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HOMEPLANET WATER EMERGENCY (parts 14 — 30, in reverse order) Press Release Water Companies' Reputations, Business Practices Going Down the Drain September 19, 2002 Sewerage and Water Board Should Reject All Bids, Focus on Improving Public System NEW ORLEANS - The international water conglomerates trying to persuade New Orleans to privatize the city's water and wastewater system aren't fit to provide such a vital public service, a new Public Citizen report explains. Two for the Road: An Update on the Companies Vying for Control of New Orleans' Water examines recent developments connected to the two corporate finalists being considered by the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board: USFilter, a subsidiary of Vivendi Universal, and United Water, a subsidiary of Suez. At a press conference today, an international coalition encouraged the New Orleans' city water board to reject all three bids, due to be voted on in the coming days. "Water will soon be one of New Orleans' greatest assets as much of the country faces shortages and droughts," said Edward Melendez, principal of the Urban Conservancy. "We support democratically controlled management of the city's water system, both for the well being of citizens and the economic development of our community. Urban Conservancy urges citizens to reject all bids for privatization of water services in the city and to demand close scrutiny of any process to reengineer our city's water services." "New Orleans is faced with a tough decision," said Aaron Viles, Gulf States Field Organizer for the United States Public Interest Research Group. "But the thing to remember is there are no corporate white knights riding in to save us from ourselves." One of the companies is mired in dizzying financial uncertainties, while both have recent histories of operational bungling and putting profits ahead of public interest. Among developments detailed in the report: * Despite assertions by company officials to the contrary, USFilter remains hopelessly entangled with Vivendi Universal, its debt-choked, mission-puzzled corporate parent. While USFilter executives have attempted to distance their company from Vivendi as it scrambles for deals, Vivendi has proclaimed that it has no intention of reducing its control in the water side of the corporation's far-flung interests. USFilter could find itself cannibalized, squeezed and drained as the corporate parent tries to eke every last drop out of the corporate "cash cow" to bankroll whatever whimsical strategy Vivendi Universal finally lands on. * United Water's performance in Atlanta, where the company's long-term contract was once touted as the model for municipal water privatization, has been so dismal that the company has been put on 90-day notice that the contract may be terminated. Atlanta officials have identified myriad problems with United Water's operation of the city's water system, including billing the city for work that was never done, dramatic staff reductions and an unacceptable increase in backlogged maintenance requests. * Houston considered privatization but determined it would be in the public's interest to instead re-engineer the publicly owned system. However, Houston did privatize operation of a water treatment plant, contracting with United Water. After its contract was not renewed, United Water decided to sue the city for $900,000. Houston has countersued for $2 million, claiming United Water failed to maintain the plant and that necessary repairs will cost $2 million. "Vivendi is a debt-smothered giant desperately trying to stave off financial ruin, and is clueless about what it wants to be when it grows up," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "Suez never misses an opportunity to slash a workforce, break a promise and show that it cares more about getting money from you than getting water to you." A third bid before the Sewerage and Water Board, presented by the public water system, promises more savings than either private bid. But none of the three bids offers truly significant savings. Moreover, all three bids were submitted under a flawed process that fails to account for the total future responsibilities and expenses of operating the system safely and efficiently. Experiences in other cities show that the most money could be saved by continuing to identify opportunities for efficiencies under public ownership, and implementing those opportunities through a focused re-engineering program-not a de facto, inadequate restructuring of the water and sewer system's administration as would happen if the employees' bid is accepted. Public Citizen urges the board to reject all the bids and instead allow employees to comprehensively re-engineer the system to address all future challenges, based on the fundamental mission of providing the people of New Orleans safe, reliable, affordable and publicly controlled water and sewer service. "There's a looming world water crisis that private companies are taking advantage of," said Tony Clarke, executive director of the Polaris Institute. "In all likelihood, the water companies are interested in New Orleans because they want access to the mighty Mississippi River for bulk water sales in the future." A copy of Public Citizen's report is available at http://www.citizen.org/documents/two%20for%20the%20road.pdf.
Mark the date: Wednesday, September 25 Call in Day to Stop the Corporate Control of Water! Flood the World Bank with calls to demand a water-secure future - say no to privatization and increased cost recovery (see background below). Sample Message: Water is a human right, not a source of profits for investors. No more loans requiring water privatization and increased cost recovery! Please call any or all of these individuals who work to privatize our water on September 25 World Bank Water Resource Management: Senior Water advisor, John Briscoe: ph 202-473-5557, fax 202.522.3306 or e-mail jbriscoe@worldbank.org Senior water resource specialist, Karin Kemper: 202-473-1995, fax 202.522.3306 or e-mail kkemper@worldbank.org World Bank Energy and Water Development Program Director, Jamal Saghir: 202.473.2789, fax 202.522.7462 or e-mail jsaghir@worldbank.org Lead Economist, Jonathan Halpern: 202.458.4442, fax 202.522.7462 or e-mail jhalpern@worldbank.org Background Instead of protecting the global environment and ensuring that everyone has access to clean water, the World Bank is promoting corporate control of essential services. Financially strapped countries are being blackmailed by the World Bank into selling their water systems to giant water corporations in exchange for loans and debt relief. Despite the World Bank's hype, privatization will NOT improve access to the poor. To pave the way for privatization, countries are often forced to raise rates so that corporations can recover costs, plus earn profit. In May 2001, for example, the World Bank and IMF required Ghana - a West African country where 60% of the population lives on less than $1 day -- to double the price of water. People in Ghana have called this "cost recovery scheme" a prescription for death of the poor. Women and children suffer the most when water costs soar. They are forced to sacrifice food, clothing or school fees in order to make water payments or drink unsafe water, which has led to cholera outbreaks and other illness. Governments have the responsibility to provide clean water for all and should not cater to profit-hungry corporations. Privatization of water will increase consumer fees, pollute and squander our scarce water resources, and increase divisions between those who can afford access to clean water and those who cannot. For more information: Public Citizen (202) 546-4996 Cmep@citizen.org www.citizen.org/cmep/water To learn more about international and domestic aspects of the campaign to stop the world's water from corporate takeover, visit our website at www.citizen.org/cmep . Questions about the Water For All list can be directed to npetrie@citizen.org .
THE CORPORADOES VANDANA SHIVA, Research Foundation for Science, Technology and EcologY, INDIA - Over the past few years, Monsanto, a chemical firm, has positioned itself as an agricultural company through control over seed - the first link in the food chain. Monsanto now wants to control water, the very basis of life. In 1996, Monsanto bought the biotechnology assets of Agracetus, a subsidiary of W. R. Grace, for $150 million and Calgene, a California-based plant biotechnology company for $340 million. In 1997, Monsanto acquired Holden seeds, the Brazilian seed company, Sementes Agrocerus and Asgrow. In 1998, it purchased Cargill's seed operations for $1.4 billion and bought Delta and Pine land for $1.82 billion and Dekalb for $2.3 billion. In India, Monsanto has bought MAHYCO, Maharashtra Hybrid Company, EID Parry and Rallis . . . According to Mr. Robert Farley of Monsanto, "what you are seeing is not just a consolidation of seed companies, it's really a consolidation of the entire food chain. Since water is as central to food production as seed is, and without water life is not possible, Monsanto is now trying to establish its control over water. During 1999, Monsanto plans to launch a new water business, starting with India and Mexico since both these countries are facing water shortages." . . . As it states in its strategy paper, "first, we believe that discontinuities (either major policy changes or major trend line breaks in resource quality or quantity) are likely, particularly in the area of water and we will be well-positioned via these businesses to profit even more significantly when these discontinuities occur. Second, we are exploring the potential of non-conventional financing (NGOs, World Bank, USDA, etc.) that may lower our investment or provide local country business-building resources." Thus, the crisis of pollution and depletion of water resources is viewed by Monsanto as a business opportunity. For Monsanto, "sustainable development" means the conversion of an ecological crisis into a market of scarce resources. "The business logic of sustainable development is that population growth and economic development will apply increasing pressure on natural resource markets. These pressures and the world's desire to prevent the consequences of these pressures, if unabated, will create vast economic opportunity - when we look at the world through the lens of sustainability, we are in a position to see current and foresee impending-resource market trends and imbalances that create market needs. We have further focused this lens on the resource market of water and land. These are the markets that are most relevant to us as a life sciences company committed to delivering food, health and hope to the world, and there are markets in which there are predictable sustainability challenges and therefore opportunities to create business value." Monsanto plans to earn revenues of $420 million and a net income of $63 million by 2008 from its water business in India and Mexico.
From: RAFFENSPERGERC@cs.com Date: Sun, 22 Sep 2002 08:50:20 EDT Subject: privatization of water: action in Germany on 9/20/02 9:01 PM, moira.schmidt@t-online.de at moira.schmidt@t-online.de wrote: Hi all, we d like to inform you about the outcome of our first bigger Action of REA, the Reclaiming-Earth-Activists-Network in Europe. NYMPHS FIGHT FOR WATER-RIGHTS. An action of REA in Cologne/Germany To come to the point: The first bigger action of the REA(Reclaiming-Earth-Activists)Network was very successfull! We have been part of an action-day on September 14 of different groups, organized by attac, a european network against neoliberal globalization. We have been twelve nymphs between 40.000 (!) protestors, demonstrated in Cologne/Germany against the privatization of water -- and have probably been the group who has got the most attention by the peoples and media. The water-nymphs raise their voices because we are convinced, that water has to be respected as a basis for life . This is how the text of our flyer begins that describes our action and informs about the danger of GATS for water as well as for education and health. After a very constructive preparation via email we have met last Friday in order to discuss the action, exercise our chants and read the Cochabamba-Declaration with different roles. On Saturday morning we met at a wonderful place under old willows at the Rhine-River and transformed into Nixen and Nvcks , the nymphs in German mythology. We closed the circle, connected with the waters of the Rhine, called the nymph Loreley into the center and asked her for support. In an old german fairy-tale, the devil wanted to block the Rhine with big rocks, when suddenly the Loreley sang and the malicious powers changed and disappeared. Connected and strenghed we flowed into the city with the wonderful Living-River-cloth, that Annwyn has made for our network (many thanks again to you!!!), gave dolphins in silver to children and flyers to their parents and other peoples and talked to them about the intention of our action. Especially the children liked us Nixen and Nvcke very much. We moved through the town, blocked traffic for some time and shouted: Lorelei und Nixen singen, lasst euch nicht ums Wasser bringen! Weg mit dem GATS! (Uh!) (In English: Loreley and Nixen say, don t let 'em take your water away! Away with the Gats! ). At central meeting-place for different groups we made a spiral dance. For the whole time during the action peoples came to us and asked us: Who are you? Where are you from? What do you want? or: Are you the Nixen ? Great! A lot of success! You are wonderful! we have heard from many, many peoples. Our colourful, sensitive action and the connection with the problem of water-privatization obviously showed our intention in a very positive way, so that people were open for the topic and for discussion. The strong support of our action was a signal, that there is a need for other forms of political resistance, and that the energy of our small group ( Twelve of forty-thousand ) has left traces for others. Even if we were very tired the action has strenghend us and our network very much! Many thanks to all of you who did magical support and especially to the Living-River-Folks who have inspired us and to Starhawk, who has trained some of us so very well! All of us are looking forward to the next action in Germany or Europe and we will be happy to meet you there! For the Nixen and Nvcks in Cologne with much love, Inge and * Moira from the REA-network For more information about REA go to: www.linien-und-wege.de and follow the link. There is an english version below the german text. ****************************************************************************** ** In jahreszeitlichen Festen und Ritualen weben wir uns ein in den Tanz des Lebens und sein vibrierendes Gewebe der Kraft. Wir kldren, bearbeiten und feiern die Aufgaben, die es f|r uns bereit hdlt... ****************************************************************************** ** LINIEN UND WEGE Ritualberatung, Entwicklung und Gestaltung Moira Schmidt, Postfach 1214, D-28867 Ottersberg Tel.: 04205-779578 email: moira.schmidt@t-online.de website: www.linien-und-wege.de ****************************************************************************** ** Reclaiming a Community of people, a Tradition of Witchcraft, and a religious organization. More info on Reclaiming: http://www.reclaiming.org/about/
Press Release World Bank Water Privatization Policies Benefit Corporations, Not Developing Countries Privatization Should Not Be a Condition of Loans, Report Says WASHINGTON, D.C. - The World Bank has engaged in a multi-pronged effort to promote a water policy that benefits large multinational corporations at the expense of poor people in developing countries, according to a Public Citizen report released today. World Bank policies impose a "market price" for water in poor countries and contribute to increasing rates of cholera and other waterborne diseases, the report said. The World Bank claims that its goal is to alleviate poverty, but its loan policies are at odds with this objective. The report recommends that World Bank loans focus on increasing access to water and sanitation services in low-income and underserved areas, rather than relying on full cost recovery and water privatization. Not only has the World Bank required countries to privatize water services as a condition of receiving loans, but the Bank has engineered the creation of public utility regulatory bodies that lend credibility to the Bank's pro-corporate water policies. Further, the Bank has launched an orchestrated public relations effort to promote the idea that water is a commodity, not a human right. To this end, the Bank has joined water companies and government development agencies to create a broad array of organizations that hold conferences, have task forces, release vision statements and distribute glossy publications. These groups often co-opt the social and environmental principles espoused by non-governmental organizations about access to clean and affordable water as a basic human right. "As private companies started to view water as a lucrative natural resource, much like oil or gold, the concept of commodifying water was born," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "In the past decade, we have seen the provision of water services pushed into the hands of fewer and larger multinational corporations. At the same time, poverty and disease levels have risen in developing countries." The World Bank policies that are most harmful promote the privatization of water utilities, which creates lucrative new business opportunities for major global water corporations, and "full cost recovery," which refers to the collection of fees from consumers for the full cost of the operation and maintenance of water utility services. These are part of the World Bank's standard policy that promotes privatization, deregulation, trade liberalization and fiscal austerity. It was largely instituted in the past 20 years when the promotion of privatization mirrored the global trend toward more market-oriented economic policies. But critics say this market-oriented slant benefits major corporations such as French-owned water giants Vivendi Universal and Suez, and furthers inequality in the developing world. Indeed, prior to the 1980s, World Bank economists and development experts maintained that investment in public water utilities would trigger a development "take off." However, the scale shifted when investors began to realize the potential profit from privatizing an increasingly scarce natural resource. The World Bank now claims that the private sector, rather than publicly owned water utilities, is best able to provide the financial resources and expertise needed to address the growing problems in water service management. Yet private sector companies are organized to make a profit, not to fulfill socially responsible objectives such as achieving universal access to water and sanitation services. In many developing countries, where most citizens earn less than $2 a day, private sector companies are unable to meet shareholder obligations to provide a market rate of return and also implement universal coverage with acceptable quality and at affordable prices. Water rates soar and large sectors of the low-income population remain unserved. "When water becomes more expensive, and therefore less accessible, it creates a public health crisis," said Sara Grusky, report author and coordinator of the International Water Working Group. "If people cannot afford clean water, they resort to using water from polluted streams and rivers, which increases the risk of many waterborne diseases like cholera." For example, in Ghana in May 2001 after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank policies led to an increase in water fees, three buckets of water cost a family almost 20 percent of the daily minimum wage. In 2001, 50 percent of World Bank loans required countries to privatize services and more than 80 percent of the loans contained cost recovery requirements. To quell the growing public concern about privatization, the World Bank often calls its policies "public private partnerships." Water companies enter into a lease with a country under the most profitable conditions possible, which often don't burden the company with the responsibility of infrastructure investment costs. "The shared agenda between the World Bank and the global water giants is just one more example of corporate interests overriding basic human needs and livelihoods," said Hauter. To view the report online, please go to http://www.citizen.org/documents/ProfitStreams-World%20Bank.pdf Public Citizen is a national nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.citizen.org. If you would like to be removed from the Water For All-list, send an email to cmep@citizen.org with the words "unsubscribe water" in the subject. To learn more about international and domestic aspects of the campaign to stop the world's water from corporate takeover, visit our website at www.citizen.org/cmep . Questions about the Water For All list can be directed to nschichor@citizen.org . -Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program
Subject: (water-for-all) * The Global Repression of Public Dissent &The Great Water Robbery * Contents: I.) Article II.) Great Water Robbery III.) Correction on previous action alert ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Global Repression of Public Dissent: opposing the corporate control in our society You're on camera - but it's not friendly news! Everywhere where corporate elites are meeting, around the world, the police are frequently acting as the extended arm of repressive governments. In Cochabamba, Bolivia when the government sold the city's water system to San Francisco based Bechtel who promptly raised prices. Low-income citizens' saw prices rise to 20% of their income. Despite massive civil protest Bechtel pushed for payments while withholding service improvements -- eventually people took to the streets, only to be confronted by the police. In South Africa the struggle for clean and affordable water has been a critical issue since Apartheid. Although the African National Congress which forms the government in a post apartheid era has made claims to provide water to all, their approach has been to do so by implementing World Bank recommended policies. This recipe punishes poor, low-income, and working class families. Having basic needs in the new South Africa - like access to potable water means having an income of more than $120 US per month. Million's don't have such an income - in fact the elderly pensioners receive only $70 US a month. Water service now being delivered by corporate structures and under market principles often cost more than $20/month. Naturally people are speaking out against such unjust practices - especially since access to basic utilities is a constitutional right in the new South Africa. But voicing discontent is not appreciated in the new democracy of South Africa. A peaceful candle light march in August to protest the wrongful detention of 70 people who protested the lack of access to land --- 8 years after promises were made globally --turned into a horrifying abuse of civil rights. South African police forces, without warning or justification fired 4 concussion grenades directly into the crowd that included the elderly and young children Several people were injured, including Canadian activist Karen Cocq (see photo above left). A journalist was arrested at the scene. In another protest march earlier this year directed at the Major of Johannesburg's who has supported the privatization of basic resources, live ammunition was fired into the crowd -- 3 people were wounded. Sadly the crackdown on community leaders who are speaking out has become commonplace in the new South Africa. Yet the struggle continues in another part of South Africa, where a community organizer Max Ntanyana was arrested and detained in a notoriously dangerous prison for more than a month. Last month, police forces picked him out of a crowd as he was speaking to a news team about the state supported repression that has been commonplace in the new South Africa. Max, an earnest and soft-spoken young man has been charged with 'intimidation' by the state. His advocacy work with the poor has earned him previous experiences with the police. Earlier this year, when protesting the repossession of the few personal belongings of an elderly women who was being evicted from her small home for falling behind on her payments for sky-rocketing water bills - Max was repeatedly shoot with rubber bullets, beaten and arrested. The justice system set a bail condition forbidding him from speaking to the press. Max and other community leaders are under attack in South Africa - because they are standing up and speaking out about corporate-led globalization and the local injustices it has brought to their communities. He was released on September 26th on the condition that he must report to the police 3 times a week, he must stay in the area of the Khayelitsha court, he may not associate with evicted persons and he may not attend meetings of the Anti-Eviction Campaign. At last count over 100-community members are fighting legal battles with virtually no resources. You can find more information on the anti-eviction campaign at www.anti-eviction.org.za or the Anti-Privatization Forum's website at www.apf.org.za. For information on Public Citizen's involvement you will find information on www.citizen.org/cmep/water or call Maj Fiil-Flynn at Public Citizen at 202.454.5178/e-mail mfiil@citizen.org. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ II.) Great Water Robbery One World Action, UK, has just published a 10-page report called "The Great Water Robbery." This report is a concise analysis of how the World Bank's push for privatisation is enabling a handful of multinational companies to take over water services in the developing world. The profit potential is huge and the companies are operating in a poorly regulated environment. They are not interested in serving the poorest people, who are not seen as profitable customers. For the people in these countries, privatisation effectively means that the provision of water is beyond democratic accountability. The Great Water Robbery is available at http://www.oneworldaction.org/ Gunnar Aegisson sent this report and information to Public Citizen from One World Action. One World Action works in Europe and with partner organisations in poor countries to defeat poverty and to promote democracy and respect for human rights. For more information about One World Action, please see http://www.oneworldaction.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ III.) Correction on previous report: Thank you to Mr. Gilbert, who wrote that the link to "Profit Streams" was ineffective on particular operating systems. He was able to get the report by using: http://www.citizen.org/hot_issues/issue.cfm?ID=382 and was able to download the report from there. I hope this note helps prevent any other problems finding the report! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Press Release New Orleans Water Privatization Bids Defeated: Consumer Advocacy Groups Laud Board's Decision WASHINGTON, D.C. - Citizens won a landmark victory over corporate greed today when the largest proposed municipal water privatization in the nation was rejected by the New Orleans Water and Sewerage Board. The vote's repercussions will ripple through the nation as consumer advocate groups fight to keep water in the public trust, Public Citizen said. "Corporations trying to privatize the nation's water supply were counting on New Orleans to serve as a model and pave the way for other privatization efforts from coast to coast," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "But after years of consideration, New Orleans citizens and officials determined that the public's water should be kept in public hands." Public Citizen, ACORN and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Local 100, organized a coalition of 90 churches, civic organizations, seniors groups and environmental groups that opposed privatization. They defeated USFilter and United Water, subsidiaries of French conglomerates Vivendi Universal and Suez, respectively, which spent lavishly on public relations campaigns and lobbied hard as they competed to secure a 20-year, billion-dollar contract to operate water and sewer systems in New Orleans. "We believe that we proved to the S&WB the depth and strength of our broad-based coalition," said Wade Rathke, chief organizer for the SEIU. "The size of our coalition and the outpouring of support from the neighborhoods, workers and all segments of the community sent the board a message that was unmistakable: Vote no, and they did." Water privatization can foster corruption and result in rate hikes, inadequate customer service and a loss of local control and accountability. Corporations have used rate hikes to maximize profits, which, by definition, is their reason for existing, Hauter said. An improved bottom line often comes at the expense of water quality and customer service, but not at the expense of maintaining inflated executive salaries. Further, this vote is another blow to Vivendi's already-shaky financial standing. "The power of citizens'voices should never be disregarded when they unite to fight against corporate influence," Hauter said. "The people in New Orleans have spoken and have resoundingly said no to privatization. We hope Vivendi and Suez are listening to those voices today." Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.
RESEARCHERS WARN WATER CRISIS LOOMS AS COUNTRIES MISMANAGE WATER Researchers on Wednesday warned the world will face a crisis if countries continue to mismanage water. A report by the International Food Policy Institute and International Water Management Institute examines possible scenarios that could affect the future of water supplies. . . Source: Associated Press http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2002/10/10172002/ap_48738.asp
LOOMING WATER CRISIS THREATENS FOOD SUPPLIES WASHINGTON, DC, October 16, 2002 (ENS) - Water scarcity could leave millions of people without access to clean water or adequate food, warns a new report released in conjunction with World Food Day 2002. The study by two international agricultural research centers calls for changes in water policies and investments to avert environmental damage, health risks and threats to the global food supply. For full text and graphics vist: http://ens-news.com/ens/oct2002/2002-10-16-06.asp
Press Release
Worst Polluter in England and Wales Brings Rotten Record to United States: Private Water and Sewer Giant Pays Fines But Does Not Fix Problems
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Thames Water, the giant company that is involved in taking over water and sewer systems in communities across the United States, ranked as the worst polluter in England and Wales for two of the three past years and is on pace to rank as the worst again in 2002, according to the Environment Agency in England.
A Public Citizen profile of Thames' recent environmental performance found that dating back to 1999, Thames has been convicted of environmental and public health violations 24 times and fined approximately $700,000. In case after case, regulators found that the company was aware of conditions that led to raw sewage discharges and could have prevented the pollution. It appears, however, that Thames' corporate strategy is based on the notion that paying fines is less expensive than paying to maintain and operate water and sewer systems cleanly and safely.
Currently in negotiations to be purchased by RWE AG, the German energy conglomerate, Thames' business model is being imported to the United States as part of an increasing concentration and consolidation of transnational corporations pushing to privatize the world's water. RWE is acquiring American Water Works, the largest publicly held U.S.-based water utility with operations in 29 states, and RWE plans to put its new U.S. operations under Thames' supervision.
Citizens in Lexington, Ky., Stockton, Calif., and other communities from coast to coast are alarmed at the prospect of their water supplies coming under control of a gigantic global corporation with a dismal environmental record.
"Citizens must stop this reckless polluter from snapping up their water systems," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "Water is a precious resource and access to clean water is a basic human right. We can't afford to allow a company such as Thames to have unfettered access to it."
People have good reason to be concerned. In 1999, Thames was successfully prosecuted by the government for pollution eight times. No company was prosecuted more often. In 2000, Thames was fined nearly $450,000 for pollution-more than any other company in England and Wales. In case after case, officials found that Thames was aware of conditions that led to the pollution and could have prevented them, and the company was repeatedly criticized for ignoring warnings, failing to respond appropriately and unnecessarily endangering public health and the environment.
* In Dartford, England, in 1998, Thames was fined roughly $70,000 for failing to promptly and competently stop sewage that was discharging into the River Cray. Officials later characterized the violation as "unique" in that the company admitted to in "knowingly permitting the discharge to the Cray."
* In 2000, a pumping station failure in southeast London resulted in raw sewage and toxic industrial waste overflowing into a street and flooding nearby homes. Residents suffered headaches, nausea and vomiting, and many were treated in hospitals. Ten houses were rendered uninhabitable. An estimated 22.5 million liters of raw sewage and waste was pumped into the River Thames. Thames was fined $400,000, the largest fine ever under the waste management law Thames had violated, and the court harshly criticized the company for its "complete disregard for human health and the environment."
In 2001, a blocked sewer in Hampshire caused sewage to flow into the River Wey and lakes in the area. While Thames' contractors arrived on the scene quickly, their shift ended before they fixed the problem, and they did not clear the source of the discharge until the following day. Hundreds of fish died as a result, and Thames was fined more than $30,000. Magistrates said they were stunned at Thames' "exceptional levels of incompetence."
As Thames swoops into communities in the United States, citizens, civic leaders and elected officials at all levels should work together to stop Thames from gaining control of water systems and jeopardizing the public health and environment, Hauter said.
To read the entire report online, visit http://www.citizen.org/documents/RWE%20Profile.pdf
### Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.citizen.org.
From: "Paul R. Ehrlich" pre@leland.stanford.edu Subject: Israel warns Lebanon to abandon water project - U.S. seeks to end tension over tapping vital river A key issue is whether the costs of desalinization can ever be made low enough for Israel to fuel both her agricultural and industrial ambitions.. P Jerusalem -- A small provincial river in south Lebanon has become the focus of a heated dispute with Israel, triggering veiled threats of military action and renewing concerns of a "water war" in the already fractious and parched region. Concerned by saber rattling by the two sides in recent days, the United States on Monday dispatched a team of experts to examine the site in contention -- a pumping station on the Wazzani River -- hoping to defuse the volatile issue and lay the groundwork for negotiations. Israel has warned the Lebanese government it will not tolerate a controversial project to increase pumping from the Wazzani, a tributary of the Hasbani River, from about 9.1 million cubic yards annually to about 11.7 million cubic yards to serve local south Lebanese villages. The water currently flows into the Jordan River and then south to the Sea of Galilee -- the lake that is Israel's largest reservoir of fresh water, and where Jesus reputedly walked on water. Experts say the river's diversion would increase salinity in the lake by a third and make much of the water in it unusable within as little as two years. "The state of Israel cannot ignore the water issue. It is our elixir of life," Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said earlier this week, noting that the Hasbani water system accounts for 10 percent of Israel's supply. Officials in Jerusalem accuse militant Hezbollah guerrillas, who fought Israel's 22-year occupation of south Lebanon, of orchestrating the standoff and of exploiting Israel's stretched resources to divert attention as the country enters its third year of conflict with the Palestinians. "Lebanon, which lacks no water reserves, is dangerously provoking Israel," said Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who raised the issue on Tuesday with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in New York. The issue has led to an unlikely alliance between Hezbollah, which holds sway over many villages in south Lebanon, and its rival for support among Shiites, the Amal militia, the actual sponsor of the pumping project. Hezbollah, which has inflicted painful casualties on Israel over the years, warned recently that it will "cut off Israel's hands" if the Jewish state uses military force to halt the project. For its part, the Lebanese government insists that is entitled under water treaties signed by the French and British in 1920 to tap the Wazzani for its needs, regardless of effects on its neighbors. It has said that the United Nations, and not the United States, must resolve any dispute, and it accuses Israel of exploiting water resources while the Israeli army was stationed in the area before withdrawing in May 2000. "Lebanon has been deprived of profiting from its share of the Wazzani for many years because of the Israeli occupation," Lebanese President Emile Lahoud said in a statement on Monday. "Lebanon's decision to benefit from the Wazzani is final and irreversible," he added. This is only the latest flareup over the river, and it forms just one piece in a larger jigsaw of regional water disputes that has led some experts to predict that water, not land, will be the next major source of conflict in the Middle East. In 1964, a scheme to divert the Hasbani and Banias rivers away from Israel led to a year of skirmishes between the Syrian and Israeli armies. Passions flared again most recently in March 2001, when Lebanon laid a 4-inch pipe to supply water to two nearby villages. The project was scrapped after Israel sent a warning message through U.N. channels also directed at Syria, the key power broker in Lebanon. A recent World Bank report estimated the amount of fresh water per capita in the Middle East -- beset by a population explosion, several years of drought and political tension -- will decrease by about 50 percent over the next generation. "Whereas oil has always been thought of as the traditional cause of conflict in the Middle East, most borders have been set, oil fields mapped and reserves accurately estimated," according to Adel Darwish, author of the 1993 book "Water Wars." "Water is taking over from oil as the likeliest cause of conflict in the Middle East." Dan Zaslavsky, the former head of Israel's Water Commission, doubts the Hasbani will become the next major flashpoint for war but says Israel cannot afford to sit idly by if Lebanon continues to divert the waters. "The countries around us have a very consistent tradition, almost without exception, of never keeping an agreement unless one stood with a gun to their temple," he said. "Lebanon is doing this for spite and Israel absolutely and definitely has to take action. It's the principle, and if they don't act now, it'll send a dangerous message to other Arab countries." Experts have warned for years that Israel faces a severe water problem. In 1990, the state comptroller said "irresponsible management of the water supply for 25 years" had destroyed reserves and damaged water quality. Experts cite a range of factors -- overpumping, water pollution caused by sewage seepage, industrial spills and wastes, agricultural chemicals and competing demands from business interests and municipalities. A 300-page report prepared recently by Israeli parliamentary members recommends that the government declare a state of water emergency for the next two years to limit the use of water. Despite the looming dangers, Israeli politicians have been slow to develop new water supplies or pass legislation to conserve existing supplies, which are drawn from four main sources -- the Sea of Galilee, a western aquifer in Israel and the West Bank, an eastern aquifer in the West Bank, and a coastal aquifer in Israel and the Gaza Strip. Palestinians say Israel is in no moral position to argue over how much water it receives, given that they suffer more severe water shortages. They accuse Israel, which controls 80 percent of the aquifers of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, of stealing water for Jewish settlements. Israel denies this, saying most water for the settlements comes from inside Israel. Still, Israeli citizens do receive on average up to five times as much water per person as Palestinians, and many Palestinian cities and towns have suffered severe water restrictions as cooperation has broken down between the two side during the past 23 months of violence. Water experts say the only way for Israel to increase water supplies and avoid confrontations such as the one brewing over the Hasbani, is to invest in desalination projects.
PUBLIC CITIZEN'S WATER FOR ALL CAMPAIGN
Lexington Still Favoring Public Takeover Thames Water, the British subsidiary of RWE, the German conglomerate that is buying American Water Works, the U.S. parent of Kentucky American, the Kentucky company that owns the Lexington waterworks...yikes, no wonder people in Lexington want to grab their water system and put it under public ownership where it belongs. Public Citizen's recent report on Thames' miserable environmental record has proved to be an effective arrow in the quiver of public ownership advocates, who are also fighting RWE's purchase of American Water Works before the state Public Service Commission. Sadly, the PSC appears hell-bent on favoring the corporations at every turn -- the commission even rejected a request from Public Citizen to participate in the case. But the forces of good are winning the battle of public opinion -- Lexington area candidates who favored a public takeover beat candidates who didn't in this month's election.
Battle Continues in New Orleans Though New Orleans officials voted to reject bids from French conglomerates to privatize a combined water and wastewater system Oct. 16, the multinational privateers continue to circle the city like buzzards looking for a way to renew their slim hopes and scavenge the city for profit. Which is to say the broad coalition that opposed privatization still has work to do, namely, convince citizens and the officials who represent them to a) embrace and support public system reforms that will not only save money but keep the money in the community, and b) watch their backs, lest the profiteers find a sneaky way to swoop back into the picture.
Stockton City Council Pushes Forward with Privatization Despite Public Outcry The city of Stockton is continuing to push forward with its plans to negotiate a 20-year, $600 million contract with OMI-Thames Water, despite strong public outcry over reports of major problems with these companies in other cities. In a Public Citizen report documenting Thames' track record as one of England's top environmental polluters, Thames has been convicted of 24 crimes and fined $700,000 since 1999 for spilling raw sewage into waterways and into people's homes. Concerned individuals are asked to attend the city council meetings held every Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. to pose questions and raise objections to the city's plans to rush a vote on the contract before the March 4th city-wide election on an initiative requiring any utility privatization contract over $5 million to be put to a popular vote.
Don't Bag our Water! (Gualala/Albion Rivers Update) The California State Water Resources Control Board will be extending the deadline for filing protests against Alaska Water Exports' applications to export water from the Albion and Gualala Rivers using giant water bags. The Board decided to extend the deadline after receiving this letter urging them to do so: http://www.citizen.org/documents/swrcbapp.pdf. The letter was filed by the Western Environmental Law Center on behalf of Public Citizen and a number of environmental groups. Anyone can fill out the Water Board's official protest form, found at http://www.waterrights.ca.gov/gual_alb/Notices&Info.htm. To help people fill out the forms, workshops and meetings are being organized throughout Northern California, including a public forum in Santa Rosa on Dec. 9. For more details check: http://www.gualalariver.org/.
Michigan Citizens Fight Ice Mountain / Nestle Waters Concerned citizens in Michigan are organizing against a water bottling plant recently built by Ice Mountain / Nestle Waters that pumps and bottles groundwater from a tributary of Lake Michigan. The plant's use of bulkwater from Lake Michigan opens the door for other multinational bulkwater sellers to use international trade agreements such as NAFTA to ship and send Lake Michigan's water all over the world. The Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation is currently fighting Nestle Waters with a lawsuit to try to protect the Great Lakes, and Michigan Rep. Bart Stupack has submitted an amendment to the Water Resources Development Act that would prohibit the diversion of all groundwater that feeds tributaries of the Great Lakes. To learn more, go to www.waterissweet.org or www.savemiwater.org.
Water Rights in South Africa Public Citizen recently met with the South African Deputy Ambassador to express concern regarding the repression of water activists in South Africa. The meeting was set the day prior to the Oct. 23rd trial of the Soweto Electricity Committee (also known as the Kensington 87- for background information visit http://www.citizen.org/cmep/Water/cmep_Water/wssd/articles.cfm?ID=8151). The trial is clearly political - and is part of a string of crackdowns on activists in South Africa. The African National Congress, South Africa's ruling party, has, instead of supplying people with clean water, chosen to rely on World Bank advice that pushes policies that undermine the right to water. The trial was postponed for the fourth time and a new date is set for January. The police have turned to apartheid methods in order to repress the public dissent that has developed from the lack of delivery of basic services to the poor. Meanwhile, lawyers in South Africa are preparing to test the constitutional right to water. Please watch for new developments in South Africa and protest the lack of accountability of the politicians and the police force.
United Nations Set to Adopt Language on the Right to Water The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has issued a comment on the right to water. The office is open for comments on the draft document - the final document is expected to be adopted at the 29th session by the end of November. You can receive a copy of the draft by contacting mfiil@citizen.org or by calling 202-454-5178. Public Citizen has pushed for the adoption of United Nations' discourse to support the right to water and sees the current draft document as a first step in the right direction. However, similar language needs to be introduced to the wider United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund - organizations that have all moved against introducing this right and instead focus on privatization and cost-recovery, thereby undermining the right to water.
Nicaragua Passes National Law to Suspend Water Privatization! Nicaragua has faced the privatization of its banks, telecommunications, electricity plants and more. But, when the government, at the behest of the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, began to push for the privatization of the major hydro-electric plants and the water utilities in the country, the people of Nicaragua decided that enough is enough. In August, the National Assembly unanimously passed a law to suspend private profit-making in the use of water. President Bolanes of Nicaragua promptly vetoed the bill, but civil society groups and many of the delegates in the National Assembly are determined to override the veto. The Nicaraguan law sets an important precedent across the Americas. The Water for All campaign will be gathering letters of support for the Nicaraguan parliamentarians from Congress and other lawmakers. For more information contact: sgrusky@citizen.org
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ACTION ALERT STOP THE SALE OF THE WORLD'S WATER! SUPPORT THE STRUGGLES IN GHANA AND NICARAGUA! CALL YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS TODAY TO URGE THEM TO SIGN THE LETTERS BELOW. Ghana: In the U.S. Congress, Representative Schakowsky is circulating a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary O'Neill urging that he instruct the U.S. Executive Directors of the World Bank and the IMF to oppose the water privatization project in Ghana. The full text of the letter can be found below. Nicaragua: Also in the U.S. Congress, Representative Kucinich is circulating a letter to the president of the Nicaraguan National Assembly supporting the groundbreaking legislation to suspend all private concessions involving water that was passed unanimously in the Nicaraguan National Assembly on August 22, 2002. (Both letters are attached below) Please Call Your Member of Congress today [U.S. Capitol Switchboard -202-224-3121] and ask them to sign the letters from Representative Schakowsky and Representative Kucinich on water privatization. For more on water privatization in Nicaragua and Ghana visit Public Citizen's Water for All campaign at www.citizen.org/cmep/water Below are copies of the letters. CLEAN WATER FOR GHANA November 18, 2002 Dear Colleague: I encourage you to join me in writing to Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, urging that he instruct the U.S. Directors of the IMF and World Bank to oppose the "Private Sector Participation" plan currently being promoted in Ghana. If adopted, the plan would continue to increase the cost of water, making it unaffordable for many people in Ghana. Presently, conditions attached to IMF and World Bank loans in Ghana require the government to increase water fees. Increased cost recovery is often part of the regulatory reform imposed by the World Bank prior to water privatization. In May 2001, a 95 percent tariff increase was implemented, followed by another 40 percent increase in August of 2002. Now the IMF and World Bank are considering making privatization a condition of future loans. This would be disaster for the people of Ghana. Most Ghanaians earn less than $2 a day and the rising cost of water forces families to make impossible trade-offs between purchasing food, clothing, medicine, paying school fees, or buying a bucket of water. Increased water costs have forced many Ghanaians to drink water from unsanitary sources. This has led to an increase in water borne diseases. Recently, Secretary O'Neill stated that "people are inspired by great goals. A great goal would be for all of the people to have clean water-and soon." Unfortunately some IMF and World Bank policies prevent us from obtaining that important goal. We must take action to ensure the World Bank and IMF provides clean, affordable water to the people of Ghana. For more information or to add your name to the attached letter, please contact please contact Josh Nassar (Rep. Schakowsky) at 5-2111. Sincerely, JAN SCHAKOWSKY, Member of Congress
November 26, 2002 Dear Secretary O'Neill: We are writing to urge you to instruct the U.S. Executive Directors of the IMF and World Bank to oppose the current "Private Sector Participation" proposal being promoted for the urban water sector in Ghana. The plan is opposed by a broad coalition of Ghanaians because it would increase the cost of water for the people of Ghana. We also urge you to instruct the U.S. Executive Directors to oppose loan conditions in Ghana mandating increased cost recovery for water. These conditions have already raised the price of water for the poor in Ghana. Ghana should receive loans that do not have onerous conditions. Mr. Secretary, on October 8 at the Global Millennium Water Initiative Symposium you stated that "water is life. Nothing is as essential- or as fundamental to us-as water." You went onto state it is a goal of yours to ensure that all people have clean water. We share your goal and we commend your efforts to increase access to clean and affordable water around the world. Unfortunately we believe that IMF and World Banks policies in Ghana have in fact, been counter productive to that goal. Clean and affordable water is becoming less accessible for the vast majority of Ghanaians. Increased cost recovery is often part of the regulatory reform imposed by the World Bank prior to water privatization. Most Ghanaians earn less than $2 a day and the rising cost of water forces families to make impossible trade-offs between purchasing food, clothing, medicine, paying school fees, or buying a bucket of water. Conditions attached to IMF and World Bank loans in May 2001 required a 95 percent increase in water tariffs in Ghana. Another 40 percent tariff increase was imposed in August 2002 and other tariff increases are likely before and after the privatization proposal is implemented. Tariff increases are borne unequally by poor population because their relatively smaller incomes already go disproportionately to pay for water and because they are often outside the piped system. For those without piped water, tariff increases are magnified as they are passed on by the tanker truck operators and other intermediary buyers and sellers. Purchasing three buckets of water a day in Ghana can cost between 10% and 20% of the average daily income. World Bank policies of increased cost recovery for water are removing much-needed income from the pockets of the poor. This contradicts the poverty reduction mandate of the institution. A broad coalition of Ghanaian organizations, including teachers, doctors, nurses, trade unions, women's and human rights organizations, NGOs, students and others have stated their opposition to the World Bank-backed "private sector participation" proposal and delivered a memorandum to this effect to their government. Eminent individuals from renowned organizations in Ghana -- the Christian Council, the Trade Union Congress, the Civil Society Council of Ghana, the Ghana Catholic Bishop's Council and the African Association of Universities -- invited an international delegation to study the proposal for privatization or private sector participation (PSP) in the restructuring of the water sector. The report of the International Fact-Finding Mission on Water Sector Reform in Ghana found serious shortcomings in the privatization proposal and concluded that other options should be sought. The key shortcomings identified are: * increased cost recovery will reduce access by low-income consumers; * proposed investment priorities and lack of capital are likely to make significant expansion to low-income and unserved areas unlikely; * the separation of water and sanitation services reduces opportunities to address public health problems; * there is no attempt to address the excessive prices borne by those dependent on tanker trucks; * there is no plan for ensuring access to low-income consumers; * the lease formula may encourage transfer pricing which could lead to higher consumer prices; *IMF loan conditions, in particular the recommended implementation of an automatic tariff adjustment mechanism, interfere with an independent regulatory function; and * the great majority of citizens and civil society organizations, who will be directly affected by the PSP proposal, were unaware of its basic components and were not involved in the decision-making process. Again, we urge you to take immediate action to instruct U.S. Executive Directors to oppose the World Bank's water privatization proposal in Ghana and to oppose loan conditions promoting increased cost recovery for water. Access to water is a basic human right and should not be denied to people simply because they are poor. Support Water Anti-Privatization Efforts in Nicaragua Dear Colleague: I encourage you to join me in sending a letter to the Nicaraguan National Assembly to support the recently passed legislation against the privatization of water resources. Members of the National Assembly unanimously approved the Law of Suspension of Concessions of Water Use. This is the first legislation to halt all water privatization that was passed in the Americas. Many of the same global water companies that operate in Latin America are now seeking access to new markets in the United States. Many of our state and local public officials are also facing pressures to privatize our municipal water systems. The experience with the de-regulation of electricity markets and the skyrocketing electricity rates in California have led many citizens to oppose the trend toward water privatization in the U.S. In areas that have already been privatized, such as Atlanta, Lexington, and Charleston, citizens have voiced grave concerns over water quality, local accountability, and rate increases. As we seek to address this issue here, we should stand together in our opposition to water privatization and express our support for the efforts in Nicaragua. Please join with me in congratulating the Nicaraguan National Assembly by signing the following letter. Please do not hesitate to contact me or Allison Murphy of my staff to sign on or ask any questions (55871). Sincerely, Dennis J. Kucinich Member of Congress
LETTER TO NICARAGUA'S NATIONAL ASSEMBLY The Honorable Jaime Cuedra Somarriba Dear President Somarriba and Members of the National Assembly: As members of the U.S. House of Representatives, we write to demonstrate our support for your recent ground breaking legislation to suspend all private concessions involving water use until a general water resource management law can be created. We understand that all 92 members of the National Assembly supported this law to suspend the privatization of water. This is an important step toward protecting this most valuable of all resources as a public trust for future generations. As fellow legislators, we recognize that you are tasked with representing the people of Nicaragua, who have demonstrated staunch opposition to further privatization of public services, including water. We applaud your decision to allow time for a full, public debate over water management in Nicaragua, rather than rushing to embrace privatization measures. The vote in the Nicaraguan National Assembly earlier this year to support the suspension of water privatization sets an important precedent in all of the Americas. We hope that as you consider this issue again, your vote will not be undermined by pressures from international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, or the Inter-American Development Bank. We are concerned that many loan agreements with these institutions contain conditions that require the privatization of water and hydroelectric resources. We will be looking into this issue through discussions with the U.S. executive directors to the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and International Development Bank. We send our strong support and encouragement for your courageous and firm stand behind your original vote. Many of the same global water companies that operate in Latin America are now seeking access to new markets in the United States. As we seek to address this issue here, we express our support for your efforts in Nicaragua. We must stand together to oppose the transfer of water to private hands against the will of the citizens we represent. It is our public duty. We are encouraged by your example, and wish you success. Sincerely, Sara Grusky --------------------------
November 21, 2002 Study: Warming Will Deplete Water By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 8:32 a.m. ET LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Global warming will have a devastating effect on water availability in the western United States, a new climate forecast predicts. The report, released Thursday, involved more than two dozen scientists and engineers from around the country who undertook the study as a test of a national climate forecasting effort. What they found doesn't bode well for the West. Even the report's best-case scenario predicted water supplies would fall far short of future demands by cities, farms and wildlife, generating critical water-rights' issues that have already surfaced during the West's current drought. ``You'd like there to be some good news in there somewhere, but unfortunately there is not,'' said Scripps Institution of Oceanography research marine physicist Tim Barnett. The study predicts overall precipitation levels are likely to remain constant, but warmer temperatures mean what would have fallen as snow will instead come down as rain. Currently, the snowpack acts a natural reservoir, storing water through the winter so it will melt and be released during the spring and summer when demand spikes. If that precipitation falls as winter rain, however, it will fill rivers and streams at a time of year when demand is low. To create the forecasts, scientists began two years ago with current observations of the state of the world's oceans -- those vast reservoirs of heat that drive climate -- and worked to translate that into real effects on precipitation and temperature on the West's three most important river systems: the Columbia, Sacramento and Colorado river basins. According to some research, global warming is due to an increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases, principally carbon dioxide from the burning of oil, gas and coal. Global temperatures are thought to have risen by about 1.1 degrees over the last century, with the top few thousand feet of ocean waters increasing by about one-tenth of a degree. Among the new study's forecasts for the next 25 to 50 years: -- Reservoir levels along the Colorado River will drop by more than a third, and releases by 17 percent. The lower levels and flows will cut hydropower generation by as much as 40 percent. -- The Sacramento River will see reduced reliability in the volumes of water available for irrigation, cities and hydropower. With less fresh water, the Sacramento Delta will increase in salinity, disrupting the ecosystem. -- Along the Columbia River system, there will be either water in the summer and fall to generate electricity, or in the spring and summer for salmon runs -- but not both. ``The problem is you basically can't resolve that trade-off,'' said Dennis Lettenmaier, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Washington. The continued growth in the population of the West will exacerbate the problem. Indeed, that alone makes for a crisis, said Bill Patzert, a National Aeronautics and Space Administration research oceanographer who was not connected with the new research. ``The problem in the West is not climate change, it's too many ... people using too much water,'' Patzert said. ``If nothing happens, we're in trouble. If something happens, it's worse.'' The study included researchers from institutions including Scripps, the University of Washington, the Energy Department and the U.S. Geological Survey. The results are expected to appear in a future issue of the journal Climatic Change.
Adoption of the Human Right to Water Nov. 27, 2002 The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights today adopted the General Comment on the right to water referring to article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The General Comment states that: "The human right to drinking water is fundamental for life and health. Sufficient and safe drinking water is a precondition for the realization of all human rights." The Comment defines the sufficiency, safety, affordability and accessibility to water - and describes State's legal responsibility in fulfilling the right. The human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, affordable, physically accessible, safe and acceptable water for personal and domestic uses. The provision of water must be adequate for human dignity, life and health. The Comment is significant in that it means that households can no longer be disconnected from water supplies. The authority enforcing disconnection of water supply is in violation of international human rights law. This sets an important precedent. The Comment goes on to define water as a social and cultural good, not solely as an economic commodity. The adoption of the right to water initiates the UN International Year of Freshwater in 2003. The Committee met for the first time in 1987 and has since then adopted 14 General Comments in order to provide an interpretation of the Covenant. The General Comment on the Right to Water is an interpretation of the right to food (article 11) and the right to health (article 12). The draft of the General Comment on the right to water can be found on: http://www.citizen.org/documents/therightowater.pdf. The draft was discussed in an open meeting on Nov 26th in Geneva, where a number of speakers emphasized the need to consider water a "public commodity even if delivery of services were privatized". The majority of participants spoke against the privatization of water, while Jack Moss from Suez considered the push to privatize water a "mass salvation against want of water". The final version of the comment is not yet available .We will link it to Public Citizen's website as soon as it is released.
http://www.times-standard.com/Stories/0,1413,127%7E2896%7E1050753,00.html Article Last Updated: Friday, December 13, 2002 - 7:14:41 AM MST Judge upends Trinity restoration By John Driscoll The Times-Standard A decision from a U.S. District Court earlier this week is the latest of several barriers erected in the path of restoring the Trinity River. Judge Oliver Wanger granted the wishes of irrigation giant Westlands Water District when he ruled in the San Francisco court that the federal government must re-examine the effects restoration will have on power generation and endangered species in the Sacramento River delta. Until that additional study is done, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will keep sending about two-thirds of the Trinity's water from above Lewiston Dam to the Sacramento River. Wanger ruled the study must be done in 120 days. That seems unlikely, and it's possible the U.S. Department of the Interior could end up in contempt of court if it can't meet the deadline. So the department and the Hupa and Yurok tribes intervening in the case are now mulling over appealing the case to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Hoopa Valley Tribe has called the judge's decision a substantial setback. "This court ruling sets politics and money over the lives of our fish, our river and our way of life," said tribal Chairman Clifford Lyle Marshall. "We are sad as a tribe because we have lived in this valley for 10,000 years in balance and harmony with the river. But all Californians are losing something today." The Trinity once boasted huge salmon and steelhead runs, which crashed following the diversion of the river's water. The Trinity River is the main tributary of the Klamath River, on which 33,000 adult chinook salmon were killed this summer. California, American Indian tribes, fishermen and environmentalists have pointed to diversions for irrigation from the Klamath and the Trinity as likely causes for the disaster. After former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt signed the record of decision ordering the restoration -- an effort widely supported in Congress -- the Westlands Water District and utility groups sued. They said returning half the Trinity's water would adversely affect power generation in the state and jeopardize endangered species in the Sacramento River delta -- fed in part by the Trinity diversion. In a statement, Westlands said Wanger's ruling reaffirmed its position. "However, we recognize there is a need to re-evaluate the Trinity River diversions," the district said. Strangely, while Westlands wanted more study on the restoration's effects on the endangered delta smelt, it's also pushed to remove the fish from federal protection. Co-plaintiff in the suit, the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District, has been pushed to withdraw from the suit. Some of the board members of the district, which promotes itself as endorsing environmentally sound policies, have said it stands to lose just a tiny portion of the power it sells each year due to the restoration. Whether the federal government can complete in 120 days a supplement to the two-decade study that backed Babbitt's decision is not known. "The Interior Department has said it stands by (the restoration effort)," said Byron Leydecker of California Trout. "If Interior stands by that decision, then it will be appealed to the 9th Circuit." U.S. Bureau of Reclamation spokeswoman Trudy Harlow said the bureau would do its best to meet Wanger's requirements should the government decide not to appeal the ruling. "We really haven't had the chance to make that decision," Harlow said. In a related Wanger ruling that went Westland's way recently, the Interior Department chose not to appeal, so environmental and fishing groups did. U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson said in a statement that he was disappointed by the ruling. "The Trinity has been studied for 20 years and the best science says that more water is needed to help this crippled system," the Napa Democrat said. "There is no conceivable reason to study it again."
PUBLIC CITIZEN'S WATER FOR ALL CAMPAIGN DECEMBER 2002 UPDATE United Nations Adopts a Human Right to Water On Nov. 26, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted a General Comment on the right to water referring to article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The General Comment states that: "The human right to drinking water is fundamental for life and health. Sufficient and safe drinking water is a precondition for the realization of all human rights." The Comment defines the sufficiency, safety, affordability and accessibility to water - and describes the State's legal responsibility in fulfilling the right.The human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, affordable, physically accessible, safe and acceptable water for personal and domestic uses. The provision of water must be adequate for human dignity, life and health. The draft of the General Comment can be found at http://www.citizen.org/documents/therightowater.pdf. VICTORY! Albion and Gualala Rivers water grab stopped! Local grassroots activist groups won an important victory against bulk water sales on Dec. 13 when Alaska Water Exports (AWE) withdrew its application with the State Water Resources Control Board for permits to take water at the river mouths for export to San Diego. The state's Coastal Commission voted unanimously that the project would also require their permit, and further directed staff to file an official protest, including an analysis of international trade agreements and the application of public trust doctrines. When news reporters called AWE's CEO for comments, he tried to undercut the win by announcing his withdrawal from the rivers, also alluding to vague "water sources" that he would pursue elsewhere. RWE's acquisition of American Water Works Our allies in Kentucky, Bluegrass FLOW, turned up the heat on RWE at a hearing of the Public Service Commission in late November, engaging the company on its environmental record and the threat of international trade agreements nixing state regulatory authority over the company. The state PSC is wedded to a narrow view of what considerations constitute the public interest, and vowed it wouldn't consider any of the environmental or trade arguments that highlighted the meeting. But those arguments are contributing to a growing sentiment that condemns the utility through eminent domain and prefers to put it in public hands. Despite reasoned arguments from the West Virginia attorney general, that state's Public Service Commission rejected a move to block RWE's purchase of West Virginia American Water Co., the local subsidiary. Attorney General Darrell McGraw plans to appeal. And in California, oral arguments on RWE's acquisition took place Dec. 12. In a devastating blow to RWE, an administrative law judge ruled that it would be in the best interest of citizens if the water facilities in Montara, CA were owned by the public, not RWE. Nipped in the bud in Toronto Kudos and hurrahs to union leaders and environmentalists in the Toronto area for sinking a privatization scheme before it got a chance to launch. City councilors were all set to establish a special board to consider privatization of the water system. But activists, armed with information including war stories from the successful New Orleans anti-privatization campaign, whipped up the community and councilors backtracked but fast. Water Camp Builds Movement to Protect Pacific Northwest Commons Nestled deep in the lush rainforests of the Squamish First Nation territory in British Columbia, more than 50 activists and Aboriginal leaders from B.C., Ontario and the U.S. gathered in November to build an alliance to protect Pacific Northwest watersheds, as well as advance the global movement for water justice. Hosted by Council of Canadians, WaterWatch - Vancouver, two groups that had helped stop water privatization schemes in Vancouver and Kamloops, BC, and the Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade, the water camp brought together an array of community and Aboriginal activists, policymakers, environmentalists and concerned citizens to strategize around the common threats to our water including bulk water exports, exploitation of Aboriginal land and water rights, and privatization of municipal utilities. Participants were trained in hands-on skills to protect and defend water, such as non-violent direct action, and took part in workshops on privatization, media, direct democracy, and the law. Camp organizers are developing an activist guide and video to assist water activists across the U.S. and Canada who may want to organize a similar camp in their region. Contact Tara Scurr at tscurr@canadians.org or (604) 688-8846 for more information. Thames Water Chomping at the Bit to Sign Stockton Water Deal The city of Stockton continues to push forward with its plans to negotiate a 20-year, $600 million contract with OMI-Thames Water, despite strong public outcry over reports of major problems with these companies in other cities. A number of California communities, including Thousand Oaks, Montara and Felton, are protesting the takeover of their local utility by Thames Water's parent company - RWE - a German transnational corporation that may use local rates to pay off debt, shareholder dividends and finance their expansion globally instead of reinvesting rate revenues back into in local systems. Thames recently assured these communities and the CA Public Utilities Commission that their debt from purchasing American Water Works will actually be paid off from new growth in the water and wastewater services industry, namely the Stockton privatization contract. Concerned individuals are asked to attend the city council's proposed study sessions at the end of January to pose questions and raise objections to the city's plans to turn over their water utilities to a global corporation as well as vote on the contract before the Mar. 4th city-wide election on an initiative requiring any utility privatization contract over $5 million to be put to a popular vote. International Monetary Fund Tramples Nicaraguan Law The most recent IMF loan for Nicaragua, approved December 4th, contains conditions requiring the privatization of the hydroelectric dams, despite an unanimously passed law by the Nicaraguan National Assembly that suspended all private concessions involving water uses until a national regulatory framework could be established. The action of the Nicaragua National Assembly stemmed from concerns about the corruption and the lack of any effective regulatory framework to govern water use by a private company. "The IMF is taking an Olympic leap over the laws of our country including our National Assembly and the Supreme Court," said Ruth Herrera, representative of the Nicaraguan National Network in Defense of the Consumer. To protest the IMF loan conditions, contact Nancy Jacklin, U.S. Executive Director at the IMF at njacklin@imf.org. A Small Step for Democracy in Ghana! The Ghana National Coalition Against the Privatization of Water has been calling for public release of the proposed contract terms for the water privatization. The proposed contract terms have been prepared by a U.S. consultant firm, Stone & Webster, and funded by a loan from the World Bank to the government of Ghana. In a small, but important step forward for democracy, David Henley, a representative of the World Bank, has agreed to make public to Ghanaian citizens the proposed terms of this contract. Mr. Henley also agreed that the comments from Ghanaian civil society will be integrated into a revised version of the contract.
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