores have declined steadily for about a decade.
- Between 2023 and 2025 the world’s glaciers lost roughly 1,400 gigatonnes of ice and 2025 ranked among the three lowest years in the past 35 for river outflows, signals that long-term water reserves are shrinking.
- Nearly two-thirds of monitored wells showed conditions outside their historical norms in 2025, with Central and Eastern Europe among the hardest-hit regions for groundwater deficits.
- The WMO says a strengthening El Niño and rising human water demand make further deterioration likely, and several severe 2026 events such as low Rhine and Danube flows are not included in the report, implying near-term risk may be higher than the published metrics show.
- The loss of slow-changing buffers like glaciers and groundwater reduces the ability to ride out droughts, increasing threats to farming, livelihoods and national economies and strengthening calls for water efficiency, irrigation reform, expanded storage and better monitoring.