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"The Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry, CA would like to add our name to the growing list of those urging you to hold federal hearings to investigate and make whole the Central Valley Project Indian Lands Acquisition Act (CVPILAA).
The CVPILAA was authorized in 1941 to compensate the Winnemem Wintu tribe for their massive losses due to flooding of sacred tribal grounds as a result of construction of Shasta Dam. To date, this act has not been fully implemented and more devastation to the tribe is threatened by the Bureau of Reclamation’s proposal to raise the dam even more."
Read the complete letter to Congresswoman Grace Napolitano.
This summer the UULM Climate & Water Justice Team toured the proposed Colusa County Dam site on a tour led by Professor Eldridge Moores. The proposed project exemplifies the tightly woven issues of climate change and its impact on the availability of fresh water.
Our Scrapbook
Visit our scrapbook of the informative trip, with room for comradery, discussion, and inspiration.
A Discussion and Informative Links
A charrette consists of an intense period of design activity.
-Wikipedia
In October 2006, the University of California at Berkeley's Delta Initiative hosted a two-day planning charrette to identify, on a preliminary basis, spatial patterns of land use, infrastructure, and levee modification that would create a "resilient Delta" in 50 years' time.
The final report summarizes the activities and results of the Delta charrette.
The Final Report (and contact links)
Bottled Water, despite marketing buzz about purity, health, and being close to nature, is causing serious concern across groups ranging from economic justice and health advocates, to pollution and climate change activists.
This issue is a part of the water justice and climate change focus at UULM-CA. Its unintended consequences were virtually unknown a few decades ago, and the reversal of the water-bottle trend would have profound and positive affects.
Sung to the tune of
“This Land is Your Land”:
As we were walking
we saw before us
A giant landfill
packed with plastic bottles
By the billions,
they’re NOT recycled.
This mess was made
by you and me.
So let’s recycle
those plastic bottles.
Or even better,
use a mug or glass.
Our world’s resources
are not endless.
Our earth depends
on you and me.
From all the taps
in our fair city
Comes fresh water,
tested clean and healthy
It costs a pittance
—it saves us money.
Let’s drink a toast
to you and me.
This past summer, Judy Moores, Co-Chair of the Green Sanctuary Committee of the UU Church of Davis, and a friend, John Mott-Smith, researched information on bottled water and submitted a resolution to the City Council for consideration.
A quartet of UUs sang this delightful song to help reach minds and hearts of the council members.
On October 23, 2007 the resolution was passed unanimously by the City Council of Davis. It noted that city tap water is readily available in every city facility, and that since only about one in five bottled water containers is recycled, these bottles are one of the fastest growing sources of municipal solid waste in the country.
Davis City Council Bottled Water Resolution
"The water wars rage unabated here in the northeast corner of California, where conservationists are fighting the Nestlé Co. over their plans to tap into a source near what is arguably the state's most pristine large river."
Read Complete Article
San Francisco Chronicle, by Glen Martin
Nov 5, 2006
NC Times
By Mark Stevenson - Associated Press
Multinationals -- Pepsi, Cadbury, Nestle, Danone and Coca-Cola -- supply most of the bottled water in Mexico, now the world's second-largest consumer.
Sales of bottled water in China jumped by more than 250 percent between 1999 and 2004. They tripled in India and almost doubled in Indonesia, according to a study released by the Earth Policy Institute, a Washington-based environmental group.
Worldwide, the industry is now worth about $100 billion per year.
"Bottled water containers labeled with images of pristine natural environments are rapidly becoming a major threat to the environments and to our health."
-Inside the Bottle
Read Complete Article
Buy a quick one-liter bottle of water for $0.99 to $1.49 to drink on the go and that equates to $3.75 to $5.64 a gallon—numbers that make even today's gas prices look cheap.
Complete Article
Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry, California
As Unitarian Universalists who believe in:
- justice, equity and compassion,
- respect for the inherent dignity of the individual and the interdependence of all life,
- the free and responsible search for truth and meaning,
- and the essential role of transparent democratic processes in reaching just and responsible decisions,
We affirm the following Guiding Principles:
- Water is essential for life, and holds spiritual meaning for many.
- Access to clean water for basic human needs is a fundamental human right and is essential for human health and dignity.
- The health, integrity, and stability of ecosystems must be respected and preserved.
- Water is a public trust and part of the global commons; it should not be treated as a commodity.
- Public control and regulatory oversight are necessary to ensure the public's interest is protected.
- All people, including those in low-income and marginalized communities, must have meaningful input into water management decisions in their own communities.
- Water conservation, responsible use, and stewardship should be a top priority for all.
" To see water as a source of life, not merely resource, is the challenge of a new synthesis of science and religion in our times."
-by Mary Evelyn Tucker, 2001
Committee Covenant:
Our work will be conducted in a spirit of open inquiry, assuming the goodwill of our colleagues. We will do our best to listen beyond our assumptions for glimmers of truth that may challenge our own thinking. We will speak our own truth with respect for others.
Water Justice Guiding Principals (printable version)
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water recently released "Thirsty
for Justice: a People's Blueprint for California Water" analyzing
the diverse water issues affecting California's communities of
color and low-income communities. This is an excellent resource
which UULM would like to recommend to our congregations for further
study!
Who Owns the Water?
By Rev. Darcey Laine, 2007
Selected
passages from the Rev. Thomas Starr King's Writings
on God, Humans, and Nature, including "Living Water from Lake
Tahoe"
(116K PDF file)
Water:
Sacred and Profane
by Mary Evelyn Tucker (Excerpt from a talk given at the annual meeting
of the Geological Society of America, Nov. 7, 2001)
(20K PDF file)
A Guided
Meditation on The Interdependent Web
by the Rev. Craig H. Scott
(52K PDF file)
Gathering
the Waters of Our Lives:
A responsive reading for Homecoming Sunday
by the Rev. Lindi Ramsden
(41K PDF file)
Waters
of Summer
a poem by the Rev. Dori Jeanine Somers from her book Pineapple Sage
(7K PDF file)
This site is under construction, and we welcome the submission of
more worship resources.
Environmental
Justice Coalition for Water
The Environmental Justice Coalition for Water's (EJCW's) mission is to educate,
empower, and nurture a community-based coalition that will serve as a public
voice and be an effective advocate of environmental justice issues in California
water policy. EJCW recently issued “Thirsty
for Justice: A People’s Blueprint for California Water” a
comprehensive overview of the environmental justice issues in California water.
Water
for All: Campaign to Keep Water as a Public Trust ( a project
of Public Citizen)
As the world's water becomes scarce and corporations seek to exploit this
scarcity for profit, people around the world are losing ownership and control
of water resources on which they depend. Water is a human right; to the extent
one has the right to live, one has the right to water. Public Citizen's Water
for All Campaign is dedicated to protecting water as a common resource, stopping
water privatization and bulk water sales, and defending access to clean and
affordable water around the world.
Water Education
Foundation
Provides educational materials for adults and youth, hosts “Water Tours” offering
a first hand look at some of the regions critical to the debate about the
future of water resources in California, publishes the magazine “Western
Water” and offers an annual briefing in Sacramento for policy makers
and stakeholders.
Planning and
Conservation League
For more than 30 years, this California nonprofit lobbying alliance of individuals
and conservation organizations has worked to protect California’s environment.
The
PCL Action Center tracks environmental bills in the Legislature.
The
PCL Investment Strategy for California Water sets
forth priorities to provide water quality, environmental restoration,
social equity, a strong economy, viable agriculture and preservation
of open spaces, as well as integrated resource management.
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