WATER WARS
Majority
Minority
12% of population uses 85% of water
Zoltan Grossman
The Evergreen State College
http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz
By
majority
By
minority
Sources of water
Surface fresh water:
3% of liquid water,
which is 13% of fresh water,
which is 2.4% of water
Precipitation Patterns
U.S. Water Policy
•
Through most of US history, water policies
have generally worked against conservation.
 In well-watered eastern states, water policy
was based on riparian use rights.
 In drier western regions where water is
often a limiting resource, water law is
based primarily on prior appropriation
rights.
- Fosters “Use it or Lose it” policies.
Ogallala
Aquifer
Highcapacity
well
withdrawals
Dried-up reservoir
Western U.S. water conflicts
Klamath Basin, Oregon
Commercial fishers,
Sport fishers,
Tribes,
Environmentalists
vs.
Farmers.
Ranchers.
“Wise
Users”
Climate change affecting freshwater
Nisqually Glacier, Mt. Rainier
Bulk water transfers
River system diversions
(Canada-to-U.S.)
Water pipelines
(Canada/Great Lakes-to-Southwest)
Supertankers
(North America-to-Asia)
Canadian government
banned bulk transfers in 1999.
WATER AVAILABILITY AND USE
•
Renewable Water Supplies
 Made up of surface runoff and infiltration
into accessible freshwater aquifers.

Readily accessible, renewable
supplies are 400,000 gal /person/year.
Depleting Groundwater
•
Groundwater is the source of nearly 40% of
fresh water in the U.S.
 On a local level, withdrawing water faster
than it can be replenished leads to a cone
of depression in the water table,
- On a broader scale, heavy pumping can
deplete an aquifer.

Mining non-renewable resource.
Depleting Groundwater
FRESHWATER SHORTAGES
•
Estimated 1.5 billion people lack access to
an adequate supply of drinking water.
 Nearly 3 billion lack acceptable sanitation.
 Freshwater withdrawals doubled in 50 yrs.
•
A country where consumption exceeds more
than 20% of available, renewable supply is
considered vulnerable to water stress.
Global Water Use Growth
A Precious Resource
•
45 countries have serious water stress, and
cannot meet the minimum essential water
requirements of their citizens.

More than two-thirds of
world’s households have
to retrieve water from
outside the home.
Water use and commodification
Agriculture
Industry
Household/municipal
PRIVATIZATION
•
Price mechanisms
charging a higher
proportion of real
costs to users of
public water projects
has helped encourage
conservation.

Yet discriminates
against poor.
Global water Industry
Over $140 Billion a year
The World Water and Wastewater Utilities Market is
estimated at $142 billion US in 2000…
(2000, $US)
Rest of the
World
63%
USA
37%
Water multinationals
Public/private water in EU countries
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
99
98
96
95
90
90
82
80
70
63
60
50
Public
40
Private
30
25
20
12
10
0
Be
lgi
um
De
nm
ark
Ge
rm
an
y
Sp
ain
Fr
an
ce
Gr
ee
ce
Irel
an
d
Ital
y
Lu
x
Ne
th
s
Au
str
ia
Po
rtu
gal
Fin
lan
d
Sw
ed
en
UK
Public and private prices in France
average annual price (FF) for yearly consumption of 120m3, water & sanitation
Source: DGCCRF
2,500
1,993
2,000
2,050
1,908
1,803
1,784
2,100
1,848
2,100
1,841
1,716
1,621
1,500
1,489
1,000
500
0
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
Municipal/RŽ
gies
Delegated/Private
“Water War” in Bolivia
Cochabamba residents protesting
Bechtel privatization of
municipal water system, 1999
Private and public: subsidies to and from water
Private
Loss
leaders
Public
Water
Subsidies from
taxation
services
Financing
other MNC
operations
Financing other
public services
Alternative: Porto Alegre, Brazil
-

Autonomous department
Efficiency and public accountability
‘Participatory budgeting’
- Decentralised democratic prioritizing
QuickTime™ and a
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Alternative: Debrecen, Hungary
•
Preferred public to private
•
Cheaper
•
Financial comparison
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Safety of municipal
water supplies
Australia, 1998
(privatized system)
Wisconsin, 1993
Ontario, 2000
(gov’t had dropped
e-coli testing)
BOTTLED WATER
costs more than oil
Bottled water quality in question
Bottled water growth
8
7
6
5
4
Billions of gallons
3
2
1
0
1970
1980
2000
Water
Privatization
Fewer
bubblers in
public
buildings?
Woodstock
Riot 1999
Perrier/Nestle in the U.S.
Texas
Florida
Perrier/Nestle in the Midwest
Wisconsin
Alliance of farmers,
sportfishers, tribe,
environmentalists
prevents Perrier from
pumping springs,
1999-2002
Michigan
Protection of
rural supplies
from highcapacity wells
“NEW GEOGRAPHY OF CONFLICT”
“Possible flashpoint for resource conflict”
Water systems & aquifers
•
Jordan
•
Nile
•
Tigris – Euphrates
•
Amu Darya
•
Indus
•
Mountain Aquifer (West Bank/Israel)”
Water diversions from rivers
Yellow River (Huang He)
In northern China
Colorado River Delta
in U.S./Mexico
Soviet diversion of rivers to the Aral Sea
•
Once the 4th largest inland
body of water in the world
A series of dams was built to
irrigate cotton.
•
Aral Sea reduced to about
25% of its 1960 volume,
quadrupled the salinity of the
lake and wiped out the
fishery. Pollutants became
airborne as dust, causing
significant local health
problems.
•
The environmental damage
caused has been estimated
at $1.25 -$2.5 billion a year.
Middle East
Water Conflicts
IsraeliPalestinian
Water
Conflict
Israel uses 82%
Of West Bank
groundwater;
charges Arabs 3x
Israel’s
boundary
with Egypt
and Gaza
(Palestine)
Dead Sea
Shrinkage
Tigris and Euphrates rivers
Turkey
Iraq
International cooperation on water use
DAMS
Major investments …
6 000
NUMBER OF DAMS
•
•
•
45,000 large dams
2 dams commissioned
per day in1970s
4 000
2 000
Total investment exceeds
$2 trillion
0
1900
•
flow in 60% of world’s rivers affected
•
19% of world’s electricity from hydropower
•
Other dams for irrigation, flood control,
water supply
1990s
Dam projects increasingly questioned
•
Affected populations
strongly oppose dams
•
Proponents point to
development demands
•
Opponents point to
adverse impacts
•
Uprisings against
globalization
•
Examples: Narmada
(India), Three Gorges
(China), Gabcikovo
(Slovakia/Hungary)
Significant impacts on riverine
& downstream ecosystems…
•
Sediment, salinity, and
herbicide concentrations
•
Biodiversity losses
•
Fish migration, nutrient flows blocked
•
Evaporation in reservoirs
•
Reservoirs emit greenhouse gases
•
Flooding if dam fails
•
67% of ecosystem changes in survey are negative
Heavy toll on human communities…
•
Estimated 40-80 million physically displaced;
many others affected by social disruption
•
Flooding of Cultural Sites
(Archeological and Modern)
•
Project cost overruns/debt
•
Socio-economic centralization
•
Negative impacts fall disproportionately on
disadvantaged populations
Water resources
www.worldwater.org/
www.groundwater.com/
Privatization of water
www.citizen.org/cmep/Water/
www.blueplanetproject.org
www.ratical.org/co-globalize/BlueGold.pdf
Bottled water
www.knowbottledwater.org
Dams
www.dams.org
www.irn.org
Water Wars (books)
www.southendpress.org/books/waterwars.shtml
www.mapcruzin.com/rev_resource_wars.htm
Strategies to protect natural resources
•
DESTABILIZE: Make investment “risky for companies.

•
Divide and conquer the capitalists

•
Pit Banks vs. TNC, Subsidiary vs HQ, Shareholders vs. CEOs
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Protect movement from “divide & conquer”



•
Make the cost of delays and poor Public Relations too high
Solidarity of Core and Periphery grassroots
Not In Anyone’s Back Yard (NIABY)
A mine in U.S. won’t prevent a mine
in Latin America, and vice versa
Take power


Local (Nashville WI,
Chaltenango, El Salvador)
National (Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, etc.)
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Grassroots organizing to protect resources
•
Internet for research, education, networking, mobilizing
•
Popular education


•
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Sectoral organizing


•
Speaking tours,
Translate technical/legal info
Local grassroots groups
Form around interest
(students, tribal, health care,
women, fishers, farmers, labor)
Alliance-building



Umbrealla for sectoral groups
Regional, national networks
Exchange Core, Periphery activists
WISCONSIN
COLOMBIA
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Tactics to protect natural resources
•
Global media campaigns

•
NIGERIA
Make their Public Relations scream
Jump scales (scope of conflict)


Internationalize local issues
Localize international issues
ECUADOR
•
Legal action




•
Shareholder resolutions
Local government resolutions
Lobbying/legislation (state/national)
Lawsuits in courts of HQ country
Direct action


Site occupations, road/rail blockades
Sabotage, rebellion