Water Justice Archive & Reports

World-Water-Forum Avoids Debate on Privitization
Public or Private? Water Management Report
Schwarzenegger's $86 Billion Public Works Bond
Large Agribusiness Benefits from Tax Payers
Are We Ready for Floods?
Archived News and Views

Ruling has environmentalists declaring victory

STOCKTON - The city of Stockton illegally privatized its water and sewer operations and must retake control of its facilities within six months, a judge has ruled.

"When you have a public entity running utilities like this, they are far more accountable to the public, the citizens, than a private company is," she said. "This is what this case is really about."

Read complete article
RecordNet.com, by David Siders
November 7, 2006

Water Privatization Issue Avoided at '06 WWF

The issue of water privatization and the "Human Right to Water" (HRTW) has been a core issue at the WWF for years, yet the 4th World Water Forum Ministerial Declaration does not mention privitization.

Among 11,000 delegates and representatives from 148 countries meeting this year in Mexico City, the World Bank "...whose representatives appeared unfailingly at panel discussions..." presented their report "Water for Growth and Development." In the streets, a protest against water privatization took place some 10,000 strong, with people chanting "Water is not for sale."

The Right to Water: Dialog Avoided at World Water Forum
The Jakarta Post
by Budi Widianarko, March 23

10,000 Protest at Water Summit
Aljazeera
Friday 17 March 2006

Forum Backs Dams for Hydro-power
Aljazeera
Thursday 23 March 2006

Global Warming Will Make Water Crisis Intolerable
Environment News Service
March 22, 2006

Top of the page.

Which is More Efficient, Private or Public Water Management?

The Pacific Institute, an independent, nonprofit organization, provides a report reviewing privatized vs. public water management efficiency.

"Specifically, we find that private sector involvement is not the bright line between success and failure. Researchers have statistically analyzed the question of economic efficiency but have found no clear evidence that private companies are more economically efficient (see Appendix B)."

The report also provides in-depth discussion of solutions and suggestions for better water management.

Executive Summary (205 KB PDF)

Full Report (1.8 MB PDF)

Water Justice, and the Governor's Public Works Bond

Governor Schwarzenegger's $86 billion public works bond is on hold while legislators debate appropriate ways to ensure adequate water for Californians.

Water Storage Stymied Bond Package
Mercury News, March 20, 2006
Edwin Garcia

When it comes to water and how to store it, the only common vision shared by Republicans and Democrats, rural residents and urban dwellers, farmers and environmentalists, is that the matter is treated with a passion few other topics command.

Complete Article

Coalition Proposes Requirements for the Pending California Infrastructure Bond

"...Water quality and water supply funding from these bonds should improve existing water facilities, especially those that serve economically disadvantaged communities..."

Complete Proposal (including a list of supporters)

Large Agribusiness Benefits from Taxpayer-Subsidized Water

At a time when California water is scarce and expensive, taxpayers guarantee Central Valley farms an abundant and cheap supply through a subsidy worth up to $416 million a year, according to an Environmental Working Group (EWG) investigation that calculated, for the first time, federal water subsidies to each of more than 6,800 farms in the Central Valley Project (CVP).

... It confirms that large agribusiness operations — not the small family farmers federal water projects were intended to benefit — are reaping a windfall from taxpayer-subsidized cheap water.

Executive Summary

Are We Ready for Major Floods in the Delta?

Presentation made by the CA Department of Water Resources public affairs division director, Lester Snow, November 1, 2005 before a joint legislative session. 

The presentation outlines the catastrophic impact that a significant earthquake would have on the Delta levee system.   The full presentation and summary are on the DPW website listed above.

Presentation

Archived New and Views

Drinking problem
Are we heading for corporate control of the world’s fresh water?
Sacramento News and Review
August 18, 2005
by Josh Indar

Are we heading for corporate control of the world’s fresh water? At nearby Mount Shasta, a small-town conflict over a proposed water-bottling plant is as global as it is local.

...“Water should be for the people, and it shouldn’t be for making a profit,” said Sid Johnson. “If you think about the kind of attitude we’re creating, we’re selling our private water supplies off all across the country. I’ve gone out and bought bottled water and never thought a thing about it. Now I’m thinking about it, and it’s just the most ridiculous thing I can think of.”

Drip by Drip:
State Water Plan Leans Heavily on Conservation to Meet Needs
Eureka Times-Standard
June 5, 2005
by John Driscoll, staff writer

For the first time, the state's water plan update aggressively tackles conservation as a means of loosening up California's notoriously tight water supply. That's a significant change, policy groups say, from days when the state looked closest at building new dams and infrastructure to bridge the gap between availability and demand.