WMO’s latest water report shows drying rivers and frequent swings between drought and flood
The latest World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report on the state of the world's water has revealed that in 2025, rivers across the globe had one of the driest years in more than three decades, continuing a longer-term drop in Earth’s freshwater storage and an acceleration of glacier melt.
However, the WMO also say that the water cycle is becoming more erratic and unpredictable, swinging between too little or too much, which is reflected in the fact that parts of north-eastern and eastern Australia actually had river flows above average.
Speaking in an AusSMC Expert Reaction, Professor Jennifer McKay, an expert in water and sustainable development law from Adelaide University, indicated that the findings of the WMO’s report “highlight that water variability, not just water scarcity, is becoming a defining challenge globally”.
“For Australia, the contrast between above-average flows in some eastern catchments and groundwater pressures in parts of southern Australia reinforces the need for long-term water planning that accounts for increasing climate variability rather than relying on historical patterns,” she said, highlighting that many regions are experiencing more frequent swings between drought and flood.
Dr Clare Stephens, Lecturer in Environmental Science from the University of New South Wales, told the AusSMC that greater year-to-year variability in the water cycle is becoming ‘the new normal’.
“While the report does not attempt to attribute these events to climate change, an overall wetting trend in northern Australia and a drying trend in southern Australia is consistent with our expectations for the future,” she said.
These sentiments may be reflected by the Australian Government’s National Climate Risk Assessment, which was released one year ago this week, in which one of the key findings was that in planning to keep Australians safe, we must be prepared for ‘More frequent and severe extreme events like floods, fires and cyclones’.
The implications of these alarming trends, according to Dr Mattia Saccò from Curtin University’s Subterranean Research and Groundwater Ecology Group, include "the loss of biodiversity, weaker ecosystems and overall, a more fragile world".
“The increase in intensity of extreme events such as floods and droughts affects groundwater recharge, causing the collapse of a vast number of surface groundwater-dependent ecosystems - such as forests and wetlands – crucial for the fight against climate change,” he told the AusSMC.
According to Dr Saccò, “Overall, the report stresses one timely aspect: the integrity of the global water cycle is at stake - we need to act now.”
You can read the full AusSMC Expert Reaction on Scimex.org
This article originally appeared in Science Deadline, a weekly newsletter from the AusSMC. You are free to republish this story, in full, with appropriate credit.
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