[WATERFORALL] Latest issue of Currents - September 2005

[Guest guest]

Wed, 14 Sep 2005 16:05:39 -0500 (CDT)

" Libby Sinback, Water For All Campaign "

<publiccitizen

[WATERFORALL] Latest issue of Currents - September 2005

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

for a PDF version of this newsletter,

 

VICTORY! Emmaus unanimously rejects water privatization

Emmaus, Penn., a town of 5,000 people, has sent a resounding message:

" Keep water under local control! " Thanks to unprecedented mobilization

by the citizens of Emmaus, the Borough Council voted unanimously Sept.

6 to take water privatization off the table. In Pennsylvania,

communities under private management pay $8 per 1,000 gallons — six

times more than ratepayers in Emmaus. Organized as EFLOW (Emmaus for

Locally Owned Water), residents were able to change the minds of four

council members who had previously voted in favor of exploring

privatization. They did this by turning out 300 people to an August

public hearing, displaying lawn signs at home and in the windows of

Main Street shops, and bringing more than 500 petition signatures and

60 ratepayers to the vote. Riding the wave of the recent victory,

EFLOW continues to strengthen its organization to maintain water as a

public trust. Citizens are strategizing for the upcoming Borough

Council elections in November. EFLOW is eager to support other local

struggles! Email Paul Marin, an EFLOW leader, at pmarin.

 

VICTORY! Lexington residents win right to vote on booting RWE

Not satisfied with controlling just the water system, multinational

giant RWE, which owns Lexington, Ky.'s water system via Kentucky

American, has attempted to control citizens' voting rights as well.

Sparked in part by RWE's acquisition of American Water Works and its

Kentucky subsidiary in 2003, Lexington citizens have long been

concerned about local control, accountability, rate hikes and other

issues. For the last three years, local residents have pushed for a

return to public ownership of their local water utility; the city

wants to buy back the system through eminent domain, the power of the

federal or state government to take private property for a public

purpose. On June 9, Let Us Vote Lexington, a local resident-driven

group, delivered 26,355 signatures to the Lexington Urban County

Council to push a November ballot that would give citizens the right

to vote on who should own their water system. Kentucky-American

lawyers argued that citizens don't have the right to an unscheduled

election, but the judge hearing the case disagreed. Ruling in favor of

Let US Vote, Fayette Circuit Judge Thomas Clark wrote on Aug. 26 that

the referendum is legal and can be voted on in a special November

election. The water company plans to appeals the decision. Confident

that they will win the legal battle, community activists in Lexington

are now gearing up for the Nov. 8 vote. Joined by three Green Corps

organizers, they are organizing phone banks, neighborhood walks, and

literature distribution to raise awareness and to get out the vote. To

learn more, visit www.bluegrassflow.org or www.luvlexington.org.

 

Desal opponents on west coast geared up for fight

Opponents of a proposed desalination plant in Huntington Beach,

Calif., lost the latest round in the controversial and heated debate

over whether Poseidon Resources should be permitted to build the

estimated $240 million facility... but they're not throwing in the

towel yet. On Sept. 7, after a nine-hour meeting that ended at 3:30

a.m., the Huntington Beach City Council voted to certify the Revised

Environmental Impact Report (REIR). The plant is the first large scale

- 50 million gallons a day - plant in the United States and first on

the Pacific Coast. About 130 people signed up to speak at the meeting,

with the majority opposing the desal plant. Just prior to the vote,

the council actually voted against the proposal by 4-3 but the three

newly elected council members carried the swing to vote yes instead.

Next up: The Conditional Use Permit (CUP), allowing Poseidon to build,

has yet to be certified, lawsuits will follow, and Public Citizen is

organizing locally to prevent this dangerous precedent. The battle has

just begun.

 

Report from the Road: In solidarity with Bolivia

The inter-American water activist network, the Red VIDA (Vigilancia

Interamericana para la Defensa y Derecho al Agua) recently held their

meeting in Bolivia. As they met with many local organizations, Red

VIDA learned about the struggle to defend the Rio Pilcomayo which has

been devastated by mineral processing companies (some owned by the

ex-president Sanchez de Lozada) that have polluted the river with

heavy metals and caused many people, especially children, to suffer

from birth defects, skin diseases, and other illnesses. The activist

network also met with groups in the District 8 neighborhood of El Alto

(water company managed by Suez) where most people have no access to

running water. Some people have hand-dug wells and are subjected to

drinking the untreated and contaminated water they can gather from

these wells. There are many illnesses (especially among children) from

arsenic, lead and bacterial contamination of the water. Those who are

lucky enough to be able to afford it buy water that is delivered

periodically from tanker trucks. The Red VIDA pledged to continue to

struggle in solidarity with the people of Bolivia. Read their

statement here.

 

Maine's bottled water tax - set up to fail?

A citizen initiative to enact a tax of 20 cents per gallon of bottled

water could, if passed by the state, lead to more extraction of water

instead of less. The estimated annual $100 million tax would create a

`Maine Water Dividend Trust' which would divvy up the money among

Maine taxpayers in an annual check each year. But dangling dollars in

front of Mainers' noses is one way of creating a disincentive to

protect their state's water sources. If you get a bigger check when

more water is taken from the state, would residents still want

strong oversight and enforcement - or would they rather cash in on

bottled water sales? A similar program is in place in Alaska, where an

oil dividend has existed since 1982. While environmental groups across

the country have fought the increased drilling in the state, Alaska's

residents are embracing the thought of a bigger check. Something

similar could play out in Maine, where the state would exhaust its

water resources for a small annual check. The Dividend Trust will hold

`not less than 95%' of the revenue, some of which will be split off

and invested mainly in small businesses in the state. But as much as

85% ($85 million) will be parceled out in little checks to Maine

residents. If Maine is serious about strong oversight and enforcement

of water extraction, the state should issue an immediate moratorium on

bottled water extraction to assess how the increased extraction

impacts its water bodies, including aquifers, rivers, streams,

wetlands, private and public wells. Instead of writing checks to the

residents, a tax on bottled water should benefit the long-term

sustainability of water resources, not individual pocket books. In the

long run, this will benefit everyone!

 

New report on environmental justice and water in California

On Aug. 17, the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water released a

new report, Thirsty for Justice: A People's Blueprint for California

Water, an overview of the environmental justice issues in California

water. The report provides an historical analysis of the origins of

environmental discrimination in California water; an overview of water

governance in California - who controls and regulates water and what

the barriers to implementing environmental justice are in water

governance; an overview of the water-related injustices that

communities struggle with on a daily basis; extensive policy

recommendations on how to begin addressing California's water

injustices; and case studies highlighting community fights against

local water injustices. Public Citizen collaborated on various stages

of the report. Download a free copy here.

 

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: Californiawater marketing bill dies

Assembly Bill 1245 would have extended and made permanent a

little-known state water marketing program that masquerades as

environmental protection, the Environmental Water Account (EWA).

Fortunately the bill never made it into the state senate committee in

charge of hearing bills pertaining to water policy. The committee

chair and ranking members have a reputation for attacking

over-spending on water programs without public benefits. The EWA has

spent $140 million in four years, supposedly to help fish species in

the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. During the same four years however,

the fish populations have plummeted, while agribusinesses in the

Central Valley have made millions selling their water.

 

TAKE ACTION!

Last chance to save Ghana's water! Despite the dedicated efforts of

the Ghana National Coalition against the Privatisation of Water (NCAP)

to stall the Ghana water privatization project for four years, the

final bidding process is going forward. Ghana water company is

threatening mass disconnections to prepare a fertile playing field for

the winner of the bid, despite a cholera outbreak in the West Africa

sub-region, and with Ghana now toping the list of world-recorded

guinea worm countries. The privatization will lay off 1,280 workers,

hike tariffs and deepen poverty. Send an e-mail TODAY to the water

corporations vying for the job - Veolia, Saur, Vitens and Rand Water -

and ask them to withdraw their bids. Click here to send an email.

 

PS: The Water For All list has a new server to call home! Look for

changes in your e-mails in the coming weeks!

 

Stay informed and speak out when it counts. Sign up for the Public

Citizen Action Network or other online announcements. Go to:

http://action.citizen.org/signUp.jsp