T

here once was a time when water fell freely from the clouds in the sky and
bubbled from the springs in the hills...when the rivers, streams and lakes were
full to the brim...when ancient underground aquifers flowed like great veins
beneath the continents...when water nurtured our people, like babes sustained by
their mother's milk.
Today, water has become a scarce resource. Climate change has wreaked havoc with
the weather, and the clouds no longer pour their tears of life upon our great forests. Vast
agricultural lands suck rivers and streams dry. Our lakes are choked with dead fish which
have been suffocated by industrial pollutants. The bowels of the Earth are constantly
relieved of their waters, millions of years old.
The trend towards Experts predict that by the year 2025 our world will be suffering from the dramatic
privatising the effects of hydrological poverty. There will be great disputes and even wars over water.
"Failure to act could damage the planet irreversibly, unleashing a spiral of increased
world's water hunger, deprivation, disease and squalor."1
Thankfully, action has been taken—at the highest level—to avert this apocalyptic night-
supplies and mare. By declaring water a commodity—an economic good, to be measured, apportioned
and regulated by corporations—the tide of disaster will be stemmed. This momentous
applying full-cost decision has been made for us by a handful of transnational corporations and members of
the United Nations system of organisations. This self-appointed group have mandated
pricing policies themselves the custodians of the world's water resources. They concede that the full-cost
pricing of water, for domestic, agricultural and industrial use, will be a painful adjustment
means that millions for humanity. But they argue that this is a small price to pay for water security, for their
of people are losing guardianship of our most precious resource.
With the blessing of national governments, a vigorous and dynamic agenda to privatise
access to an already the world's water supplies is being pursued. Traditional and indigenous rights are
acknowledged, then cast aside. National sovereignty is affirmed, then eroded. Access to
scarce resource. water—a God-given or a human right—is recognised, then suspended.
The old economy has been fuelled by oil. The new economy will be fuelled by
hydrodollars. A globalised trade in water is being created 2 and we, the people, are to
become the consumers in this multitrillion-dollar market.
This article examines the unbelievable reductionist thinking, social ruthlessness, arro-
gant ignorance and alienating mindset of a group of elite planners and transnational corpo-
rations spearheading the drive to commodify our water.

THE ZERO HOUR FOR WATER

Academics, scientists, politicians and hydrological experts are today in agreement that
the world faces a grave water crisis. Using mathematical modelling,3 they have been able
to predict that by 2025 at least 40 per cent of the projected world population of 7.2 billion
may face serious problems with agriculture, industry or human health if they rely solely
by Susan Bryce © 2000–2001 on natural endowments of fresh water. Severe water shortages could strike particular
Publisher/Editor regions of water-rich countries such as the USA and China.4
Australian Freedom & Survival Guide Already, 26 countries have more people than their water supplies can adequately sup-
PO Box 66 port. Tensions are mounting over scarce water in the Middle East and could ignite during
Kenilworth, Qld 4574, Australia this decade. Competition for water is intensifying between city dwellers and farmers
E-mail: [email protected] around Beijing, New Delhi, Phoenix and other water-short areas.5
Website: www.squirrel.com.au/~sbryce/ All the evidence points to the first quarter of the 21st century being the "zero hour" for
water in some parts of the world. The possibility of a water scarcity has been raised

APRIL – MAY 2001 www.nexusmagazine.com NEXUS • 25

before, but only in the last few years has the language of crisis • Howard Hjort, former Deputy Director, FAO
become all-pervading.6 • Enriquo Iglesias, President, Inter-American Development
International discussions about the world's water supplies began Bank
in 1977 when the United Nations held the first World Water • Yolanda Kababadse, President, World Conservation Union
Conference in Mar del Plata, Argentina. The Conference declared • Jessica Mathews, President, Carnegie Endowment for
the 1980s to be the "UN International Drinking Water Supply and International Peace, USA
Sanitation Decade". The altruistic goal was to ensure all people in • Robert S. McNamara, Co-Chair, Global Coalition for Africa
the world had access to adequate water supplies and sanitation • Maurice Strong, Chair, Earth Council, member of
within a decade. Commission on Global Governance, and a chief adviser in
Ten years later, the Brundtland Commission told the world that charge of the UN reform process
our approach to development was unsustainable—but it had little • Wilfred Thalwitz, former Senior VP, World Bank
to say about water. • Jerome Mondo, Chair of the Supervisory Board, Suez
Then, in 1992, the Rio Conference on Environment and Lyonnaise des Eaux
Development, in its "Agenda for the 21st Century" (known as
"Agenda 21"), addressed fresh water in chapter 18 of its report. CRISIS OR BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY?
In 1996, the World Water Council, a private think-tank, was Awareness of the impending water crisis has been heightened
formed. The founding members were Egypt's Ministry of Public due to the international World Water Forums, the triennial public
Works and Water Resources, the Canadian International meetings of the World Water Council. A number of agreements
Development Agency and the French transnational water corpora- and principles from the Forums have become the basis upon
tion Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux. Other organisations supporting which corporate control of water is being effected.
the start-up of the World Water Council were: More than 4,000 luminaries from around the world attended the
• International Commission on World Water Forum at The Hague in
Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) March 2000. Scientists, water
• International Water experts, government and business
Resources Association leaders and greenwash 8 organisations
(IWRA) were on hand. The World Water
• Istituto Agronomico Vision was formally presented to the
Mediterraneo (CIHEAM– Forum by Mikhail Gorbachev's
Bari)
The membership of the organisation, Green Cross
• International Water World Water Commission, International.9
Association (IWA) The six-day meeting concluded
• United Nations Children's as it became known, reads like a with 130 government representatives
Fund (UNICEF) who's who of the ruling elite. issuing "The Ministerial Declaration
• United Nations Development of the Hague", a four-page document
Program (UNDP) calling for all relevant organisations
• United Nations Educational to get involved in "integrated water
Scientific and Cultural resources management" to ensure
Organization (UNESCO) "that every person has access to
• United Nations Environment enough safe water at an affordable
Program (UNEP) cost". Hidden among the warm,
• United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) fuzzy, double-speak of the Declaration was the real agenda:
• Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council Valuing water: to manage water in a way that reflects its
(WSSCC) economic, social, environmental and cultural values for all
• World Bank (WB) its uses, and to move towards pricing water services to reflect
• World Conservation Union (IUCN) the cost of their provision.10
• World Health Organization (WHO)
• World Meteorological Association (WMA) The March 2000 Forum was presented to the world as part of a
democratic participative process for water management, when in
The World Water Council set about developing its vision for fact the process was designed by powerful multinationals and
our future: a comprehensive document, The Long Term Vision for elites without taking into account the basic needs of the people.
Water, Life and Environment,7 better known by its subtitle, World The world's top transnational corporations were well represented,
Water Vision, Making Water Everybody's Business. and they released a three-page special joint CEO Statement during
At a 1998 meeting held in Washington, DC, the World Water the Forum. Nestlé and Unilever (the world's first and third largest
Council appointed a group of commissioners to turn the World food corporations respectively) joined forces with Heineken, ITT
Water Vision into reality. The membership of the World Water and the global water companies DVH, Azurix, CH2M Hill and
Commission, as it became known, reads like a who's who of the Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux to declare:
ruling elite. The high profile commissioners include: Water is an economic good and its economic value should be
• Dr Ismali Serageldin (Commission Chair), Vice President, recognised in the allocation of scarce water resources to
World Bank, and Chair of Global Water Partnership competing uses. While this should not prevent people from
• Margaret Catley-Carlson, President, Population Council meeting their basic needs for water services at affordable
• Gordon Conway, President, The Rockefeller Foundation prices, the price for water must be set at a level that encour -
• Mohamed T. El-Ashry, Chair and CEO of the Global ages conservation and wise use.11
Environment Facility

26 • NEXUS www.nexusmagazine.com APRIL – MAY 2001

 Water is already a US$400-billion global business, yet priva- ensured operation and maintenance. Again, many farmers
tised water so far only accounts for 10 per cent of the world's and especially lower-income users contributed their services
water utilities. The World Water Commission argues that only as in-kind contributions to the cost. Appropriate low-cost
private firms can provide the enormous capital, which it estimates technology such as treadle pumping of shallow groundwater
at US$180 billion a year, needed to fix the world's water prob- was widely adopted for holders of small plots. All operation
lems. This entails eliminating generalised subsidies for water and and maintenance subsidies were eliminated. Indirect subsi -
replacing them with prices which offer an attractive return on dies to operating costs, such as energy, were also eliminated.
investment. This had a major impact on water management in India,
which in 2005–15 discouraged groundwater overpumping by
WORLD WATER VISION—OR NIGHTMARE? gradually eliminating subsidies for the energy to pump water
If we proceed with our "business as usual" approach to water, from wells.
then the limits of natural and socioeconomic systems will be
reached by 2025, the World Water Council warns in World Water The most important point about having a vision is also have a
Vision. At best, we will experience chronic problems, and cata- framework for action to implement the vision. Apart from the
strophes may trigger regional and even global crises. The Vision appointment of the high-profile World Water Commission, the
does not elaborate upon exactly what these World Water Council spawned a sister entity,
crises may be, suffice to say that they can be the Global Water Partnership, to develop and
staved off by moving to full-cost pricing for guide a "Framework for Action".
all water services. The Framework document, like all of the
Chapter four of World Water Vision takes documents presented by the World Water
a futuristic look at what the world will be Council and its offshoots, uses rhetoric and
like in the year 2025. Life under the Vision
will be much different from now:
The World Water coloured language in an attempt to make
recommendations sound more palatable.
By 2010, public and private utilities Commission argues References to gender, community
were generally applying full cost
recovery…because some low-income
that only private firms empowerment and land reform help paint
what are far-reaching proposals to expand
households could not afford water, can provide the and reinforce corporate power over the
measures were introduced to subsidise world's water supplies.
these households so that they could pay
enormous capital, The document contains actions that gov-
for water to meet their basic needs. which it estimates at ernments should take to implement the
These households also contributed vision. Specifically, it calls for: full
to the cost of their services in kind
US$180 billion a year, liberalisation and deregulation of the
through their labour for needed to fix water sector (national treatment),
installation and operation. whereby transnational corporations are
the world's water given the same treatment as local enter-
Exactly how the labour of billions of problems. prises and/or public authorities; trans-
poor people could be used "in kind" for parency in government procurement of
"installation and operation" is not water contracts; trade facilitation,
addressed. One can only assume that where governments should be more ser-
the Vision would see a return to the vice-oriented to the private sector; and
days of feudal overlords, when the privatisation as much as feasible, with
poor served as slaves who worked for mixed public-private partnership agree-
their daily bread—or, in this case, their ments being the next best thing. Other
daily water. recommendations include: the removal
Further along in the Vision, water subsidies for the poor (and of all price and trade distorting subsidies; dispute settlement over
possibly even the poor themselves) are wiped out, along with sub- water issues; promotion of agricultural biotechnologies; protec-
sidies for agricultural water: tion of property rights over water resources; and the demand for a
A new round of negotiations of the World Trade stable and predictable investment climate, which would reinforce
Organization in 2010 agreed to add water subsidies to the investor rights.12
list of unacceptable subsidies to inputs for agriculture. As
this policy was implemented in the years that followed, food THE WORLD BANK: "A world full of poverty" 13
prices from exporting countries rose slightly, improving farm Several years ago, Dr Ismail Serageldin, Vice-President of the
incomes in developing countries. Prices eventually stabilised World Bank, said that the wars of the 21st century will be about
around their previous level, but low-income urban dwellers water.14 To respond to the escalating crisis, the World Bank has
felt the pinch of higher food prices while they lasted. adopted a policy of water privatisation and full-cost water pricing.
The basis of the Bank's policies are outlined in the 1992 paper
Commenting on the full-cost pricing of water for agriculture, "Improving Water Resources Management", which discusses the
the Vision says: importance of pricing and other incentives which encourage con-
As a first step, governments had begun decentralising sumers to adopt efficient water use practices based upon the rela-
responsibility for operation and maintenance to cooperatives tive value of the water:
or to private owners—a trend accelerated in the first years of Charging fees for domestic and industrial water supplies is
the new century. Because farmers depended on the proper generally straightforward. In most cases, use can be metered
functioning of these systems for their livelihoods, they and fees can be charged according to the volume and

APRIL – MAY 2001 www.nexusmagazine.com NEXUS • 27

 reliability of water used. Economic efficiency would be became dangerously low in iron, zinc, vitamin A and other
obtained by setting water charges equal to the opportunity m i c r o n u t r i e n t s .1 6 Transnational chemical companies which
cost of water. However, immediate adoption of such prices supplied the petrochemical-based fertilisers, pesticides and
often proves to be politically difficult. Thus, given the low herbicides that fuelled the Green Revolution expanded their
level of cost recovery at present and the extent of control and influence in the agricultural sector.
underpricing, fees that establish the water entity's financial Today, 70 per cent of the world's water is used for crop irriga-
autonomy would be a good starting point to ensure the tion. As the population grows, irrigated land is expected to
entity's independence and the sustainability of operations. become increasingly significant in feeding people. But the
Both public and private entities should pay for the costs of impending water crisis will push many croplands to the brink of
the water and sanitation services they receive. disaster, as there will be insufficient water to irrigate our food
crops. Compounding the problem is the fact that further expan-
The World Bank believes that making water available at no sion of agricultural lands cannot be sustained due to the effects of
cost, or low cost, does not provide the right incentive to con- agrichemicals (soil erosion, salinity, poisoning of water, etc.).
sumers. Its research and experience indicate that: Over the last 10 years, agrichemical companies have been shift-
...when water services are reliable, the poor are willing to ing their interests from chemicals to the life sciences, where the
pay for them, and that when service is not reliable, the poor future profits lie. The revolution in biotechnology has been
pay more for less, typically from street vendors. As pointed dubbed the "Double Green Revolution" by its advocates, who
out in the 'World Development Report 1992', the poor need to claim that it will not only provide more food for more people (the
be provided with a wider range of options so they can choose same argument that fuelled the original Green Revolution), but
the level of water services for which they are willing to pay, that seeds can be genetically engineered to be less thirsty.
thereby giving suppliers a financial This is a critical development which will
stake in meeting the needs of the poor. see corporations turn the crisis of pollution
Fee schedules can be structured so that and depletion of water resources (which they
consumers receive a limited amount of helped create in the first place) into a busi-
water at a low cost and pay a higher fee Apart from its funding ness opportunity, as control of the world's
for additional water. Fees set in this seed stock and water resources becomes the
manner can correspond to efficiency to support water new frontier for private investors.
prices for incremental consumption, privatisation, the World The chemical giant Monsanto has already
even as they provide low base rates that positioned itself as a major player in the life
benefit the poor. However, the schedule Bank is the world's sciences via its control over seed, the first
in aggregate should provide for full-cost
recovery; otherwise, the financial via -
greatest single source of organisation link in the food chain. In a report for the
Corporate Watch, Dr Vandana
bility of the water entity is endangered. funds for large dam Shiva describes Monsanto's new interest:
Another form of subsidy to the poor,
which may be handled through
construction, having water.17 She cites a Monsanto strategy paper
which outlines the company's plan for
one-time budgetary transactions, provided more than corporate control of water:
is a subsidy for connecting house - First, we believe that discontinu -
holds to the water supply and sani -
US$50 billion (1992 ities (either major policy changes
tation network. dollars) for construction or major trendline breaks in
resource quality or quantity) are
The World Bank's matter-of-fact
of more than 500 large likely, particularly in the area of
approach to the full-cost pricing of dams in 92 countries. water, and we will be well posi -
water is a testament to its grandiose tioned via these businesses to prof -
illusions, bloated budget and quest for it even more significantly when
control of people and their resources. these discontinuities occur.
Apart from its funding to support water Second, we are exploring the
privatisation, the Bank is the world's potential of non-conventional
greatest single source of funds for large financing (NGOs, World Bank,
dam construction, having provided more than US$50 billion USDA, etc.) that may lower our investment or provide local
(1992 dollars) for construction of more than 500 large dams in 92 country business-building resources.
countries. The importance of the World Bank in major dam
schemes is illustrated by the fact that it has directly funded four of For Monsanto, "sustainable development" means the conver-
the five most significant dam projects in developing countries out- sion of an ecological crisis into a market of scarce resources:
side China, three of the five largest reservoirs in these countries, The business logic of sustainable development is that popula -
and three of the five largest hydro-electric plants.15 tion growth and economic development will apply increasing
pressure on natural resource markets. These pressures and
ENGINEERING CROPS TO BE LESS THIRSTY the world's desire to prevent the consequences of these pres -
In the early 1970s, there was a global surge in irrigation sures if unabated will create vast economic opportunity.
development. Irrigation was the lead factor in the Green When we look at the world through the lens of sustainability,
Revolution, which resulted in the high-yield rice, wheat and we are in a position to see current and foresee impending
maize varieties which are dependent upon the liberal use of resource market trends and imbalances that create market
inorganic fertilisers. The new crops of the Green Revolution needs. We have further focussed this lens on the resource
displaced local foods, and the diets of many people in the world market of water and land.

28 • NEXUS www.nexusmagazine.com APRIL – MAY 2001

 Monsanto projects revenues of $420 million and net income of • Bolivia
$63 million by 2008 from water resource developments in India As Maude Barlow explains,20 in 1998 the World Bank:
and Mexico alone. The Monsanto paper states: "...refused to guarantee a US$25-million loan to refinance water
We are particularly enthusiastic about the potential of part - services in Cochabamba, Bolivia's third-largest city, unless the
nering with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of government sold the public water system to the private sector and
the World Bank to joint-venture projects in developing mar - passed on the costs to consumers. Only one bid was considered,
kets. The IFC is eager to work with Monsanto to commer - and the utility was turned over to a subsidiary of a conglomerate
cialize sustainability opportunities and would bring both led by Bechtel—the giant engineering company implicated in the
investment capital and on the ground capabilities to our infamous Three Gorges Dam in China, which has caused the
efforts. forced relocation of 1.3 million people.
"In January 1999, before it had even hung up its shingle, the
THE PERILS OF PRIVATISATION company announced the doubling of water prices. For most
According to Maude Barlow, 1 8 author of Blue Gold: The Bolivians, this meant that water would now cost more than food;
Global Water Crisis and the Commodification of the World's for those on a minimum wage or unemployed, water bills sudden-
Water Supply: "The privatisation of municipal water services has ly accounted for close to half their monthly budgets. To add
a terrible record that is well documented. Customer rates are dou- insult, the World Bank granted monopolies to private water con-
bled or tripled; corporate profits rise as much as 700 per cent; cor- cessionaires, announced its support for full-cost water pricing,
ruption and bribery are rampant; water quality standards drop, pegged the cost of water to the US dollar, and declared that none
sometimes dramatically; overuse is promoted to make money; and of its loan could be used to subsidize the poor for water services.
customers who can't pay are cut off... When privatisation hits the All water, even from community wells, required permits to
Third World, those who can't pay will die." access, and peasants and small farmers even had to buy permits to
This brief summary demonstrates the extent of commodifica- gather rainwater on their property."
tion so far, and highlights some of the On 10 April 2000, hundreds of thou-
failures. sands marched to Cochabamba in an

Developing World
On 10 April 2000, anti-government protest. The gov-
ernment backed down, ordered
Programs which transfer existing hundreds of thousands Bechtel out of Bolivia, and revoked
government-managed water systems its water privatisation legislation.
to private firms, financially
marched to Cochabamba in an
autonomous utilities and water user anti-government protest. The Developed Nations
associations are being implemented • Australia
in Latin America (Argentina,
government backed down, A report, A Vision for Australia's
Colombia, and Mexico); Asia ordered Bechtel out of Water Resources 2025, was prepared
(Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, for the World Water Forum 2000 by
Pakistan, The Philippines and Sri Bolivia, and revoked its water Integrated Resource Management
Lanka); Africa (Côte d'lvoire, privatisation legislation. Ltd under contract from UNESCO.
Madagascar, Morocco, Niger, The Australian report recommends
Senegal and Tunisia); and Eastern water pricing related to volume and
Europe (Hungary). timing, as well as the elimination of
In some countries, such as Indonesia, Nepal, The Netherlands subsidies.21
and Sri Lanka, the tradition of farmer-managed water service sys- Australia has already undertaken a program of far-reaching
tems is centuries old. changes in the way the water sector is organised and managed,
with an increasing role for the private sector. In 1994, the
• Argentina Council of Australian Governments (COAG) declared that "busi-
The state-run water company Obras Sanitarias de la Nación was ness as usual" in the rural water industry was not a viable option
sold to Aguas Argentinas, a private company owned by Suez- for irrigators—or the environment.22 They are now implementing
Lyonnaise des Eaux of France. Aguas Argentinas expanded the changes which will affect pricing, water allocations, institutional
water network to 600,000 new residents. Aguas Argentinas has arrangements and environmental management. These reforms are
promised to cut prices by 27 per cent and to invest US$4 billion in to be implemented together, as a package, this year.
improving services over a 30-year period. The International The reform package includes a COAG agreement to introduce
Finance Corporation (a subsidiary of the World Bank) provided a full-cost recovery pricing in rural areas by 2001. This means cur-
$172.5 million loan to Aguas Argentinas in 1994. rent prices paid for water are likely to rise. In some cases, prices
Some people in the centre of Buenos Aires have benefited from have escalated already. Many local governments in Australia
the privatisation, but those outside the capital say water is more have made rainwater tanks and recycling of grey water illegal.23
expensive and the service has not improved.
"On many days there is no water," says Marcelo Paoletti, an • Britain
activist from an Argentine group called the Ecologist Workshop. Since the privatisation of water services in Britain during the
He lives in Rosario, the country's second largest city. Paoletti's Thatcher Government, prices skyrocketed by up to 450 per cent,
bills add up to 24 pesos (US$24) a month, more than when the averaging an increase of 67 per cent. Thousands of people,
water supply was publicly managed. unable to pay their bill, had their water service cut. As a result,
Aguas Argentinas has also been criticised a number of times by dysentery increased sixfold, leading the British Medical
the state regulatory authorities for corporate misconduct and fail- Association to condemn privatisation because of the related health
ure to provide acceptable service standards.19 risks. While the companies are hugely profitable and executive

APRIL – MAY 2001 www.nexusmagazine.com NEXUS • 29

incomes soar, no effort has been spared in maximising revenues. allotment of 4.4 million acre feet per year. Without the deal,
In one instance, a water company began billing a rural resident California would have faced potentially costly litigation by the
who was serviced by a well. The company argued that the rain other six states in the river basin: Utah, Wyoming, Colorado,
falling on the resident's property was making its way into the New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada.
storm drainage system and therefore the resident should pay a To increase water availability in the next 15 years, regional
fee.24 authorities will consider steps such as desalinating seawater and
transferring water from elsewhere in California and out of the
• Canada state.
Water is becoming a commodity to be traded and sold.
Pressures within Canada to privatise control of municipal water WORLD WATER NIGHTMARE, 2001–2025
services and treat water resources as an export commodity are In the year 2025, we look back to see what happened after
increasing. French and British companies are vying with water became a commodity and to study the effect of hydrodollars
American firms to control Canada's water services. on the new economy. Instead of a world of prosperity and plenty,
Many municipalities have entered into "partnerships" with pri- we see a World Water Nightmare.
vate organisations. Moncton, for example, has By 2025, the global trade in illegal water has
entered into a 20-year agreement that will see become rife. The number of deaths from pol-
the city's water filtration plant maintained and luted and black market water is on the
operated privately. The company, US Filter,
will build the plant and sell it to the city upon
In France, private increase. Another class of water pollutants is
running rife: residues of pharmaceutical drugs
completion, in exchange for a guarantee that it companies have been given to people and domestic animals. They
will have exclusive rights to sell Moncton its
drinking water. The company has sought sta-
prosecuted for are being measured in increasing quantities in
surface water, in groundwater and in drinking
tus as a municipality for tax purposes, arguing providing water that's water at the tap.
that it should be exempt from GST.25 In the developing world, millions have died
polluted and unfit from thirst and starvation. Water wars have
• France to drink. decimated the Middle East, China and parts of
In France, private companies have been the USA. Vast tracts of farmland have
prosecuted for providing water that's pol- become wasteland, handed over to the
luted and unfit to drink. A French French cities with corporations which control the expansive
Government report revealed more than allotments where our food is grown.
5.2 million citizens received "bacterially private water charge The commodification of water did not
unacceptable" water. Corruption is also 30 per cent more than create "sustainable agriculture" or help
rampant, with water-related bribery the environment. The world has almost
schemes resulting in convictions of cities with public collapsed from soil acidity.
municipal officials and water company water. Biotechnology, the science that promised
board members under investigation. food, health and hope for the world, has
French cities with private water charge 30 betrayed its proponents. In 2025, we see
per cent more than cities with public the results of genetically engineering
water. In France as well as Germany and crops to be less thirsty and more produc-
the Czech Republic, municipalities guar- tive. The great famines which the world
antee payments to companies if consumption or prices are not suf- is currently experiencing are a direct result of monoculture based
ficient to ensure a profit.26 upon genetically engineered seed stocks. The price of food is out
of reach of many urban dwellers. At first, they turned to home
• USA gardening—before it was declared illegal. Now they have no
In the past five years, privatisation of water utilities in the US choice but to contribute to the cost of their food and water in kind
has expanded. The major utilities, Consumers Water Co., through their toil. Or die. The life sciences have become the
Dominguez Services, Southwest Water, Connecticut Water and death sciences.
E'Town Corp have seen returns of more than 20 per cent for If only we had taken action when these plans were first
investors. revealed. If only our protests had not fallen on deaf ears. If only
In February 2001, US Water News Online 27 reported a move our governments had challenged the statements made at the
towards the concept of "zero depletion" for water in the state of World Water Forum 2000. Instead, they acquiesced to the plans,
Kansas. Governor Bill Graves's proposal entails having a "zero sending their ministers, advisers, bureaucrats and scientists to take
depletion" policy in place for Kansas aquifers by 2020. It would part. The very future of humanity on Earth has been gravely
mandate that the water taken from an aquifer over a certain period imperilled by greedy, dishonest, power-hungry politicians and
of time not exceed the rate at which the water is recharged. A corporations. They have succeeded in reducing every component
task force on water issues that Graves appointed as part of his of Nature to an economic commodity. They have abrogated the
"Vision 21st Century Initiative" advocated a zero depletion ethics and spirit of life preservation and replaced them with the
policy. values of corporate consumerism.
California will receive surplus water from states in the The commodification of water... Genetic engineering and
Colorado River basin under a deal signed recently that commits patenting of traditional seed stock... Control water, control food,
the state to improving its water conservation efforts. The accord control people... A truly dark age is upon us. ∞
commits California to reducing its reliance on Colorado River
water over the next 15 years, with the goal of reaching its Continued on page 81

30 • NEXUS www.nexusmagazine.com APRIL – MAY 2001

 HydroDollars: The Privatisation of Water
Continued from page 30 Kofi Annan on the occasion of the World Water Environmentalism, published by Third World
Forum in March 2000. Annan's media release was Network and APEX Press, 1996.
Endnotes titled "UN committed to ensuring world water 9. The mission of Green Cross International is to
1. UN Press Release GA/9259 ENV/DEV/424, 23 security and 'Blue Revolution', says Secretary- help create the conditions for a sustainable future
June 1997. In 1997, a special session of the UN General in message to World Water Forum"; see by cultivating a more harmonious relationship
was called to review and appraise the implementa- UN Press Release SG/SM/7334 ENV/DEV/534. between humans and the environment. Green
tion of "Agenda 21", the program of action adopted 6. For example, in UN Press Release SG/SM/5931 Cross International's President, Mikhail
by the United Nations Conference on Environment of 1996, "International community must act to Gorbachev, was invited to guest-edit a special edi-
and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro avert impending water supply catastrophe", the tion of Civilization, the magazine of the US
in June 1992. These remarks were made by UN then UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali Library of Congress, on the global water crisis.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan in a media release described the impending water crisis as "one worse The edition was launched at a special event in
discussing the consequences if Agenda 21 is not than the oil crisis of the 1970s". He was speaking Washington, DC, on 10 October 2000. Green
implemented. on the occasion of World Water Day in March Cross International has been granted General
2. Water is now traded on the Internet. At 1996. Consultative Status with the Economic and Social
water2water.com, you can buy, sell, trade or auc- 7. The first draft of World Water Vision was avail- Council (Ecosoc) of the United Nations. Its hon-
tion water 24 hours a day. able in 1997. A second draft came in 1999. The orary board members include Dr David Suzuki,
3. Readers will recall that mathematical modelling completed Vision document was presented at the Shimon Perez, Javier Perez de Cuellar, Rudolph
was also used by the Club of Rome in its 1972 World Water Forum inMarch 2000. Lubbers and Dr Thor Heyerdahl. Green Cross
report, The Limits To Growth, which predicted dis- 8. A "greenwash" is where transnational corpora- International has played a critical role in the devel-
aster unless the world's population was capped. tions preserve and expand their markets by posing opment of the Earth Charter.
as friends of the environment and enemies of 10. Ministerial Declaration of The Hague, agreed
4. Gleick, Peter H., "Making Every Drop Count",
to on Wednesday 22 March 2000 at the World
Scientific American, February 2001, pp. 29-33. poverty. Greenwash takes many forms: from a
Water Forum.
Also see Journal of the American Water Resources pious concern for the environment, expressed in
11. Companies participating in the World Water
Association, vol. 25, no. 6, December 1999, which expensive advertising campaigns, to the "continu-
Forum CEO Panel on business and industry and
examines the metadata for almost 900 bibliograph- ous improvement" ballyhooed in voluntary codes endorsing this statement were: Azurix (USA);
ic references on the effects of climate change and of conduct; from the creation of benign-sounding CH2M Hill Companies Ltd (USA); DHV (The
variability on US water resources. corporate front groups, to the participation of Netherlands); Heineken NV (The Netherlands);
5. For more details, see "The Last Oasis: Facing TNCs in environmental conferences and events. ITT Industries (USA); Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux
Water Scarcity" by Sandra Postel. Her study, All these efforts share the goal of avoiding national (France); Nestlé SA (Switzerland); Nuon (The
funded by the Ford Foundation, was published in and international sanctions on dirty TNC opera- Netherlands); Severn Trent PLC (UK); Unilever
1992 and re-released in 1997 as part of the tions, which are at the root of many global environ-
Worldwatch Environmental Alert Series. Postel's mental crises. See Kenny Bruno and Jed Greer's Continued on page 82
warnings were reiterated by UN Secretary-General book, Greenwash: The Reality Behind Corporate

APRIL – MAY 2001 www.nexusmagazine.com NEXUS • 81

 HydroDollars: The Privatisation of Water
Continued from page 81 Bank–funded projects never regained their former http://nccnsw.org.au/member/wetlands/projects/ca
incomes nor received any direct benefits from the mpaigns/nccass1.html.
NV (The Netherlands); Vivendi Water (France). dams for which they were forced to sacrifice their 24. Extracted from Alberni Environmental
12. Corporate Europe Observer, "And Not A Drop homes and lands. Coalition On-Line Library, CUPE's Annual Report
to Drink! World Water Forum promotes privatisa- 16. Monsanto has addressed this problem by creat- on Privatization, 1999,
tion and deregulation of the world's water", issue 7, ing a new genetically engineered "Golden Rice" www.portaec.net/library/ocean/water/
www.xs4all.nl/~ceo/. containing beta-carotene (a source of vitamin A). profiting_from_water.html.
13. The World Bank's mission statement is "A Golden Rice is now being promoted as the solution 25. ibid.
world free of poverty". to vitamin A deficiency in the developing world. 26. ibid.
14. The Jerusalem Morning Post of 1 February 17. "Monsanto expanding monopolies from seed 27. See www.uswaternews.com/homepage.html.
2001 warned that Israel's current water crisis was to water", Corporate Watch, August 1999,
the "worst in history". Water Commissioner www.corpwatch.org/trac/corner/worldnews. About the Author:
Shimon Tal declared that, for the first time since 18. Barlow, Maude, "Water Is A Basic Human Susan Bryce is an Australian journalist and
the establishment of the state, more water is Right – Or Is It?", Toronto Globe and Mail, author of more than 70 published research arti-
expected to be supplied for domestic use this year Canada, 11 May 2000, cles. Susan publishes the Australian Freedom &
than for agriculture due to plans to cut fresh water www.theglobeandmail.com/hubs/ national.html Survival Guide, which aims to undermine the
quotas for farming by an average of 50 per cent. [also quoted in NEXUS 7/05 Global News]. pervading myths surrounding the corporate
The issue of Water for Peace in the Middle East 19. For further details, see consumer culture, globalisation and the New
was raised at the World Water Forum 2000. www.whirledbank.org/development/private.html. World Order.
Mikhail Gorbachev (representing Green Cross), 20. Barlow, ibid. AF&SG encourages public debate and ques-
Minister Mahadin of Jordan (in Jordan, the water 21. A Vision for Australia's Water Resources tioning of issues which are fundamental to our
shortage is becoming permanent and water may 2025, Final Report, November 1999, prepared for future freedom and survival. These issues
very well become a reason for conflicts), John the World Water Council by Integrated Resource include genetic engineering, food irradiation
Frydman of Israel, and Ambassador Yousef Management Research Pty Ltd, Brisbane, Australia and related issues, Big Brother and the interna-
Habbab of the Palestinian Authority deliberated (UNESCO Contract BL 21–05), tional surveillance regime, corporate power
upon the issue of water and peace in the Middle www.catchment.com. and global governance, and self-sufficiency in
East. 22. Council of Australian Governments the 21st century.
15. Since 1948, the World Bank has financed large Communiqué, Hobart, 25 February 1994, AF&SG is available by subscription (6 issues
dam projects which have forcibly displaced in the www.dist.gov.au/science/pmsec/14meet/inwater/ap per year, A$45.00, US$37.00, £25.00). Send
order of 10 million people from their homes and p3form.html. cheque, payable to Susan Bryce, to: PO Box
lands. The Bank's own 1994 "Resettlement and 23. National Competition Council, Second 66, Kenilworth, Qld 4574, Australia. For
Development" review admits that the vast majority Tranche Assessment of Progress on Water Reform more deta ils, vis it Su san's web site a t
of women, men and children evicted by World in NSW and Queensland, www.squirrel.com.au/~sbryce/.

82 • NEXUS www.nexusmagazine.com APRIL – MAY 2001