Alliance
Chapters Fight Northern California Water-Grab
Toni Rizzo,
Co-hair, Mendocino Coast Chapter
"It
is the mission of World Water, SA to identify viable bulk water markets around
the globe, acquire sufficient water resources in each market area, and enter
into long term take-or-pay bulk water contracts, with public or private buyers,
to meet delivery contracts while securing an appropriate profit." —World Water, SA
Northern
California Alliance chapters have joined watershed protection groups to fight a
local water grab that could have statewide, and possibly nationwide or global,
consequences if it is successful. Alaska Water Exports (AWE), a partner of
World Water SA, has set its sights on pumping northern California river water
into giant baggies for transport and sale to thirsty San Diego. At first
laughed at by incredulous local residents, it soon became clear that Ric
Davidge, owner and president of AWE and president and chairman of World Water,
SA, is quite serious about implementing this precedent-setting scheme. Like
other corporate opportunists, Davidge recognizes the value of "blue gold"
— what remains of the world's precious freshwater resources. Fortune
recently stated that in the 21st century water will be "the
precious commodity that determines the wealth of nations."
Large
corporations like Davidge's are rushing to capitalize on the tragic reality
that over 1 billion people worldwide have no access to fresh water. Instead of
considering water a human right, they view it as a good for sale to the highest
bidder, no matter that those who cannot pay will die as a result. Indeed, every
eight seconds a child dies from drinking contaminated water. These numbers will
only increase as taps are turned off by greedy corporations thirsting for ever
higher profits.
The Scheme
Here on
California's isolated north coast we're well aware of the ripple effect of
global issues on our local communities. Even so, we were caught by surprise
when the world water crisis crashed like a rogue wave into our backyards last
January. This wake-up call mobilized diverse segments of our community,
including watershed groups, loggers, fishers, activists, business people, and
local governments, to oppose Davidge's waterbag scheme.
AWE filed
applications with the California State Water Resources Control Board to take
8,600 acre-feet of water from the Gualala River and 6,200 acre-feet from the
Albion River every year during the rainy season. The company plans to sink a
cistern into the river bed at a point above the saltwater intrusion zone. Water
drawn into the cistern will be carried by pipe buried in the river bed two to
three miles to mooring stations offshore, where it will be pumped into huge
bags 800 feet long, 250 feet wide, and 25 feet deep. Each bag will hold
approximately 40 acre-feet of water. The full waterbags will be towed by
tugboats from the rivers to San Diego.
Protecting
Our Rivers
The
attempted taking of our rivers' water, our lifeblood, hit a raw nerve in all of
us who love our rivers and the life they nourish. One of the biggest fights
looming across the Earth is the commodification of water by corporations, and
outraged coastal residents joined the fray as soon as news of Davidge's
application hit the press. As we studied the issue we began to realize the
enormous environmental, political, and social consequences that could result
from giving a corporation title to this water. The Friends of the Gualala River
(FoGR), the FLOW project of the Albion River Watershed Protection Association
(ARWPA), and Alliance for Democracy held community meetings and hosted radio
shows aimed at educating themselves and the community on these potential
consequences. The Mendocino and Sonoma County Boards of Supervisors passed
resolutions opposing the waterbag scheme, the California Democratic Party added
it to their election platform, and the Green Party is expected to do the same.
The state
noticed the public of AWE's applications on September 13, beginning a 60-day
public protest period. Davidge's applications may be protested under certain
categories, including: Environmental, Public Interest, and Public Trust. This
protest period is a critical time and local groups are working to deluge the
Water Resources Control Board with carefully completed protest forms.
Alliance
Chapters Unite
Aware of
the potential consequences of our river water becoming a commodity subject to World
Trade Organization (WTO) rules, the Mendocino Coast and Redwood Coast Alliance
chapters met to plan strategies for working with other local groups. FoGR and
FLOW were already researching and publicizing the environmental consequences of
removing so much water from these rivers. With advice from Nancy Price, we
decided to focus on the Public Trust protest category. With her and others'
input, I researched and wrote a document explaining the Public Trust doctrine
and how giving AWE title to the water puts state water at risk under WTO
regulations. This and a bullet list of protest points are now a part of the
protest instructions put together by the watershed groups.
Joined now
by the Sonoma County Alliance chapter, our chapters are working with the watershed
groups to publicize the issue and organize meetings of the public and different
groups to fill out and submit protest forms to the state. Below are
explanations of the issues and at the end of this article are resources for
more information and to access protest forms and instructions.
Environmental
and Public Interest Issues
AWE
selected the Albion and Gualala Rivers after studying all the water outflows in
the western United States. According to Davidge, these rivers were the only two
studied "that could reasonably withstand a take of water, that would not
interfere with the ecosystem…" He likens the water collection system to a
straw stuck in the river bed. Locals agree that it is the last straw for these
already impaired rivers. According to river hydrologist Fred Euphrat, Davidge
will need to fill 111 waterbags, pumping one bag per day to take 5,000
acre-feet of water from the Albion River. At this rate, more than the average
yearly river flow will be removed for seven months of the year. Further, during
winter storms, the water will be
turbid—full of clay that can't be filtered out—and unusable. In order to get
functional water, Euphrat says Davidge will have to "pump the heck out of
the river for about 50 days of the year because it won't be functional 150 days
because of too little water and 100 days when the water is too dirty."
The
environmental consequences are frightening, especially in rivers already
impaired from logging. Euphrat and Linda Perkins of FLOW pointed out that in
addition to the amount of water flowing from the river, salinity and
temperature will be altered, potentially affecting already endangered Coho
salmon and other species. Whale migration routes may be affected by the
offshore operations. And, of course, large diesel tugs continuously towing
enormous waterbags down the coast will not enhance the beauty of our coastline,
the tourism our economy increasingly depends on, or local property values.
The Public
Trust and International Trade Agreements
According
to Public Trust Doctrine principles, certain types of property, such as
navigable waterways, are of high public value and private right of ownership of
these properties should be limited. By the late 19th century, the
Federal Supreme Court confirmed that the Public Trust Doctrine imposes specific
obligations on the states. The concept of the Public Trust Doctrine can be used
to challenge whether Federal and State governments are meeting their public
trust obligations regarding vital resources that are the common heritage of all
people in the U.S. Furthermore, the California state constitution holds public
trust properties as sovereign for the benefit of all citizens and limits the
creation of private rights in public trust properties. Historically, the public
trust doctrine has been applied to navigable waterways, which has been upheld
in California courts. Therefore, the state is obligated to protect the Albion
and Gualala rivers, both certified as navigable waterways, as a valuable
resource owned in common by the people of California.
Giving AWE
title to Albion River and Gualala River water would violate the public trust by
allowing the water to potentially fall under WTO rules. Should this happen the
state of California, local governments, and the public could lose control of
this and other water sources in California. Once this happens, a precedent
would be set and we would not be able to restrict the taking and selling of
other waters in our state.
Although
AWE is a domestic corporation, it is backed by Japanese, Norwegian, and Saudi
interests, all World Water SA partners. One partner, Nordic Water Supply (NWS),
is already exporting water from Turkey to Cyprus in waterbags. In its 2001
Board of Directors report NWS states that a memorandum of agreement has been
signed with Mexico to deliver fresh water to Mexico's west coast. This
memorandum only hints at the possible long-term motives behind this attempted
water-grab.
If AWE
acquires the right to this water, it would only require an administrative
change to transfer title to one of it's foreign partners. If this is done, the
water then would fall under World Trade Organization (WTO) provisions,
specifically the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT). If the title is
sold to a foreign north American corporation, North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) regulations will apply. Under these agreements, once the
water is taken, local governments lose the right to restrict the taking of the
water, regardless of environmental or social consequences if such a restriction
could be deemed to deprive a company of its future profits. For example, under
NAFTA, U.S. based Sun Belt Water Inc. sued Canada for $10 billion because a
Canadian province interfered with its plans to export water to California. Sun
Belt claimed that the ban on exporting the water expropriated its future
profits.
Even more
ominous are the provisions of the General Agreement on Trade in Services
(GATS), enacted in 1994. The GATS applies WTO rules to services as well as
products. Currently, bulk water is not included as a service under GATS but the
European Union and the U.S. are pushing strongly for the inclusion of water
services. Two GATS provisions put local control of our waters at risk:
GATS
Article XVII National Treatment Rule: Requires that governments extend the best
treatment given to domestic services or service providers to like foreign
services or service providers.
GATS
Article II Most Favored Nation Treatment: Requires that the best treatment
given to any foreign service or service provider must be extended to all like
foreign services and service providers.
Under these
provisions, if bulk water becomes a service under the GATS, and AWE gains title
to the water, the state might be required to allow a corporation from another
WTO member country access to an equal amount of water from the state or be
fined for expropriating future profits. This would be true regardless of
whether title to the water remains with a domestic corporation (National
Treatment Rule) or is transferred to a foreign corporation (Most Favored Nation
Treatment).
Water is
Life
The
attempted water-grab from our local rivers is just one of the many water
battles being fought across the nation and the globe. We must stop the
commodification and privatization of water, a precious resource we all depend
on, a resource that should be equally available to all on the planet. Water is
not just another product. A threat to our water is a threat to our very
humanity, our lives, our Earth. As Mendocino Coast activist Linda Perkins put
it:
This
project will degrade the cultural and spiritual value that we put on this
water. Water is life. It can't be bought with dollars. To all of us who live in
these watersheds, the trees, the
animals, the fish…that water flows through ourselves. We've come to love these
rivers. The river going out to the ocean calls the Coho back. It recalls to us
the virtue of having that water in our living selves. We are called to defend
and guard the river.— Linda
Perkins, FLOW
What you
can do:
To join our
chapters in this campaign or for more information, contact Toni Rizzo at
toni@mcn.org.
For
detailed information, protest forms and instructions on filling them out, go to
http://www.gualariver.org. Also check
out www.albionnation.org.
For
detailed information on water and international trade agreements, download the
publications "Thirst for Control" at www.canadians.org and "Facing the
Facts: A Guide to the GATS Debate" at www.policyalternatives.ca.
