Who owns the water – Update…

In December I posted a blog titled, Who owns the water?

Further to that post, I have since found a great information resource at The Silver Bear Cafe, and the site owner, Johnny Silver Bear wrote a remarkable article on ‘The Game’ we are all playing, whether we know it or not.

On one side, the forces of darkness are arrayed, the bankers, schemers and power brokers who have controlled and driven the world and it’s population to the point of collapse that we have reached today.

On the other, us, the people, or the sheep, that are mindlessly herded and milked for the value of our labour.

Here’s a direct quote from this fascinating insight:

‘In 1998, the World Bank refused to guarantee a $25 million loan to refinance water services in Cochabamba, Bolivia, unless the government sold the public water system to the private sector and passed the costs on to consumers. Bolivia, one of the poorest countries in the world, finally acquiesced. Only one bid was considered, and the company was turned over to Aguas del Tunari, a subsidiary of a conglomerate led by Bechtel, the giant San Francisco engineering and construction company.

In December 1999, before making any infrastructure investments, the private water company, Aguas del Tunari, announced the doubling of water prices. For most Bolivians, this meant that water would now cost more than food; for those on minimum wage or unemployed, water bills suddenly accounted for close to half their monthly budgets, and for many, water was shut off completely.

To add to the problem, the Bolivian government, prompted by the World Bank, granted absolute monopolies to private water concessionaires, announced its support for full-cost water pricing, pegged the cost of water to the American dollar and declared that none of the World Bank loan could be used to subsidize water services for the poor. All water, even from community wells, required permits to access, and even peasants and small farmers had to buy permits to gather rainwater on their property.

The selling-off of public enterprises such as transportation, electrical utilities and education to foreign corporations has been a heated economic debate in Bolivia. But this was different; polls showed that 90 percent of the public wanted Bechtel out. Debate turned to protest and one of the world’s first “water wars” was launched.

The people of Bolivia revolted against the government over the privatization of water. A broad-based movement of workers, peasants, farmers and others created the Coalition in Defense of Water and Life to “de-privatize” the local water system. Between January and early February, 2000, hundreds of thousands of Bolivians marched to Cochabamba in a showdown with the government, and a general strike and transportation stoppage brought the city to a standstill. Police reacted with violence and arrests and the army killed six people and injured more than 100 when it opened fire on demonstrators. In early April 2000, the government declared martial law.

Could this happen here? Is it possible that you could someday be charged for collecting rainwater off your roof? You would be surprised at how many trans-national companies already have stakes in water delivery in this country.

Globally, we have already entered water scarcity. The Middle East will run out of fresh water within the next ten years. Sub-Saharan Africa will run out in the next 5 years. China is considereding moving the capital to another location because there is no more water in Beijing.

Closer to home, the mighty Colorado river no longer makes it to the Sea of Cortez. It trickles out somewhere in the Mexican desert south of the Arizona border. The Rio Grand, which use to flow into the Gulf of Mexico now stops some 20 miles short of Brownsville, Texas. Aquafers all over the country are being depleted far more rapidly than they can recharge themselves. We are on the verge of a national water crisis right here in America.

In the next two decades, the struggle for water will tear apart communities, exacerbate differences between social classes, and challenge governments and private organizations to change how they perceive their roles.

The Forth Quarter; an End Run

According to the World Trade Organization, “human needs can be supplied by private entrepreneurs for a profit, unlike a human right which accrues equally to everyone.” National and international trade associations like the WTO and NAFTA define water as a “commodity” and have agreements requiring governments to permit water exports under specified conditions.

Commodification and privatization go hand in hand. Even though the evidence for water scarcity is overwhelming, governments and global bureaucracies, influenced by lobbyists, and, in many documented cases, outright bribery, are disposed to call water a commodity, to transfer what remains to private corporations, and to let the market determine who gets water and the price they pay for it.

The commodification of water, internationally, is on the horizon. The day will come when no one will be able to collect it without a permit. Many persons throughout the world will be prosecuted for its illegal possession.

It will happen here.‘

Read the rest of this article here.