India Water Crisis - Part 1

India might have enough rainfall for its whole population, but the counrty is facing a water crisi nevertheless. One of the problem is that water is taken away from poor areas to fill water tanks and swimming pools in richter cities like Delhi.

Bolivia 'Water War' - Part 4

The events of the water war in Cochabamba are well know worldwide – what happened afterward not so much. As an outside observer, it is easy to approve of the social movement in Cochabamba and how the people managed to resist the private companies. But by looking closer in what happened after the water war, it turns out that things are not simply black and white in regards to water privatization. In fact, in comparison to the Bolivian cities La Paz and El Alto, where water supply is privatized, Cochabamba is doing worse.

Even though the water prices decreased after Bechtel left the city, they are still above average. The change of the total water coverage rate is very distinct, particularly for the poorest people. The decrease for the lowest quintile from 63.3% in 1996 to 25.9% in 2005 is dramatic. In addition, from 2001 to 2005, the average water capita expenditure increased for the poor and decreased for the upper class. These numbers clearly indicate that there has been no positive development or reduction in poverty in the city after the anti-privatization of the water supply in 2000 (Hailu 2012).

It is expected that private water supply is set up faster than a community-owned water governance. It is the proficiency of private companies to provide access to water - they have money and know-how to do so. Whereas on the other side, a water governance based on social justice still needs to be framed. This is the problem in Cochabamba since the end of the 'water war'. The leaders of the social movement have the 'water as common good' approach in mind, but the external circumstances make it difficult to act upon the approach. As mentioned above, the Cochabamba elite would not cooperate, and corruption even within the SEMAPA would garner little support from the local population. That, in turn, makes the Andean communities go back to their tradition of self-help (Bakker 2010:169).

Fabricant comes to the conclusion that international human rights laws have to be adapted; otherwise, state regulation and service delivery will always determine water justice. In addition, one has to wait if the organizations will be able to “build a water management system that is truly based upon the principles of social justice and equality” (2013:138; 143).

Bakker, Karen. Privatizing Water. Governance Failure and the World's Urban Water Crisis. Cornell University Press: Ithaca and London. 2010. Print.

Fabricant, Nicole; Hicks, Kathryn. Bolivia's Next Water War. Historicizing the Struggles over Access to Water Resources in the Twenty-First Century. In: Radical History Review. Issue 116. Spring 2013. MARHO:The Radical Historians' Organization. PDF.

Hailu, Degol; Guerreiro Osorio, Rafael; Tsukada, Raquel. Privatization and Renationaliztion: What Went Wrong in Bolivia's Water Sector? In: World Development. Vol. 40, No. 12. Elsevier: Amsterdam. 2012. PDF. pp. 2564-2577.

Bolivia 'Water War' - Part 3

 

Even though there were various actors involved in the conflict, it all came down to two contradictory fronts: the ones that wanted to treat water as an economic good and the others that emphasized the sacred value of water and regarded access to it as a human right without monetary cost.

The Bolivian government and the private corporations Bechtel and Aguas del Tunari acted under the assumption that water is a commodity. They saw a market-based water sector reform as the only way to face the water crisis (Bakker 2010:2). Following the framework of 'green neoliberalism', they adopted the idea that “corporate management can improve service and enhance conservation of scarce resources, while bringing in healthy profits” (Fabricant 2013:132). The idea behind their action was not necessarily to take care of the lower class citizen, but to push the Bolivian economy. They wanted to ensure more market competition and, therefore, increase wealth in the country and solve environmental problems. They believed market power would balance the demand and supply of water on its own – something that the government had 'failed' to achieve.

On the other side, the Bolivian citizen and their various protest groups were committed to the 'water as common good' approach that emphasized its environmental and social value. Especially, the indigenous population of the Andean highlands was certain that water is sacred (Bakker 2010:167). In their eyes, the privatization process gave economic elites illegitimate control over water, which is such an essential part of human life. According to the Bolivian citizen, privatization went against water equity (fairness in pricing and access to services) (Bakker 2010:140). They accused Bechtel and Aguas del Tunari of not acting in favor of the citizen but for the company's stockholders. Behind the specific protests against the water privatization in Cochabamba stood also a general distrust of the 'neo-liberal turn' in the country and its assumed economic oppression. Oscar Olivera, one of the spokespersons for the Coordinator for the Defense of Water and Life, said in an interview: “We want democracy. We want a government that takes our opinion seriously. We want a government that doesn't just take into account the interests of international financiers and their neoliberal agenda” (Multinational Monitor 2000:19).

 

Bakker, Karen. Privatizing Water. Governance Failure and the World's Urban Water Crisis. Cornell University Press: Ithaca and London. 2010. Print.

Fabricant, Nicole; Hicks, Kathryn. Bolivia's Next Water War. Historicizing the Struggles over Access to Water Resources in the Twenty-First Century. In: Radical History Review. Issue 116. Spring 2013. MARHO:The Radical Historians' Organization. PDF.

Multinational Monitor. The Fight for Water and Democracy. An Interview with Oscar Olivera. Essential Information: Washington, DC. June 2000. PDF. pp. 15-19.

Bolivia 'Water War' - Part 2

The conflict over water in Bolivia is a conflict in which corporations fight against citizen:

“Cochabama is a semidesert region, water is scarce and precious. The World Bank recommended privatization of Cochabamba's municipal water supply company through a concession to International Water, a subsidiary of Bechtel. On October 1999, the Drinking Water and Sanitation Law was passed, ending government subsidies and allowing privatization.”

“In a city where the minimum wage is less than $100 a month, water bills reached $20 a month.”

“In January 2000, a citizen's alliance called The Coalition in Defense of Water and Life was formed. The alliance shut down the city for four days through mass mobilization.”

“The protesters issued the Cochabamba Declaration, calling for the protection of universal water rights.”

“In April 2000, the government tried to silence the water protests through martial law. Activists were arrested, protesters killed, and the media censored. Finally on April 10, 2000, the people won. Aguas del Tunari and Bechtel left Bolivia and the government was forced to revoke its hated water privatization legislation.”

Shiva, Vandana. Water Wars. Privatization, Pollution, and Profit. Cambrigde: South End Press. 2002. Print.

Bolivia 'Water War' - Part 1

In 2000, a private company took over the water system of Cochabamba, Bolivia. The price for water increased dramatically – thousands of families had to spend up to half of their monthly income to pay for the water. The people went on the street, demanding the termination of the water contract. In the end, the protesters won and their water rights were restored. (Source)

I will refer to the conflict in Bolivia as a 'water war', because this expression is mostly used in this context. But I don't think it was a real war, it was 'only' a conflict in my eyes. I recently wrote a research paper about the failed water privatization in Cochabamba. I have decided to publish part of my results in future blog entries.

Movie: Blue Gold

The movie 'Blue Gold' came out in 2008 and is based on the book Blue Gold: The Right to Stop the Corporate Theft of the World’s Water by Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke.It won many awards.

On the official homepage of 'Blue Gold' you can find a YouTube link to watch the full movie online. 

On the homepage, the film makers introduce into the topic with this statement:

"In every corner of the globe, we are polluting, diverting, pumping, and wasting our limited supply of fresh water at an expediential level as population and technology grows. The rampant overdevelopment of agriculture, housing and industry increase the demands for fresh water well beyond the finite supply, resulting in the desertification of the earth.

Corporate giants force developing countries to privatize their water supply for profit. Wall Street investors target desalination and mass bulk water export schemes. Corrupt governments use water for economic and political gain. Military control of water emerges and a new geo-political map and power structure forms, setting the stage for world water wars.

We follow numerous worldwide examples of people fighting for their basic right to water, from court cases to violent revolutions to U.N. conventions to revised constitutions to local protests at grade schools. As Maude Barlow proclaims, “This is our revolution, this is our war”. A line is crossed as water becomes a commodity. Will we survive?"

Israel Water Crisis - Part 3

This UNICEF video and the following, gives insight in the water situation in the Gaza stripe.

Source