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The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right To Water


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Maude Barlow is co-founder of the Blue Planet Project and a very vocal advocate for clean water for all. Her new book (The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water) lays out three main plans that must be instituted in order for our planet to avert a catastrophe regarding this crisis that according to the UN should be our top priority which include: Water conservation, water justice, and water democracy. We must as a global community see beyond the borders to the moral courage necessary to conserve and share this precious resource, as well as working on a treaty like the one we hope to see regarding the climate crisis that sets goals for conservation, sharing of resources, providing technology necessary to developing countries that helps them with conserving through agriculture, infrastructure, and basic education. And most importantly, declaring access to clean water a human right.This along with the climate crisis is the most crucial environmental issue we will face in this century. For me it is the most crucial because without water there is no life.
JanforGore

7 responses // The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right To Water

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amobFCpe83Y

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7_9p4-ny1g

    Interview with Maude Barlow on Democracy Now! that also looks at the new documentary, Flow : For the Love of Water that looks at water resource availability, privitization, and the bottled water industry. I recommend it, because in the coming years as this crisis becomes more pronouced globally, you will see a much bigger shift in priorities not only by corporations looking to profit from it, but by our own military looking for water resources. Make no mistake that the recent agreement made between the U.S. and Canadian govts to "share" troops for "civil emergencies" may well be part of that goal should the need arise. We continue to ignore this at our own peril.
    JanforGore
  • http://www.wateruseitwisely.com/index.shtml

    Water: Use It Wisely

    A great site where you can find some good tips to become part of the solution to the water crisis. First thing is doing a water audit of your home and your own personal use ( your water footprint) and then making a pledge to cut your comsumption of water for unnecessary things such as watering lawns, filling pools, etc. If you own a home, rain barrels are a good way to catch rainwater, and there are many types of systems that collect gray water to be used again for watering lawns, cleaning, etc. Also, filtering tap water for drinking ( I use a Brita) instead of using bottled water which is an environmental waste, and also using fllters on showers, waterless toilets ( which are not really that expensive when you compare it to the savings on your water bill,) solar water heaters, etc. Also, being involved in your local communities to know where your water is coming from, if it is privitized, and what if any funds are being used for infrastructure based on your fees. If we really want to address this successfully as with the climate crisis, all it takes is moral will. This is not a crisis that is hopeless.
    JanforGore
  • http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=53...
    NPR: The Coming Crisis: Water, Not Oil

    When The Rivers Run Dry by Fred Pearce is another book I recommend to read regarding this crisis. The Colorado, Rio Grande, Yellow, Nile... Many of our major global rivers no longer run to their ends and are majorly polluted. And that means trouble for the millions of people who depend on that flow as their source to bring them water, and water that is clean. Climate change (due to melting glaciers,) waste, disrespect, and over consumption of water due to rising populations are actually causing our rivers to run dry. "Peak Water" is then something we definitely do not want to see. The wars for oil would pale in comparison.
    JanforGore
  • http://water-is-life.blogspot.com/2007/10/what-i-saw-in...
    And this crisis was the catalyst for what we see in Darfur, which the international community needs to respond to with much more urgency. Depletion of vital resources by political dictators leads to war, displacement, disease, and death. And predictions by the UN as well as the information provided in Al Gore's prescient book and movie, An Inconvenient Truth, tells us that unless we as a species redeem ourselves and do the right thing for our planet we will see hundreds of millions of refugees like those in Darfur. That is why this is such a crucial issue that needs to be addressed by the international community, and why I write so much about it. World Water Day is March 22nd and is commemorated every year with a certain theme. This year the theme is sanitation. If we put resources to keeping water clean instead of spending so much to clean it up we would not only save our precious waterways but the lives of millions of children at risk. And yes, planting trees is also a part of the solution as well ;-).
    JanforGore
  • Ive been talking about this topic for a few years around where I live. It's mind boggling that communities like the one i live in...you will actually get ticketed by the cops for NOT having a green lawn...it's actually a city code that you MUST take care of your lawn. Whenever I've brought this issue up to the old bastards that have golf course lawns and that water all the time...the response is usually the same..."AH, I'll be dead long before that affects me". Also, it's as if you told them bingo was going to be outlawed. Even worse still is that they are in competition with their neighbors as to who has the nicest lawn. I feel this attitude to be CRIMINAL but doesn't surprise me since most still think "tricky dick" was a "good" president. Ironically enough, I've heard that response more than any sort of apology.

    So, move to the burbs and water your lawn religiously...oh and build a few more giant golf courses while you're at it too, and don't use that crappy crabgrass...use the stuff that's not indigenous and requires assloads of water. After all, our personal gains at the moment out-weigh that of the rest of humanity, right?

    Koi ponds and birdbaths in every yard YAY!!

    MMM...yummy chlorine...I'm so bored I'm drinkin bleach...I'm so bored I'm drinkin bleach.
    ablindeye
  • Reports state that Lake Mead will be gone by 2013. Las Vegas and the surrounding areas will then have no water for their golf courses, pools, and fountains, or anything else. Perhaps when the well runs dry people will then know the true value of water. The human species: we are the only species living under such a false delusion of our omnipotence over this planet.
    JanforGore
  • http://water-is-life.blogspot.com/2007/10/water-crisis-looms-large-over-our.html


    More of my thoughts on this that I could not fit here.
    JanforGore

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