The politics of water in recent years have become purely Evil. The capitalist, imperialist countries in this world have set as precedent that water may be a commodity and can be sold to those without water. Water has always been seen as a resource that our earth supplies us, and as stewards of the earth, it is our responsibility to maintain a sustainable supply of water.
But that isn't happening. Why?
The rate at which water is being used is alarming. We are using groundwater 15 times faster than it can be replenished. The soil beneath us is drying up and collapsing in upon us. (search: Winter Park, FL) We have neglected sustainable management practices in regard to pollution. Some countries pollute water directly from the source, with no treatment. The earth is equipped to handle some pollution, but we are rapidly stripping its ability to do so. By destroying wetlands, building dams, harvesting forests, and overdeveloping we are taking away the natural processes by which the Earth supplies us with clean, sustainable sources of water.
Water is a basic necessity of life. All people should have access to basic water rights. Access in remote, undeveloped, and overpopulated areas is very hard to obtain. Corporations have seized this opportunity to capitalize. By pumping water that they don't need to pay for then selling it for outrageous prices, Water companies have become multinational superpowers that government itself is powerless to stop. Vivendi, Suez, Veolia, RWE, Thames, Perrier, and Nestle have all become the big water corporations which we will soon depend on for our water. When public works can not keep up with demand, these companies will sell water to our cities and towns, water that they pump from our rivers that they are depleting. How terrible is that? The reason these companies are nearly impossible to stop is because they use many different names in many different countries. By the time government attempts to shut down one company, it just changes its name to another alias. Corruption and greed are becoming more powerful than Law.
Now, who is to blame? French water has been privatized since the time of Napoleon. But recently, this trend has spread due to the work of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President Reagan. They brought the entire United Nations to start thinking about water as an economic resource rather than a basic human necessity. Privatizing this basic human need throws out the incentive to actually deliver good water and be economically responsible. Many people trust the conservative model of free market and no government. But there is no market anymore. You do not choose your water company, you just get whatever your city buys. And odds are, political forces are at work to make that decision. (Think bribery) Don't believe it? The last Mayor of Atlanta, Bill Campbell was paid off by Suez for a contract to renovate and supply water. He was paid in the form of "political contributions" but he wasn't running for office. Suez laid off 200 jobs when they took over Atlanta's water supply network, but those employees were necessary for completing the job of replacing the pipelines.
These companies don't care about anything except for money. They will stop at nothing to get what they want and as citizens were are damn near worthless to stop them- alone. This is where we need to band together to get water rights laws enacted to protect our resources and our health. Water will very soon be more precious than gold, oil and diamonds. But, we can't afford to lose water.
Source: "Blue Gold: Water Wars"
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