Title: FW: [globalnews] Privatizing Water: National Update
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 [EMAIL PROTECTED] 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: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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