water theft
Stealing liquid resources
Water theft is the unauthorized taking or diversion of water—from municipal systems, irrigation canals, or natural sources.
It ranges from tampering with meters to illegal well drilling to large-scale agricultural diversions: Investigators found evidence of water theft worth millions.
In drought-prone regions, water theft is increasingly prosecuted as a serious crime.
The term also applies to bottled water companies accused of depleting aquifers: Critics called the corporation's extraction water theft from the community.
- irrigationArtificial water supply for agriculture
- diversionRedirection of attention
- aquiferGroundwater-bearing geological formation
- droughtProlonged water scarcity
- canalDug water passage
siphon · poaching · piracy · riparian · groundwater · dry wells · meter · pipeline · underground pipes · pumping · arid · scarcity · allocation · rights · upstream · downstream · reservoir · well
- rural crimescattle rustling, poaching, rustling, barn burning, cattle mutilation
- Droughtdry spell, dry spells, no rain, low rainfall, parched earth
- eco-crimesillegal logging, poaching, illegal dumping, wildlife trafficking, toxic dumping
- water infrastructureaqueducts, dams, pumping stations, pumps, reservoirs
water theftwater conservation
Minimizing freshwater waste strategically
water sharing · water recycling · rainwater harvesting · watershed protection
water, theft, waters, watered, watering, watery, waterless, thief, thieves