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Our Communities, Our Water: History
Over the last decade we have seen a significant rise in
attempts by multinational corporations to gain control over one
of the last great sources of available public funds, local
municipal budgets. Almost every community has begun the slow
devolution from the public sector model to the corporate model.
The process of globalization has accelerated this push for
privatization, and the threat to publicly owned and operated
water delivery systems grows every day. This has most recently
been made clear in communities such as Lawrence, Lee, and
Holyoke, MA and there seems to be no retreat from these resource
grabs.
With promises of greater efficiency and cost savings for
strapped communities, corporations have begun making in-roads
into what has always been a relative safe haven for local
control and autonomy. However under scrutiny, these promises do
not hold up and instead threaten communities with higher water
rates, lack of local accountability, loss of community jobs, and
threaten community water conservation programs. (Under
privatization, the incentive to promote conservation is lost as
corporations try to maximize their profits.)
But as shown in communities across Massachusetts once the
facts are brought into the light, the community almost
overwhelmingly chooses to maintain local control and
accountability. Our project work with "Our Communities, Our
Water" will aid in the education of local communities around
this issue and ensure that every community faced with this issue
will be well informed before they choose their respective path.
Currently the question of who will own water delivery systems
is being driven by corporate interests (Suez, Veolia, Thames,
and others), their paid lobbyists, and heavily subsidized
cross-over government groups (i.e. National Conference of
Mayors). The best interest of communities is not part of the
discussion neither is the potential long-term impacts to our
environment that come with the loss of accountability on a local
level. |
First 18 Months of Work
We are currently in the second year of a project called "Our
Communities, Our Water" where we have created a
grassroots-organizing model that has brought the issue of
control over our water into the public light and into the public
consciousness.
Screening the movie Thirst
 Thirst
takes a piercing look at the conflict between public and private
stewardship, and the claim that water is a human right versus a
commodity. Recently broadcast nationally on the
PBS series,
P.O.V.,
Thirst
is
a powerful look at the issue of water and who will control its
future. After each screening there is a dialogue with a
Massachusetts Global Action organizer, about what Massachusetts
communities need to know about multinational corporations and
the issue of maintaining local control over our resources. We
have screened this movie 83 times so far as well as ensured that
other organizations have access to this film so that they may
conduct their own set of screenings.
Surveying and Mapping the State of Massachusetts
We have created a survey/questionnaire/indicator for
statewide use in determining where cities/towns stand on the
issue of privatization. This survey/questionnaire/indicator will
determine which communities are currently privatized, and which
communities are faced with this possibility in both the
immediate and near future. This will allow us to determine where
we need to be most pro-active in our organizing. This
information will be available on a public website that will
allow local activists to easily access all the necessary
information on their city/town along with information on other
organizing resources that will help them with any local
campaigns around the issue.
Forums on "Globalization,
Privatization, and Water: Our Needs, Their Profit"
A two-hour
presentation and training on this issue has been presented at
Universities all across Massachusetts. Each one has featured
presentations from Massachusetts Global Action, and two other
organizing partners, ½ hour of Q & A's, and then a ½ hour of
what we can do here in Massachusetts to maintain local control
over our cities/towns natural resources.
One day Conference on
"Globalization, Privatization, and Water"
Our Massachusetts event in early 2005
pulled together (50) water activists from across the state to
dialogue about this issue and to introduce the surveying, move
towards the creation of water watch councils, and to review
ideas for legislative support around this issue.
 30-page
Report on Water Privatization in Massachusetts
To support
our work we have a 30-page report that relates the issue
specifically to Massachusetts. This has been distributed to 5000
influential people in the state including elected officials,
church leaders, editorial page writers and reporters, union
organizers and community activists.
Municipal Resolution
We have
just added on this program work aimed at facilitating local
municipal resolutions in support of public control of water
resources. We see this as a valuable way to begin a pro-active
discussion in communities across Massachusetts around the
question of who will control water resources. (We did submit
statewide legislation HB1333, last year but it has never gotten
out of committee)
Water Watch Councils/Legislative Support
Working with other water activists and organizations we will
set up water watch councils to serve as local eyes, ears, and
voices around this issue. These councils will allow for
pro-active organizing, as well as a first alert system for any
encroachment upon public ownership of local water systems. More
specifically they will lend their support to MGA legislation
that is intended to prevent corporations from controlling
municipal water systems.
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