Public Citizen's Water for All Campaign February 2005

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Wed, 16 Feb 2005 18:04:56 -0500

" Maj Fiil-Flynn " <mfiil

 

 

[WATERFORALL] CURRENTS: Public Citizen's Water for All

Campaign February 2005

 

 

 

 

 

News from Public Citizen's Water For All Campaign

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CURRENTS: Public Citizen's Water for All Campaign February 2005

 

Stockton gets a failing grade

At the City Council meeting on Dec. 7, the Concerned Citizens Coalition

of Stockton released to the public the first Annual Service Contract

Compliance Review covering the first phase of OMI-Thames 20-year, $600

million water privatization contract in Stockton, California. The

Review details changes to the contract that benefit OMI-Thames: water

rates for Stockton residents have risen two years in a row due to the

contract; customer service requirements have been unfulfilled; a number

of staffing positions are filled with temporary or interim employees;

unaccounted for water has risen from around 3.5% under municipal

operation to nearly 7.5% under private operation; maintenance tasks are

backlogged and finally, OMI made an unauthorized dump of chlorinated

water into an irrigation canal that resulted in a $125,000 fine from

the

State Water Resources Control Board. Perhaps this is why the champion

of this privatization, former mayor of Stockton Gary Podesto, failed in

his bid to win a state Senate seat. The Concerned Citizens' lawsuit

challenging the privatization deal is still pending before the state

appeals court. California Attorney General Bill Loykear recently filed

an amicus brief in support of the Citizens claims that the City of

Stockton violated the California Environmental Quality Act by not

conducting the environmental review required by state law. For more

information http://www.cccos.org/

 

Water report from the World Social Forum

The issue of water, defending and protecting this vital natural

resource for humankind and the planet, was a key topic at the World

Social Forum (WSF) in Porto Alegre, Brazil in late January. More than

32 workshops were organized including large open sessions at the

beginning and end of the WSF where a draft global water action platform

was debated. Public Citizen,along with many other organizations in the

inter-American water activist network (Red VIDA -Vigilancia

Interamericana para el Derecho y Desarrollo del Agua) and from Europe

organized workshops focusing on the role of the World Bank in promoting

water privatization, a speak-out on formulating a UN Treaty on water, a

special workshop to build solidarity for the struggle in El Alto,

Bolivia, a strategy session to plan for the World Water Forum in Mexico

City and much more. There were many opportunities for networking and

learning about water struggles around the world. The Red VIDA held its

first Hemispheric Assembly prior to the WSF and developed a collective

workplan with three broad planks: (1) challenging privatization through

campaigns focused on the transnationals, especially Suez, the

international financial institutions, and their national and local

accomplices; (2) defending our public water systems and developing new

models of democratic water governance and management with social

responsibility and citizen oversight; and (3) expanding our membership

and building alliances with networks and organizations across the

globe.

Learning about the strength and diversity of social movements around

the world made it a truly inspiring experience.

 

Small town residents fight Nestle Water bottling plant

Residents of McCloud, California, a small community near Mount Shasta,

have taken legal action to stop Nestle Waters North America from

building a bottled water plant in their township. The group filed a

lawsuit in March asking a Siskiyou County judge to set aside an

agreement that would allow Nestle to purchase up to 1,600 acre feet of

water per year from springs that feed Squaw Valley Creek and the

McCloud

River. The group brought to the judge's attention that Nestle and the

Service District failed to file an environmental impact review before

agreeing on the contract, an extremely important report given the

potentially serious impacts the deal could have on the area's water

supply. The judge's decision on the case is expected in March or

April. The Nestle deal has spurred residents to action. A new group,

the

McCloud Watershed Council, a project of the Mount Shasta Bioregional

Ecology Center (MSBEC), hopes to harness the community's growing

concern about the environmental impact of the bottling plant and the

lack of community input in the Nestle deal. Donations earmarked for

McCloud Watershed Council can be mailed to MSBEC at PO Box 1143, 211

East Alma St, Mount Shasta, CA 96067.

 

Don't Believe the Hype

On Feb. 9, Public Citizen released a new report on the largest water

company in the world, Veolia Environnement. The report focuses on the

French-owned multinational company, which operates in 84 countries and

had a 2004 net income of $2.58 billion. Its U.S. arm is now called

Veolia Water North America, formerly known as USFilter, which operates

and manages water and/or wastewater facilities and systems in 38

states.

" Despite repeated public failures in the United States, these water

companies continue to push their unwanted vision on us, " said Wenonah

Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Water for All Campaign. " Veolia

leads this industry, and it's time that the public learned more about

how this corporation operates, particularly its shoddy environmental

record. As Veolia attempts to expand its control of the world's water

resources on every continent, in nations rich and poor, citizens,

communities and countries need to understand Veolia's purpose,

practices

and track record. " Read the report:

http://www.citizen.org/documents/Vivendi-USFilter.pdf

 

Also, in its Fall/Winter 2004 magazine, Veolia published a critical

piece about Public Citizen titled " PPPs vs. PC, " where it defended

its practices and attempted to discredit the Water for All Campaign.

(Read the article http://www.citizen.org/documents/Veolia_PPPvsPC.pdf)

In response, Public Citizen issued a statement (Read the response

http://www.citizen.org/documents/Veolia%20vs%20Veracity.pdf)

 

Read This!

There's a new book out titled Reclaiming Public Water (co-published

by Transnational Institute and Corporate Europe Observatory), available

online:http://www.tni.org/books/publicwater.htm. Written by public

water utility managers, trade unionists and civil society activists

from

more than 20 countries, Reclaiming Public Water gives examples from

around the world of how urban public water delivery can be improved

through democratic reforms, such as citizens' participation. It also

draws on the experiences of anti-privatization coalitions and their

visions on making public water work. For more information

http://www.waterjustice.org/

 

" Reality Tour " in Bolivia

Global Exchange, an international human rights organization, is

sponsoring a reality tour in Bolivia this month, part of a program that

was created to help people understand first-hand contemporary

political,

economic, environmental, and cultural issues around the world. The

Bolivian people have been protesting privatization since they succeeded

in keeping their public water rights in 2000. But President Carlos

Mesa

has been working to open up the country for international investment,

so

grassroots organizations are uniting to protest the sale of their

country to multinational corporations. Global Exchange's tour will

explore Bolivia's fight to stop privatization, along with other issues

igniting the people's zeal including the drug war, with increasing

conflict over the coca trade, and workers' rights. While it's too

late to sign up for the February tour, Global Exchange is already

planning for a similar tour June 18-27, 2005. For more information

http://www.globalexchange.org/tours/616.html or call (800) 497-1994

ext. 226.

 

TAKE ACTION!

Plan an event in your community to celebrate World Water Day.

For ideas, visit our webpage from last year's events

http://www.citizen.org/cmep/Water/us/articles.cfm?ID=11100.

Or, call the Water for All Campaign at (202) 454-5178.

 

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