Archive for the 'privatization' Category

U.S. Bottled Water Sales Are Booming (Again) Despite Opposition

Published on 05/22/2012 in bottled water, greenwashing and privatization. 0 Comments

Photo retrieved from: www.nationalgeographic.com

“Despite organized anti-bottled-water campaigns across the country and a noisy debate about bottled water’s environmental impact, Americans are buying more bottled water than ever.

In 2011, total bottled water sales in the U.S. hit 9.1 billion gallons — 29.2 gallons of bottled water per person, according to sales figures from Beverage Marketing Corp.

The 2011 numbers are the highest total volume of bottled water ever sold in the U.S., and also the highest per-person volume.

Translated to the handy half-liter size Americans find so appealing, that comes to 222 bottles of water for each person in the country — four bottles of water for every man, woman and child, every week.

Indeed, bottled water sales aren’t just growing — it’s fair to say they’re booming. Volume increased by 4.1 percent in 2011 — five times as fast as the 0.9 percent growth in the sales of beverages overall, according to Beverage Marketing. Bottled water sales, in fact, are growing twice as fast as the economy itself.

“Americans are drinking more bottled water because they find it convenient, appealing and also healthy,” says Gary Hemphill, who is managing director for information services at Beverage Marketing, and a longtime observer of bottled water and beverage sales in the U.S. and around the world.”

Read more: National Geographic

 

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Beckoning war on water

Published on 05/06/2012 in dams, hydropower, peak water, policy, privatization, water diversions and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.defenceblog.org

“India’s feverish pursuit of building dams on the rivers allocated to Pakistan under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) has received the attention of the International Crisis Group (ICG) whose objective is to evaluate the consequences of a developing situation for peace in the world and give early warnings of eruption of conflicts unless they are resolved well in time. The ICG rightly foresees the outbreak of war between the two countries if India resorts to stopping water from flowing into Pakistan, which according the IWT is its share, and that creates a dangerous situation for Pakistan. The ICG also draws attention to a report of last year released by the Foreign Relations Committee of the US Congress wherein it was stated that New Delhi was building three dams on Chenab and Sutlej. By virtue of these dams, the reports said, India would come into a position to divert water way from Pakistan right at the time it badly needed it for the crops, thus putting a question mark on the relevance of the IWT.

The ICG’s foreboding or the US Congress’s apprehensions are not something that should come as a surprise to experts in the field or even the general public in Pakistan who are aware of the fact that the headwaters of these rivers fall in the Indian occupied part of the disputed state of Kashmir and are also familiar with the Indian designs against the existence of Pakistan. Thus, there has been a lot of hue and cry not only among the farming community that is directly affected, but also the people and the media. Only the political circles, the ruling coalition and to a large degree also the opposition, are turning a blind eye to New Delhi persistent manoeuvres to hold Pakistan by its jugular vein when it deems fit to do so.”

Read more: The Nation

 

lily victoria

Groups to raise awareness against water privatisation

Published on 04/29/2012 in policy, privatization and tap water. 0 Comments Tags: .

“Various groups of citizens of Mangalore will raise awareness among people on the proposed move of the State government to privatise water supply in the city.

At a meeting here on Saturday, the groups took note of the decision of the Mysore City Corporation asking Jamshedpur utilities and services company (JUSCO) to stop water supply in that city. “The same company was slated to take up the supply in Mangalore. We cannot allow it here,” said Vidya Dinaker of the Citizens Forum of Mangalore. “We now have better understanding of the ills associated with privatisation of water supply,” she said.

T.R. Bhat, a retired bank official, said that people had to dispel the impression that privatisation of water supply would ensure 24-hour water. “We need to be concerned about how the increase in water charges will affect the poor. We are not sure of the hidden charges that these private water supply companies will impose,” he said. Absence of necessary personnel and water leakage cannot be a reason to hand over the supply to private agencies, he said.”

Read more: The Hindu

 

lily victoria

Sudans conflict leaves 37,000 desperate for water

Published on 04/27/2012 in groundwater, oil, peak water, privatization, water shortage, water wars and waterborne diseases. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.nationalgeographic.com

“There is simply not enough ground water available to sustain the growing number of people who need it,” “said Pauline Ballaman, head of Oxfam’s operations at the camp. “Women have to queue for hours in the burning sun just to collect a fraction of the water they need, and the situation is getting more desperate by the day. The only solution is for people to be moved urgently.”

Oxfam says this large number of refugees fled to the camp since December and more are on their way.

South Sudan split from Sudan last year as part of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of war in Africa’s largest nation. The war left 2 million people dead and ended with the peace agreement that included an independence referendum for the south.”

Read more: CNN

 

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The Water Fight That Inspired ‘Chinatown’

Published on 04/25/2012 in agriculture, dams, greenwashing, hydrology, policy, privatization, rivers, tap water, water diversions and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

William Mulholland. Photo retrieved from: www.nytimes.com

“When 95 percent of the water rights along the river were in the hands of Mulholland’s department, an aqueduct some 233 miles long was built to take the water to the city. But because the amount that was flowing to Los Angeles was more than it could use, Owens Valley water soon made the San Fernando Valley bloom and enriched inside investors who were champions of Mulholland’s plans. (The relevant line from the movie, spoken by Jack Nicholson’s character, J.J. Gittes: “Do you have any idea what this land would be worth with a steady water supply? About $30 million more than they paid for it.”)

Eventually Los Angeles incorporated those farmlands into its boundaries. In an effort beginning in 1905, Dr. Libecap reports, the city acquired the land and water rights of 1,167 Owens Valley farms comprising 262,000 acres for about $20.7 million. (The latter figure is the equivalent of more than $220 million today.)

The one serious misjudgement in Mulholland’s plan was his calculation of how fast the newly watered city would outgrow the initial infusion of water. So Mulholland and Los Angeles came back for more of the river in 1926 and 1927, and some local farmers responded by repeatedly blowing up the pipeline. Mulholland then sent dozens of armed guards to protect his aqueduct. Soon, agricultural resistance dissipated. But the legend of injustice persisted.”

Read more: New York Times

 

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Protestors Condemn Ch. Karnchang over Xayaburi Dam Construction

Published on 04/25/2012 in dams, displacement of people, hydropower, policy, privatization and rivers. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.internationalrivers.org

“Coinciding with Ch. Karnchang’s Annual Shareholders Meeting, dozens of protestors rallied in front of the company’s headquarters in Bangkok on Tuesday, demanding a halt to all construction activities occurring on the Xayaburi Dam. Civil society groups and community representatives from villages along the Mekong River inside Thailand traveled hundreds of miles to make their voices heard. Together, their colorful affair helped to articulate the anger felt by many people whose lives and livelihoods would be impacted by the project.

“We are here today to oppose the irresponsible investment of Thailand’s company in Laos. They see the Mekong as a project site to make profit, but they do not see lives. We are here today to tell them there are millions of us who will have to bare the cost of their dam,” said Somkiat Kuenchiangsa from the Chiang Khong Conservation Group in Chiang Rai province.”

Read more: International Rivers

 

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Damming the Poor: It’s Time to Create River Parks for People

Published on 04/23/2012 in agriculture, aquatic ecosystems, dams, floods, greenwashing, hydropower, peak water, policy, privatization, rivers and water rights. 0 Comments

Photo retrieved from: www.nationalgeographic.com

“In their free-flowing form, large rivers like the Tana are among the most productive, life-giving ecosystems on the planet.  These natural supermarkets continue to feed hundreds of millions of very poor people each and every day.

Many fish species wait for floods to swim out onto a river’s floodplain, where they spawn prolifically.  When a fish spawns on a floodplain, its offspring will have many advantages over other fish born in the river itself. The water spilling onto a floodplain during floods is enriched with nutrients, helping young fish to grow.  The drowned vegetation of the floodplain harbors a bounty of insects to feed upon, and provides places where newborn fish can hide from bigger fish and other predators.  Rivers with large numbers of floodplain-spawning fish produce far more fish for people to eat than those without floods and floodplains.”

Read more: National Geographic

 

lily victoria

Shocking Conflict of Interest: Private Water Companies Partner With Fracking Lobby

Published on 04/22/2012 in contaminated water, fracking, greenwashing, natural gas drilling, policy, privatization and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

 

Photo retrieved from: www.alternet.org

“The water companies – American Water and Aqua America — are leading drinking water suppliers in Pennsylvania, where drilling is booming. They also sell water to gas companies — which use a drilling technique that requires massive amounts of water — and have expressed interest in treating drilling wastewater, a potentially lucrative opportunity.

These investor-owned, publicly traded water utility companies are also dues-paying “associate members” of the gas industry’s powerful Marcellus Shale Coalition, a fact confirmed by coalition spokesman Travis Windle, who says associate members pay $15,000 annually in dues. “Our associate members are really the backbone of the industry,” adds Windle.

Both water companies serve millions of people across the country — Aqua America operates in 11 states and American Water in more than 30.”

Read more: Alternet

 

lily victoria

Oil and Gas Boom in Indian Country! Tribal Leaders and EPA Meet in Denver

Published on 04/16/2012 in contaminated water, fracking, groundwater, hydrology, natural gas drilling, oil, policy, privatization, tap water and wastewater. 0 Comments

Photo retrieved from: wwwictmn.com

“Protecting the Environment

With so much money pouring onto tribal lands, “it’s like trying to stop a freight train,” Stockbridge said, and “the environment may be steamrolled” without early planning. At Fort Berthold, they can’t get enough rigs in to drill rapidly enough, and the operations require “a phenomenal amount of water,” he said.

Environmental concerns will have to “get ahead of the game” because of the “astronomical” amounts of money involved, he said.

Gerald Wagner, Blackfeet Nation environmental service director and vice-chairperson of the ROC, said his tribe is looking for the “environmental protection component” although the tribe does have protection ordinance. Nevertheless, the tribe is looking for the “best protection of our resource” and said he is concerned about effects to the aquifer, which may be only 10 feet from drilling activity.”

Read more: ICTMN.com

lily victoria

Plan to tap groundwater for profit shows need for better state policy

Published on 04/13/2012 in groundwater, privatization, water rights and water shortage. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Retrieved from: Desert survivors

“Imagine a lake half as large as Lake Tahoe, containing 17 million to 34 million acre-feet of water. That is what lies under the Cadiz and Bristol valleys in the Eastern Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County. Cadiz Inc., a privately held company, owns 34,000 acres that overlie this vast groundwater basin. The company plans to extract 2.5 million acre-feet of the water, a public good, over the next 50 years and sell it back to the public at a profit.

“This project raises several concerns, some of which are directly related to the project while others point to the need for a public debate and discussion about California’s groundwater laws.

“Here are some facts about the project: Cadiz is proposing to extract on average 50,000 acre-feet of groundwater from the basin each year for 50 years. The intended rate of extraction of groundwater is significantly greater than the estimated natural recharge rate (the speed that groundwater is refilled naturally by rain and snow) of 5,000-32,000 acre-feet a year, which will lead to unsustainable mining of groundwater during the life of the project. The groundwater will go into a 43-mile-long pipeline to transport it to the Colorado River Aqueduct, where it will be distributed to several water utilities in Southern California.

“Cadiz claims that the project will facilitate the beneficial use of groundwater that would otherwise naturally drain toward Bristol and Cadiz dry lakes (ephemeral lakes) and be “lost” to evaporation at the lakes and to transpiration by plants in the adjoining valleys. But the project proponents’ characterization of the water lost to evaporation and transpiration as non-beneficial is inaccurate. Some of the water that flows to the dry lakes and evaporates from the basin supports survival of local desert ecosystems, which depend upon the ability of groundwater reaching the surface; therefore, removal of this water would adversely affect these ecosystems.

“The bottom line is that the project relies on unsustainable mining of groundwater, designed to extract groundwater at a rate exceeding natural recharge. In other words, it uses water in excess of the estimates of the water lost to evaporation, which is both a nonrenewable use of water and unsustainable in the long term.”

Read more: Sac Bee

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