Definition: "World Water War"
"This is a term devised by environmentalists for a type of conflict (most probably a form of guerrilla warfare) due to an acute shortage of water for drinking and irrigation. About 40 per cent of the world’s populations are already affected to some degree, but population growth, climate change and rises in living standards will worsen the situation: the UN Environment Agency warns that almost 3 billion people will be severely short of water within 50 years. Possible flash points have been predicted in the Middle East, parts of Africa and in many of the world’s major river basins, including the Danube. The term has been used for some years to describe disputes in the southern and south-western United States over rights to water extraction from rivers and aquifers." --Michael Quinion, World Wide Words, 1996-2006.
Water demand will 'outstrip supply by 40% within 20 years' due to climate change and population growthWater demand in many countries will exceed supply by 40 per cent within 20 years due to the combined threat of climate change and population growth, scientists have warned. A new way of thinking about water is needed as looming shortages threaten communities, agriculture and industry, experts said. In the next two decades, a third of humanity will have only half the water required to meet basic needs, said researchers. Crisis? Water demand in many countries will exceed supply by 40 per cent within 20 years due climate change and population growth, scientists have said Agriculture, which soaks up 71 per cent of water supplies, is also likely to suffer, affecting food production.
Our Great Lakes Commons: A People's Plan to Protect the Great Lakes ForeverThis paper is intended to serve as a background, a call to understanding and a call to action on an exciting new proposal to designate the Great Lakes and its tributary waters as a lived Commons, to be shared, protected, carefully managed and enjoyed by all who live around them. The Great Lakes Basin Commons would need to be protected by a legal and political framework based on Public Trust Doctrine, underpinning in law that the Great Lakes are central to the very existence of those people, plants and animals living on or near them and therefore must be protected for the common good from generation to generation. This means that the Lakes could not be appropriated or subordinated for private gain.
The UN Recognizes Water as a Human RightIn an impassioned speech to the UN General Assembly on July 28, Bolivian Ambassador to the UN, Pablo Salon highlighted the dire situation of the global water crisis by snapping his fingers three times to indicate that a child dies every three and a half seconds from drinking dirty water. He urged the world take action by voting in favour of a resolution presented by Bolivia and co-sponsored by 35 states calling on the General Assembly to recognize the human right to water and sanitation.
An Ocean of PlasticNo one is guiltless when it comes to the Pacific Garbage Patch - if you consume and discard goods, you are responsible for some portion of the plastic that is ending up in the ocean, even if you live hundreds of miles from the seaside. All rivers lead to the sea, as they say. Trash that ends up in a stream in the middle of the US can end up in the ocean and, with the help of ocean currents, find itself in the middle of a trash vortex. Here's a great slideshow explaining how trash from the middle of the continent can end up in the middle of the ocean: View Slideshow: Cartoonist Explains the Pacific Garbage Patch With Talking Sealife What's the impact of marine litter on wildlife? The plastics found in the ocean have a dire effect on marine life. Turtles confuse plastic bags for jellyfish and birds confuse bottle caps for food. They ingest them but can't digest them, so their stomachs fill with plastic and they starve to death, even though they continue trying to eat.
'Revolting' Levels of Bacteria Found in Canadian Bottled Water If the trace pharmaceuticals and the spectre of a near-indestructible gyre of swirling plastic the size of Texas weren't enough to scare you off bottled water, then try this: Canadian researchers have discovered that some bottled brands contain more bacteria than water that comes out of the tap. 117diggsdigg Scientists at Montreal's C-crest Laboratories found that certain popular brands (which they refused to name) had "surprisingly high" counts of heterotrophic bacteria (meaning they need an organic source of carbon to flourish). Even though they didn't find any serious pathogens, more than 70 percent of the well-known brands actually failed the standards for heterotrophic bacteria set by the NGO United States Pharmacopeia.
Shale Gas Costing 2/3 Less Than OPEC Oil Incites Water ConcernMay 25 (Bloomberg) -- When Victoria Switzer awoke on a cold night in March, her dog was staring out the window at the flame roaring from a natural-gas-drilling rig 2,000 feet behind her house. She remembers trees silhouetted in a demonic dance as the plume burned off gas that had been building up under her land. She discovered later that such flaring can occur when Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. and dozens more companies drill for gas trapped in shale rock. The deposits, stretching from Texas to New York, and as far away as Australia and China, represent what may be the biggest energy bonanza in decades -- one that Switzer, 57, recalls thinking the Earth isn’t surrendering without a fight
The world's most valuable stuff PEOPLE kill each other over diamonds; countries go to war over oil. But the world’s most expensive commodities are worth nothing in the absence of water. Fresh water is essential for life, with no substitute. Although mostly unpriced, it is the most valuable stuff in the world. Nature has decreed that the supply of water is fixed. Meanwhile demand rises inexorably as the world’s population increases and enriches itself. Homes, factories and offices are sucking up ever more. But it is the planet’s growing need for food (and the water involved in producing crops and meat) that matters most. Farming accounts for 70% of withdrawals.
The Story of Bottled WaterI'm joining with a bunch of North America's leading environmental groups to release our new film: The Story of Bottled Water. It's a seven-minute animated film that uses simple images and words to explain a complex problem caused by what I call the 'take-make-waste' economy. In this case, we explain how you get Americans to buy half a billion bottles of water a week when most can get it almost free from the tap in their kitchen. The answer, of course, is you manufacture demand--make people think they need to spend money on something they don't actually need or already have.
The Water Bottle Lie and Your Health Those five-gallon water cooler jugs are made from a chemical called Bisphenol A (BPA), which was originally developed as a synthetic estrogen. Exposure to BPA has been linked to breast and prostate cancer, reproductive failures, heart disease, cognitive and behavioral problems, diabetes, obesity and asthma. A study commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control in 2007 showed that 93 percent of Americans have BPA in their urine. More recent studies are even scarier suggesting that BPA stays in the body longer than previously believed and that babies and young children may be particularly vulnerable because they may metabolize BPA more slowly than adults.
Polluted Water More Deadly Than War Bad water kills more people than wars or earthquakes, declared Anders Berntell, executive director of the Stockholm International Water Institute. With almost 39 percent of the world's population (over 2.5 billion people) living without improved sanitation facilities, the report said that much more needs to be done to reach or come close to the sanitation MDG target.
Canadian Cities Leading the Charge Against Bottled WaterCanada—Seventy-two municipalities from 8 provinces and 2 territories have implemented restrictions on bottled water. The last 12 months have not been kind to the big three bottled water manufacturers Nestlé, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi, whose bottled water sales are down while the number of bans continues to increase.
Cheap Great Lakes Water Offered In Exchange For JobsMichigan—Although superficially, this may seem quite sensible, there is a high risk of unintended and unwanted consequences if a cheap water incentive were offered to all comers.
The Blue Summit declaration pdf Ottawa—Water is essential to life. It is part of the global commons, and belongs to the earth and all its species. It is sacred and needs to be treated with respect. Governments must manage water resources on our behalf as a public trust. They must ensure water is distributed fairly and responsibly. Shrinking supplies of clean water around the world endanger human populations and the health of ecosystems. Water resources and services must not be bought, sold or traded. Water is a public resource, not an economic commodity. The environment and the public interest must not be sacrificed for private profits.
The Fiji Water PhenomenonNowhere in Fiji Water's glossy marketing materials will you find reference to the typhoid outbreaks that plague Fijians because of the island's faulty water supplies; the corporate entities that Fiji Water has -- despite the owners' talk of financial transparency -- set up in tax havens like the Cayman Islands and Luxembourg; or the fact that its signature bottle is made from Chinese plastic in a diesel-fueled plant and hauled thousands of miles to its ecoconscious consumers. And, of course, you won't find mention of the military junta for which Fiji Water is a major source of global recognition and legitimacy. (Gilmour has described the square bottles as "little ambassadors" for the poverty-stricken nation.)
The people of Michigan find victoryFOR MICHIGAN CITIZENS FOR WATER CONSERVATION vs NESTLE Big Rapids, Michigan: Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation stopped Nestlé Waters North America, Inc.’s attempt to pump more water from a stressed stream and lake for its Ice Mountain bottled water in Mecosta, Michigan on Monday, July 6. CLICK HERE TO READ RELEASE
Australian town bans bottled water sales Residents of a rural Australian town hoping to protect the earth and their wallets have voted to ban the sale of bottled water. Residents of Bundanoon cheered after their near-unanimous approval of the measure at a town meeting Wednesday. It was the second blow to Australia's beverage industry in one day: Hours earlier, the New South Wales state premier banned all state departments and agencies from buying bottled water, calling it a waste of money and natural resources.
Global Water Outlook to 2025 PDF For some time, experts have argued about the Earth’s capacity to support ever larger human populations. Can the Earth produce enough food to feed 8 billion people? 10 billion? It now appears that one of the main factors limiting future food production will be water. This scarce resource is facing heavy and unsustainable demand from users of all kinds, and farmers increasingly have to compete for water with urban residents and industries.
Water Risks Ripple Through the Beverage IndustryAt New York's Del Posto, diners can share a $130 entree of wild branzino fish with roasted fennel and peperonata concentrato and a $3,600 bottle of Dom Perignon. They cannot share a bottle of Perrier or San Pellegrino water. The Italian restaurant backed by celebrities Mario Batali and Joseph Bastianich is one of several shunning bottled water, along with the city of San Francisco and New York state. "The argument for local water is compelling and obvious," said Bastianich, who is phasing out bottled water across his restaurant empire, which stretches to Los Angeles. "It's about transportation, packaging, the absurdity of moving water all over the world," he said. As environmental worries cut into sales from traditionally lucrative bottled water, beverage companies such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestle and SABMiller are becoming more attuned to the risks of negative consumer environmental perceptions.
California's Water Woes Threaten the Entire Country's Food Supply"I don't think the American public has gripped in its gut what could happen. We're looking at a scenario where there's no more agriculture in California. I don't actually see how they can keep their cities going," Steven Chu told the Los Angeles Times in February, shortly after taking office in January. "I'm hoping that the American people will wake up, just in case there was any confusion about the gravity of the situation. California's agricultural sector grows approximately one-third of the nation's food supply and is nourished by diverted rivers and streams filled yearly by runoff from its prodigious Sierra Nevada snowpack, as well as groundwater pumping and other less-reliable methods. That snowpack -- which once sparked the first, but not the last, water war that helped transform a semi-arid Los Angeles into an unsustainable oasis less populous than only New York City -- is disappearing fast.
Unquenchable: American's Water Crisis and What We Can Do About It"When the well's dry, we know the worth of water," observed Benjamin Franklin in 1774. But he was wrong. In the United States, we utterly fail to appreciate the value of water, even as we are running out. We Americans are spoiled. When we turn on the tap, out comes a limitless quantity of high-quality water for less money than we pay for our cell phone service or cable television. Ignorance is bliss when it comes to water. In almost every state in the country, a landowner can drill a domestic well anywhere, anytime-no questions asked.
Many states don't even require permits for commercial wells unless the pumping will exceed 100,000 gallons a day (that's 36 million gallons annually). Water lubricates the American economy just as oil does. It is intimately linked to energy because it takes water to make energy, and it takes energy to divert, pump, move, and cleanse water. Water plays a critical role in virtually every segment of the economy, from heavy industry to food production, from making semiconductors to providing Internet service. A prosperous future depends on a secure and reliable water supply. And we don't have it. To be sure, water still flows from taps, but we're draining our reserves like gamblers at the craps table.
The Great Lakes Compact and the potential privatization of water: an interview with James M. Olson In an interview with Circle of Blue, James M. Olson discusses the Great Lakes Compact: an international agreement intended to protect the Great Lakes Basin. Olson, an environmental lawyer specializing in natural resource law, highlights the possible unexpected consequences of the Compact. He is the senior principal at the law firm Olson, Bzdok & Howard.
Listen to Story What Happens When We Run Out of Drinking Water? Here's a look at three communities facing water shortages along with the pressure to grow and what they're doing to find solutions.
Great perils of the Great Lakes Taken together, the Great Lakes are a vast inland sea representing over one-fifth of all surface fresh water on the planet. More than 40 million Canadians and Americans draw their drinking water from the lakes, which play a vital role in public health, the environment, industry, commerce, and leisure. But there are causes for concern: invasive species, declining water levels, uncertain quality of drinking water, and pressures to divert water from and into the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence basin. Signed into law by President George W. Bush Oct. 3, the Great Lakes Compact takes effect Dec. 8. The binational agreement, the fruit of regional initiatives, obliges eight American states and two Canadian provinces to work together to protect the lakes system.
The plant closed in 1984, but the Grand Canyon Trust estimates 110,000 gallons of radioactive groundwater still seep into the river there each day from the 16 million ton pile of radioactive waste.
How the West's Energy Boom Could Threaten Drinking Water for 1 in 12 AmericansThe Colorado River, the life vein of the Southwestern United States, is in trouble. The river's water is hoarded the moment it trickles out of the mountains of Wyoming and Colorado and begins its 1,450-mile journey to Mexico's border. The river is already so beleaguered by drought and climate change that one environmental study called it the nation's "most endangered" waterway. Researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography warn the river's reservoirs could dry up in 13 years. Now a rush to develop domestic oil, gas and uranium deposits along the river and its tributaries threatens its future. Although company executives insist they adhere to environmental laws, natural gas drilling has led to numerous toxic spills across the West. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, mining has already contaminated four out of 10 streams and rivers in the West.
New York to Close Tap on Bottled WaterNew York—Let them drink tap. City Councilmen Eric Gioia (D-Queens) and Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn) will introduce a bill next week that would stop city agencies from buying bottled water and water coolers for workers at city agencies.
Toronto Bans Bottled WatersCanada—Toronto City Council voted on Tuesday to ban the sale of plastic water bottles on all municipal premises from City Hall to golf courses by 2011. Stuart Green, spokesman for Toronto Mayor David Miller, said the plastic-water-bottle ban, along with other measures, is all part of the city’s plan to divert 70 per cent of Toronto’s waste from the dump by 2010.
Toronto Gets Ahead Canada—Our neighbors to the north have recently taken a big step towards reducing their environmental footprint. The City of Toronto has voted (30:13) to ban sales and distribution of disposable plastic water bottles at city-owned facilities, and has approved a 5 cent fee on disposable plastic bags.
Nestle Waters CEOs named amoung "Corporate Scrooges" of the year by Co-op AmericaThe dishonor is particularly pointed in this year of economic horrors, government bailouts and huge layoffs, Co-op America announced the "awards." "These CEOs represent the worst of the worst when it comes to corporate insensitivity, avarice and callousness," said Victoria Kreha of Co-op America. "They need to be held accountable for their actions, which, in some cases, have inflicted appalling harm on consumers and our environment." Nestle Waters Chairman/CEO John Harris threatened to sue Miami-Dade County in Florida after it aired public service messages declaring its tap water was cheaper, safer and purer than bottled water.
Nestle water ads misleading: Canada green groupsCanada—As Toronto City Council gathers to consider passing a city-wide ban on bottled water, a new coalition is challenging advertising claims made by Nestle Waters that "bottled water is the most environmentally responsible consumer product in the world." The group, which includes Ecojustice, Friends of the Earth Canada, the Polaris Institute, the Council of Canadians, and Wellington Water Watchers, is filing a complaint under Canadian Code of Advertising Standards against Nestle Waters North America. The groups argue that Nestle is attempting to mislead the public on the true impacts of bottled water. The groups argue that Nestle Waters' ad contravened the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards by making false and misleading statements regarding the environmental impacts of its product. The complaint also alleges that some of the statements in the ad are contrary to guidelines that have been set by Canada's Competition Bureau and the Canadian Standards Association to ensure environmental claims are specific and verifiable.
Is bottled water standing between you and financial solvency?Here's something that I do without thinking on a daily basis: grab a bottle of water. I have a million Siggs and awesome bottles for my agua, but I just end up grabbing a bottle of Ethos out of habit, spending almost $2 a day for less than 24 ounces. Bottled water costs more per gallon than gasoline! In fact, even more expensive than gasoline was 60 days ago. What is more, it's a horrible polluter, between the plastic bottles in the landfills and the trucks/trains/plains that have to ship the heavy stuff from as far away as Fiji. What is more, when scholars look back at our penchant for the Evian, they probably won't understand how we had the stuff readily available in homes, parks, offices and wherever, but we insisted on paying money to have bottles of the very same stuff. If we all had a gasoline pump in our driveway, would we still insist on getting our petrol from the gas station? It's just as silly with bottled water. We all know that Dasani and Aquafina are just tap water from other municipalities. My goal for this month is to take back the tap, and I challenge you to do the same! Save some of that bottle money and buy a Brita and then start filling one of the millions of reusable bottles that you've got lying around your house. Your planet, your body and your budget will thank you!
Why we fell out of love with bottled waterAfter three decades of constant growth which saw sales rise by a factor of 100, from 20m litres a year in 1976 to 2,000m litres in 2006, the rise and fall of the sales chart is starting to resemble one of the mountains pictured in the advertising. Unless the slide is halted, bottled water will become history, a consumer fad that couldn't live up to the hype. Unlikely, certainly, but the industry is spooked. the collapsing economy is causing consumers to question whether they need to spend £1 or £2 on something they can get for a fraction of the price at home. Most vexingly to its multinational cheerleaders, bottled water has become a symbol of environmental lunacy. How can one defend a product that is trucked hundreds or thousands of miles in plastic bottles when it gushes out of taps almost free? The Government has announced that it is banning mineral water from civil service meetings. Consumer groups call on diners to ask for tap – and millions are doing so. Mineral water is no longer cool; it's dumb, bought by gullible clothes-horses who care more about their skin than the planet. In months to come, there will be lobbying from the Natural Hydration Council (created by Britain's three biggest bottled-water companies, the Swiss food giant Nestlé, the French dairy corporation Danone and Highland Spring) and a massive advertising campaign that will seek to "re-educate the public" about the benefits of bottled water. And it will get dirty. The bottled water camp is throwing mud at the tap water companies, with talk of chlorine, septic tanks, contamination and irresponsible leakage. The companies are fighting for their lives.
FDA Proposes Improved Testing Of Bottled WaterA report by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) in October found bottled water is no better than tap water (and often worse). Now, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), proposes improved testing of bottled water to detect bacteria. Every year consumers receive annual test results regarding any contaminants found in tap water, but the bottled water industry is not required to disclose its findings. Independent tests conducted by EWG, in October, found 10 popular brands of bottled water contained 38 chemical pollutants, with an average of 8 contaminants in each brand. More than one-third of the chemicals found are not regulated in bottled water.
Greenwash of the Week: Fiji Waters Fiji—This week’s Greenwash comes to us courtesy of Fiji Spring Water - “Every Drop Is Green“. I saw a bottle of this stuff at a mineral spring my wife and I were at last weekend and I started reading the bottle and was amazed at what they were trying to sell to consumers; that they were, in-fact, “Green” and that they were an eco-friendly company. Um, ok. Well, let’s take a look: * Fiji is in the South Pacific Ocean and is 5,500 miles away from Los Angeles * All the plastic needed to make the bottles has to not only be shipped to Fiji, but then shipped all over the world full of the water * They are draining the aquifers of the native people, which is very valuable as the island is made out of volcanic rock without much fresh water * Plastic takes over 500 years to degrade in a landfill, and unfortunately only about 23% of it gets recycled * About one-third of Fiji’s people lack access to clean drinking water while this company makes millions off bottled water * It takes a lot of energy and fuel to extract the water, make the bottles, pack the bottles, and ship the bottles over land and sea ...
Solar company could fill void left by NestleMichigan—Solar Array Ventures is considering opening a new facility in Fulton. The plant could fill the void left after the Nestle plant closed a few years ago. In a statement, Senator Schumer said a new solar panel plant in Fulton would be a win-win for the region and the company. Central New York offers the finest work force, critical space and key financial incentives for the company and the new plant would create hundreds of new jobs and give a shot in the arm to the local economy.
Attorney General Slams Nestle's Bottled Water AspirationsCalifornia—Another big win for those hoping to keep the beverage giant out of McCloud, California. Now Nestle has got even more opposition. Earlier this week, Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. warned Nestle that "California will challenge the environmental plan for a bottled water plant in Siskiyou county. This is just the latest in a round of setbacks for Nestle, which announced recently that it would scale down the size of the plant. The pressure groups who have been fighting Nestle on the issue had many accolades for the AG.
Nestle Cancels Bottled Water Contract in McCloud, CaliforniaCalifornia—The Protect Our Waters Coalition (composed of the McCloud Watershed Council, California Trout, and Trout Unlimited) just reported that Nestle Waters North America has agreed to cancel its contract with the McCloud Community Services District that concerned the building of a controversial water bottling facility in the small town of McCloud, California. The environmental impacts of the project were hotly contested by local residents, environmental and wildlife groups, as well as national organizations fighting water privatization. Recently an Attorney General also spoke out against the project, and Nestle, succumbed to pressure.
Environment Scores a Big Win as Bottled Water Sales Fall Texas—The campaign against bottled water companies is paying off. Years of work by pressure groups and a growing awareness by the public has help expose the bottled water industry's true colors as sales this year show. The Dallas Morning News reported: Bottled water sales are expected to slow to a trickle this year, and producers are blaming everything from the parched economy to the kitchen sink. There's a free substitute called tap water Nestle is hurting. It never feels good to hear about anyone losing their jobs, but after all Nestle has done to rural communities, it seems the company is getting a little pay back.
Voters Reject Water PrivatizationOhio—Last night the citizens of Akron won a tremendous victory. They overwhelmingly said 'No' to Issue 8, which would have leased the city's wastewater utility to a private, for-profit corporation. This would have meant rate increases, poor service, and bad maintenance. The Mayor disguised this proposal in the scheme of a scholarship program, but he did not tell the folks of Akron all the facts. We got the facts about this proposal to the citizens and they overwhelmingly voted down Issue 8. Privatization is not the cure to repairing ailing infrastructure systems. The evidence from the 86 percent of U.S. water systems under public control clearly shows higher efficiency with lower costs for ratepayers. In contrast, corporations' costs are higher and any efficiency premiums are often passed on to their shareholders. Indeed, the 14 percent of U.S. water utilities that are privately owned charge ratepayers anywhere from 13 percent to 50 percent more than their public counterparts.
Bottled Water Toxicity Shown To Exceed Law Bottled water brands do not always maintain the consistency of quality touted in ads featuring alpine peaks and crystalline lakes and, in some cases, contain toxic byproducts that exceed state safety standards, tests show. The Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit organization with offices in Oakland, tested 10 brands of bottled water and found that Wal-Mart's Sam's Choice contained chemical levels that exceeded legal limits in California and the voluntary standards adopted by the industry. The tests discovered an average of eight contaminants in each brand. Four brands besides Wal-Mart's also were contaminated with bacteria. The environmental group filed a notice of intent to sue Wal-Mart Tuesday, alleging that the mega-chain failed to warn the public of illegal concentrations of trihalomethanes, which are cancer-causing chemicals.
Manufacturing Thirst: The Hidden Water Costs of Our Industrial EconomyThe rampant waste of freshwater for general public use -- lawn watering, the creation of suburban fake lakes, excessive bathing and household washing -- has been well documented, as has the politically charged use of water in US agriculture. But the use and abuse of water in various parts of the global industrial economy is often overlooked. From the mining of raw materials for manufacturing to energy production, to the manufacturing process itself, the US industrial economy uses a significant amount of water every year. Exact numbers for the amount of water used outside of agriculture or home consumption are difficult to come by. The US Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that industry uses about five percent of all the water in the US, but does not include mining or electricity generation in that figure. A report from Dow Chemical puts the figure much higher, at around 20 percent. And perhaps more importantly, neither number takes into account the volume of water pollution that occurs in the course of industrial processes.
Bottled WaterIt’s not a great time to be in the bottled-water business. More companies and consumers are turning back to using tap water and filters. Environmental groups have gone on the offensive against those millions of used plastic bottles. On top of all this, a new report today finds a “surprising array of chemical contaminants” in 10 brands of bottled water, including byproducts of chlorination, small amounts of caffeine and acetaminophen, and fertilizer residue. The report, by the Environmental Working Group, a public-health watchdog organization based in Washington, said that contaminant levels in some water samples exceeded the industry’s own voluntary standards.
The New Corporate Threat to Our Water SuppliesIn the last few years, the world's largest financial institutions and pension funds, from Goldman Sachs to Australia's Macquarie Bank, have figured out that old, trustworthy utilities and infrastructure could become reliable cash cows -- supporting the financial system's speculative junk derivatives with the real concrete of highways, water utilities, airports, harbors, and transit systems. The spiraling collapse of the financial system may only intensify the quest for private investments in what is now the public sector. This flipping of public assets could be the next big phase of privatization, as local and state governments, starved during Bush's two terms in office, look to bail out on public assets, employees, and responsibilities.
ACTION: Restore the Clean Water ActIt's hard to believe, but polluters are actually allowed to contaminate your drinking water. Why? Because the Supreme Court and the Bush Administration have sided with polluters to strip vital protections from the Clean Water Act. That means that dangerous pollutants like E. coli, bacteria, mercury, PCBs, and dioxin could be contaminating the drinking water of more than 110 million Americans . But Congress can act today to restore the Clean Water Act's original protections by supporting the Clean Water Restoraction Act.
We Hold Its Value to Be Self-Evident Ecuador approved a new constitution this weekend that, among other things, grants inalienable rights to nature, the first such inclusion in a nation's constitution, according to Ecuadorian officials. "Nature ... where life is reproduced and exists, has the right to exist, persist, maintain, and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions, and its processes in evolution. Every person, people, community, or nationality will be able to demand the recognition of rights for nature before the public bodies," the document says. The specific mention of evolution isn't accidental; besides being an activity nature arguably likes to do anyway, evolution as we know it has close ties to Ecuador's territory of the Galapagos Islands, where Charles Darwin formed his famous theory. Ecuador's constitution grants nature the right to "integral restoration" and says that the state "will promote respect toward all the elements that form an ecosystem" and that the state "will apply precaution and restriction measures in all the activities that can lead to the extinction of species, the destruction of the ecosystems, or the permanent alteration of the natural cycles."
Bottled Water: The Height of StupidityBottled water is a joke, one of the biggest consumer and taxpayer ripoffs ever. I applaud California's Attorney General Jerry Brown who said recently that he will sue to block a proposed water-bottling operation in Northern California by Nestle. Attorneys General everywhere should require recycling of all plastic bottles and containers by requiring deposits to be paid to encourage returns, as is the case with aluminum cans. Not only do society and the environment pay an unfair price for this consumer hoax, but consumers are being hoodwinked. They are paying from 300 to 3,000 times more than the cost of tap water without any benefit.
Pickens Eyes Pipelines in Drought-Ridden U.S.Pickens is in the planning stages of a $1.5 billion initiative to pump billions of gallons of water from an ancient aquifer beneath the Texas Panhandle and build pipelines to ship them to thirsty cities such as Dallas.A drought has drained water from Texas and much of the rest of the United States. That could make water an increasingly profitable commodity for those who hold the rights. According to his Web site, Pickens owns rights to more water than anyone else. "In general, there's a lot of it, it's just not in the right place," says Robert Stillwell, legal counsel for Mesa Water (and board member of the water supply district), which continues to acquire water rights in rural Texas. He dismisses questions about whether the water would be cost-competitive. For cities looking at their future water needs, he says, "cost becomes irrelevant." As far as Mesa's pipeline snaking across the Texas heartland, Stillwell insists that "it's going to happen, it's just a matter of when." [Editor: Pickens has also been seen expressing an interest in the water of the Great Lakes region.]
Putting a Cap on the Bottled Water IndustryFor more than a year, Nestlé and its well drillers, technical consultants, and lawyers have been quietly surveying the profit potential in the few remaining unspoiled springs and aquifers in Central and Western Massachusetts. In its attempts to strike blue gold, the firm has aggressively pursued water extraction deals that have many locals seeing red. Two recent efforts by Nestlé to pursue pumping operations in small towns illustrate why withdrawals for commercial water bottling operations in our state pose unacceptable risks, not only to local drinking water supplies, but also to such natural assets as fisheries and conservation land. Last summer, Montague residents halted — at least for now — Nestlé’s pursuit of the spring water beneath Montague Plains, a state wildlife management area that also recharges critical ground water for a state fish hatchery and the local wells on which many homes and farms depend. This spring, after considerable public outcry, Clinton town officials appeared to have finally rejected Nestlé’s bid to extract and export up to a quarter-million gallons of spring water a day — equal to 4 million servings of some of the cleanest drinking water in the state — from the nearly 600-acre Wekepeke Reservation land that Clinton owns in the town of Sterling. The offer posed several legal issues, not least the fact that Clinton’s 19th-century water rights to the Wekepeke are for surface water — not spring water — and only for town public water supply needs.
Water Scarcity: The Real Food Crisis June 9, 2008. In the discussion of the global food emergency, one underlying factor is barely mentioned: The world is running out of freshwater. Climate change, overconsumption and the alarmingly inefficient use of this most basic raw material are all to blame. I wrote a book three years ago titled When The Rivers Run Dry. It probed why the Yellow River in China, the Rio Grande and Colorado in the United States, the Nile in Egypt, the Indus in Pakistan, the Amu Darya in Central Asia, and many others are all running on empty. The confident blue lines in a million atlases simply do not tell the truth about rivers sucked dry, for the most part, to irrigate food crops.
The Growing Battle for the Right to WaterFrom Chile to the Philippines to South Africa to her home country of Canada, Maude Barlow is one of a few people who truly understands the scope of the world's water woes. Her newest book, Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water, details her discoveries around the globe about our diminishing water resources, the increasing privatization trend and the grassroots groups that are fighting back against corporate theft, government mismanagement and a changing climate.
The Bottled Water Industry: When It Pours, It ReignsHey, all you sewer-clogging, turtle-choking, shrub-smothering plastic bags, go jump in a lake! Or an ocean — where you can be reunited with the rest of your baggy brethren in that swirling vortex of cast-off plastic we call The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. We’re just not that into putting things into you, anymore. Now, if we could only stigmatize your rigid, landfill-lovin’ cousin, the plastic water bottle. Because whereas you, my crinkly little symbol of fossil-fueled folly, are destined for history’s trash heap (where you will defiantly, proudly, refuse to decompose), bottled water is still socially acceptable, despite the fact that it threatens to poison the very wellspring of our democracy. Think that’s some kinda Kunstleresque hyperbole? Consider what Lyndon B. Johnson said forty years ago: A nation that fails to plan intelligently for the development and protection of its precious waters will be condemned to wither because of its shortsightedness.
Troubled WatersThe greatest natural resource in a four-state area, Lake Michigan's safe keeping has increasingly become the center of concern and controversy. Many are asking questions. Is the lake safe for recreation? Is drinking water drawn by numerous communities pure? Is pollution lessening? Who are the polluters? And most of all, what is being done to safeguard the lake?
New European Networks Strengthen Efforts On March 18 Aqua Publica Europea, an association of public water utilities, was launched at the Water Pavilion in Paris, France. The network will promote efforts to exchange information, expertise and collaboration between public sector water utilities in order to improve water and sanitation service delivery. Publica Europea highlights the many efforts in public systems to improve water services, work for conservation and increase public participation. In addition, European civil society groups have taken steps to initiate a network of social movements, non-profit groups, and associations. The European Network plans to promote water as a fundamental human right and common good. It furthermore plans to work for public, participatory water management. The initiative builds on the extensive experience of its member groups and is planning sustained outreach in Europe this year to strengthen the programme. A number of groups, which are also active on the global level, will work to establish the network. These groups include: Corporate Europe Observatory, CeVI - Comitato Italiano Contratto Mondiale Acqua, France Libertes, Ingenieria sin Fronteras, and Forum Italiano Movimenti sull'acqua.
Prepaid Water Meters Imagine having to insert a coin in your faucet every time you wanted a glass of water or needed water to cook rice. It sounds absurd but it’s a reality that many poor people are forced to suffer. Imagine having to insert a coin in your faucet every time you wanted a glass of water or needed water to cook rice. It sounds absurd but it’s a reality that many poor people are forced to suffer. There are several types of prepaid water meters but the outcome is the same: If you cannot pay upfront, you are unable to access water. Water from prepaid water meters typically costs more than water billed from the utility. Prepaid water meters are typically used in the poorest areas and, as a result, those in most need are denied access to water. Following privatization of water in the U.K. in the 1990’s, and the higher rates that followed, several utilities installed prepaid water meters in low–income areas. They were subsequently outlawed due to the negative social and economic impact. But prepaid water meters are still widely used in South Africa, as well as in countries such as Brazil, the United States, the Philippines, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Brazil, Nigeria, and Curacao.
Sedatives and Sex Hormones in Our Water SupplySaturday was World Water Day, and the United Nations estimates close to 1.5 billion people around the world do not have access to clean drinking water. What about here in the United States? The Associated Press has conducted an extensive investigation into the drinking water in at least twenty-four major American cities across the country, which contain trace amounts of a wide array of pharmaceuticals. The amounts might be small, but scientists are worried about the long-term health and environmental consequences of their presence in the water supplies of some forty-one million Americans.
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