Further reading on water grabbing from the Transnational Institute website on Water Justice: What are the key drivers of water grabbing?
Water grabbing is an expression of an economic model of development
in which capital accumulation is linked to increasing control over
abundant and cheap supplies of natural resources, including food, water
and energy. The outbreak in 2008 of a global financial crisis
accompanied by extraordinary commodity price spikes and growing
financial speculation in food commodities provoked a new round of water,
land and resource grabbing as governments and investors sought
assurances which could not be provided by increasingly volatile and
unreliable markets.4 It is worth examining this nexus between water, energy and food security in a little more detail.
Rising oil prices and growing concerns that a ‘peak oil’ period has
been reached have rung alarm bells about the high dependence of modern
economies on fossil fuel. The search for alternatives to non-renewable
energy sources has focussed extensively on agrofuels: crops such as palm
oil, jatropha, sugarcane and soya, grown as a source of liquid fuel for
the transport sector and for industrial use. A veritable explosion in
agrofuel production has occurred in Asia, Africa and Latin America
bolstered by governmental directives, such as the EU’s Renewable Energy
Directive (RED), and a broad range of subsidies and preferential loans.5
Claims that agrofuels constitute a clean and efficient energy source
have however proven to be highly misleading, not least because of the
vast amount of water required throughout the production cycle; from the
irrigation of crops, to the washing of the harvest, to the cooling of
boilers during processing. In the case of sugarcane cultivation for
ethanol production, for example, 7,000 litres of water are needed to
produce 12 kilograms of sugarcane, necessary to produce one litre of
ethanol.6
This high water intensity of agrofuel production is sometimes
overlooked, with disastrous consequences for other water users. (see Box
2)
Just as the growth in fuel crops reflects a search by states and
investors for cheap and reliable energy supplies under conditions of
competition and economic crisis, a similar logic underpins the
appropriation of water resources for the cultivation of food crops. As
food prices have spiked in recent years, an increasing number of
countries and agribusiness corporations have sought to reduce their
dependency on international markets by engaging directly in agricultural
production. This has for instance figured prominently in the considera-
tions of many Gulf states where their own water resources are stretched
and the rising cost of food imports is estimated to account for up to
one third of the inflation experienced in the region.7
Appropriating land and water for food production in other countries is
therefore seen as a strategy for economic stabilisation and a way to
hedge against future inflation. This also holds true for agri-business
corporations who have shifted towards greater vertical integration in
order to safeguard their profit margins and exercise greater control
across the value chain.
Last night on Current TV both Jennifer Granholm and Cenk Uygur spent
time discussing climate change and the melting of the permafrost. Carrie
Mihalcik of Current TV gives background information on what this means for the
planet:
Warming temperatures are melting permafrost in the Northern Hemisphere,
which, in turn, will release massive amounts of methane and carbon into the
atmosphere, which will then significantly amplify global warming.
The United Nations Environment Programme released a new report about the danger of "permafrost carbon
feedback" during the U.N. convention of climate change in Doha, Qatar.
UNEP reports that as Arctic and alpine temperatures increase, organic material
stored in the frozen ground will begin to thaw and decay, releasing carbon and
methane into the atmosphere. The report estimates that permafrost in the
Northern Hemisphere contains 1,700 gigatonnes of carbon — twice the amount that
is currently in the atmosphere.
"Permafrost is one of the keys to the planet's future because it
contains large stores of frozen organic matter that if thawed and released into
the atmosphere would amplify current global warming and propel us to a warmer
world," said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.
The report calls for new monitoring and analysis of permafrost feedback
by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change because current climate models
don’t account for gases released from melting permafrost. This oversight could
put long-standing global negotiations on emission limits at risk.
One of the areas the
Transnational Institute (TNI) works on is Water Justice. With articles on ‘EC,
stop imposing privatisation of water!’ and ‘Reclaiming Public Water,’ their
website is a great resource for anyone interested in learning more about water
issues and the need for advocacy.
The threat of water
grabbing is very real today. Here’s a section from TNI on the subject of water
grabbing:
What is ‘water grabbing’?
Water grabbing refers to situations where powerful actors
are able to take control of or divert valuable water resources and watersheds
for their own benefit, depriving local communities whose livelihoods often
depend on these resources and ecosystems.1 The ability
to take control of such resources is linked to processes of privatisation,
commodification and take-over of commonly-owned resources. They transform water
from a resource openly available to all into a private good whose access must
be negotiated and is often based on the ability to pay. Water grabbing thus
appears in many different forms, ranging from the extraction of water for large-scale
food and fuel crop monocultures, to the damming of rivers for hydroelectricity,
to the corporate takeover of public water resources. It also inheres in a model
of development which is underwritten by a trade in virtual water.
Water grabbing is not a new phenomenon and has much in common
with earlier resource grabs and what has been called the “enclosures of the
commons.” 2
The new dimension of contemporary water grabbing is that the mechanisms for
appropriating and converting water resources into private goods are much more
advanced and increasingly globalised, subject to international laws on foreign
investment and trade. There is thus a real concern that a new generation of
‘Mulhollands’, the early 20th Century Los Angeles official who made water
grabbing infamous, will profit from this scenario to the detriment of local
communities and ecosystems, and at a scale that has not been seen before.(see
Box 1) In the context of a ‘global water crisis’, where 700 million people in
43 countries live below the water-stress threshold of 1,700 cubic metres per
person, there is an urgent need to put an end to the global water grab.3
Box 1. A New Mulholland? One hundred years ago
William Mulholland, superintendent of the Los Angeles Water Department,
resolved the city’s water shortage problem through a brutally effective
innovation: a ‘water grab’. By forcibly transferring water used by farmers in
the Owens Valley, more than 200 miles away, he made it possible for Los
Angeles to become one of the fastest growing cities in the United States.
Control of water continues to be a source of great dispute in California,
although nowadays the battles are mainly fought in courts of law. But across
much of the developing world competition over water is intensifying at an
alarming rate, giving rise to intense—and sometimes violent—conflict. The
danger is that the Mulholland model will resurface in a new guise, with
power, rather than a concern for poverty and human development, dictating
outcomes.
Source: UNDP (2006). Human Development Report 2006 -
Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis
This article by Jennifer
Franco and Sylvia Kay was originally published on http://www.tni.org
under a Creative Commons Licence: http://www.tni.org/primer/global-water-grab-primer
I discovered this new website today and couldn't wait to share it with you. Here’s what it’s all about:
“Food Not Lawns was founded in Eugene, Oregon in 1999 by a small group of activists who had been cooking Food Not Bombs (free meals in the park) for several years and decided to start gardening too. Soon we started hearing about other chapters and realized we had spawned a powerful, inspiring part of the growing sustainability movement. With the publication of Heather Flores' book, "Food Not Lawns, How to Turn your Yard into a Garden and Your Neighborhood into a Community," by Chelsea Green Publishing Company in 2006, new local FNL chapters starting popping up all over. Now we are a global community of avant gardeners, working together to grow and share food, seeds, medicine, and knowledge.”
In a recent Internet search on ‘climate refugees’ I came across the
website for the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) which is a non-profit organization based in the UK working
to protect the environment and defend human rights. The world is going to
need more organizations like EJF as we’re going to be hearing a lot more about
climate refugees in the near future.
Since becoming a water
advocate, I have been interested in research on climate refugees, and have
observed that developing countries are already faced with this challenge, while
the developed countries are just beginning to see signs of what the future
holds.
The recent news covering the
effects of Hurricane Sandy in the Northeast United States and the intense
storms causing flooding in San Francisco, CA are just two stories to grab
headlines. This week Dubai was also hit with flooding after heavy rains. It’s time to start paying attention to how
climate change and severe weather is affecting people around the world.
The EJF website features a
short film in which a climate refugee in Bangladesh explains what happened to
her family.
America
Recycles Day is a national program of Keep America Beautiful, and is the only
nationally-recognized day and community-driven awareness event dedicated to
promoting and celebrating recycling in the U.S. Since its inception in 1997,
communities across the country have participated in America Recycles Day on November
15 to educate, promote environmental citizenship, and encourage action. To
learn more, visit http://americarecyclesday.org.
The world needs more water advocates! Whether you’re
ready to tackle the task full time, or just thinking of ways to make a
difference, WaterAid’s The Advocacy
Sourcebook is an excellent place to start.
The guidebook was intended for use in the water and
sanitation sectors, but can be used for any type of advocacy work. It helps you
clearly identify issues, define your message, and create an action plan.
The
Advocacy Sourcebook is divided into sections to help you:
While many NYC residents are still waiting for help after the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, others are beginning to wonder if the city's tap water is safe to drink.
One news source reported, "Raw sewage, industrial chemicals and floating debris filled flooded waterways around New York City on Tuesday" (Huffington Post). The idea of sewage mixed in with clean water supplies is indeed troubling, but one area in Brooklyn is of greatest concern.
The US Environmental Agency added the Gowanus canal in Brooklyn to its "Superfund List" in 2011. We can only imagine what the flooding in Brooklyn has done to the canal and where the water has traveled since the hurricane hit. Water from the canal is said to be sitting in some basements in Brooklyn. While city officials and residents struggle with pumping out the water and getting power restored to the area, the issue of the canal and area drinking water will continue to be a concern.
Hurricane Sandy has drawn attention to Climate Change and water issues in the US - something that was greatly needed.
Eugene becomes the third city in Oregon to ban plastic bags.
Eco Watch published an article announcing the fantastic news that Eugene, OR has issued a ban on plastic bags.
Excerp from article:
"Eugene has become the third city in Oregon to implement a single-use plastic bag ban following the city council’s vote to ban plastic checkout bags and put a fee on paper bags. The decision will have big payoffs for Oregon’s environment and the Pacific Ocean. "
That’s right; we are now talking about water security. Those words
scare me—and they should scare you, too.
A recent article by environmental journalist Stephen Leahy calls
attention to the issue of water shortages around the world citing the biggest
threat as “neoliberal policies of the free market economic system laying waste
to the natural world and turning water into a commodity” (Inter Press Service).
Areas expected to face the worst water shortages before 2030
include parts of Africa and Asia, including China, home to 1.3 billion people, and
India, home to more than 1.2 billion people.
Over two years ago I visited Mumbai and was annoyed that water was
shut off around 4 pm. If you wanted to take a shower later than that, you
needed to fill a bucket in your bathroom earlier in the day and then bathe with
a dipper. At the time I viewed it as a major inconvenience. “How could people live
this way?” I wondered.
Today the pressing issues about water involve how agriculture will
sustain itself in coming years with the increased demand for water,
privatization of water resources, water shortages, water security, and water
wars. In other words, it won’t be long until you’re worrying about having
enough water to drink and not whether you are allowed to take a shower, water
your garden, or wash your car.
We need to be aware that water shortages will destabilize many
parts of the world. We have already seen the number of deaths resulting from ethnic
conflicts around the world; imagine what will happen when people are fighting
over drinking water.
Leahy’s article cites details from the InterAction Council (IAC) report
“Global Water Crisis: Addressing an Urgent Security Issue.” This is not a scare
tactic, this is not liberal journalism: this is the coming reality.
Just in case you don’t want to believe the IAC report, you can
check out the EPA website and download a poster on Drinking Water Security. And
no, I am not kidding.
The biggest threat to water security may be the free market system
and unregulated profiteers, but our complacence is also contributing to this growing
concern. Please wake up and become a water activist.
When
we think of the words water and competition together we almost always think of
a sporting event, but this is not a sport and the losers of this competition face
dire consequences.
A
compelling article from Bloomberg News about coal-fired power being adopted in
Asia highlights the importance of competition for water resources.
The article, Asian Water Scarcity Risked as Coal-Fired Power Embraced by Natalie Obiko Pearson, caught my attention with this
quote:
“You’re
going to have a huge issue with the competition between water, energy and food.”
-Vineet
Mittal, managing director of Welspun Energy Ltd., the utility unit of Leon
Black’s Apollo Global Management LLC-backed Welspun Group (Bloomberg).
A
competition between water, energy and food? Have we got your attention yet?
I’m
just a simple citizen who expects to pay for my energy usage, but I do not
expect to have to compete for water and food. If corporations are already
starting to compete over them, it won’t be long until it reaches the average
person. We’re talking about competing for resources for which we do not have an
unlimited supply.
Complicating
the issues even further is the fact that things like hydraulic fracturing and
coal-fired power plants are poisoning the potable water resources that we have.
Our polluted waters are polluting the fish and sea life we get from them. Chemicals
we use in every-day life are polluting the land we use to grow vegetables and
fruit. Sure, the world now has genetically modified food, but who wants to eat
it when there is evidence that it is not safe for us?
Getting
back to Pearson’s article she writes: “Inner Mongolia’s rivers are feeding
China’s coal industry, turning grasslands into desert. In India, thousands of
farmers have protested diverting water to coal-fired power plants, some
committing suicide” (Bloomberg).
The
world’s water supplies are in absolute danger. While there is no denying that
we rely on power to run our lives, I can imagine living without power before I
can imagine living without water.
Crater
Lake in Oregon is said to be one of the clearest lakes in the world, although
some websites report it as being the “cleanest.” Perhaps it is both the
clearest and the cleanest, either way, it is beautiful.
The
National Park Service (NPS) describes Crater Lake as having a depth of 1,943
feet (592 meters) making it the deepest lake in the United States, and the
seventh deepest in the world. It is interesting to note that the depth of the lake
was first measured in 1886 using a simple sounding machine made from a crank
and piano wire which showed the lake to be 1,996 feet deep. Modern equipment
certainly is amazing, but it’s probably more amazing that measurements with such
simple tools were that close to the real figure.
According to the NPS: “Crater
Lake was formed when a massive eruption of Mount Mazama 7700 years ago caused
the mountain to collapse, leaving a steaming caldera. Centuries of rain and
snow filled the caldera creating Crater Lake.”
Aside from attracting tourists
from around the world, Crater Lake is used as an outdoor laboratory by
scientists, researchers, and teachers. There is also an Artist-in-Residence
Program where the imaginations of musicians, painters, and photographers have been
inspired by the natural beauty of the surrounding areas.
The NPS is working hard to protect
and maintain parks like Crater Lake, but there is much that needs to be done to
protect the world’s drinking water. Water is being polluted every day by
hydraulic fracturing and other types of industrial pollution.
Take part in your community’s
effort to protect your drinking water supply.
Jerry Ensminger started an online petition earlier this year on Change.org to call for medical coverage for victims of water contamination at Camp Lejeune. He collected 135,000 signatures from supporters and was present in the Oval Office on August 6, 2012 when President Obama signed a bill providing medical coverage for those exposed to cancer-causing chemicals at the North Carolina military base.
Jerry Ensminger and his daughter.
Although not widely talked about nowadays, Camp Lejeune is the site of the worst case of water contamination in US history where up to one million people were exposed to cancer-causing chemicals. While living near the base Ensminger's daughter developed childhood leukemia and died at the age of nine.
Most of us are not paying much attention to how our water supplies are being compromised and poisoned. Help spread the word about our most precious resource: water.
Visit Jerry's website to read more about his 15 year battle to seek medical assistance for those suffering from the exposure through the water at Camp Lejeune. The Few, The Proud, The Forgotten
Take the time to find out what's in the water in your community. You'll be glad you did.
Please 'Like' my Facebook page Occupy Your Water Rights for more updates on water conservation and preservation.
The question we all will be asking one another soon.
When we greet each other we ask, "How are you?" In Thailand the greeting is, "Have you had your rice yet?" These greetings are really more of a politeness than wanting to know how a person is doing or if they have eaten yet.
In the coming years I expect that we will be greeting each other by asking, "Thirsty?" With dwindling potable water supplies and the shrinking of natural water reserves, we're in for a dry spell. Saving water today will save your future. No one wants to go around being thirsty. Find out what your water footprint is and take steps to reduce it at home, at work, in your community.
Wired magazine dubbed Jerry Yudelson the Godfather of Green for his work over many decades in the green building industry. In his video series "Water Wars: The Coming Crisis" Jerry highlights the upcoming water shortages and water wars around the world. And while many people may not have heard much about water wars--they are already happening.
Visit Jerry's website to see how you can contribute to the preservation and conservation of water in your area. Click here Green Building Consulting
The
tropical rainforests of the world are the Earth's oldest ecosystems and one of
the Earth's most precious gifts to us.
How do we
define a rainforest? Although rainforests may vary, there are similarities that
we can identify:
·Location: rainforests are found in the
tropics,
·Rainfall: rainforests receive around 80
inches (200 cm) of rain per year,
·Canopy: rainforests have a canopy, which is the
layer of branches and leaves formed by closely spaced rainforest trees. Most of
the plants and animals in the rainforest live in the canopy. The canopy may be
100 feet (30 m) above the ground.
·Biodiversity: rainforests have a high level
of biological diversity or“biodiversity”. Biodiversity is the name for all
living things—like plants, animals, and fungi—found in an ecosystem. Scientists
believe that about half of the plants and animals found on Earth’s land surface
live in rainforests.
·Symbiotic
relationships between species:
species in the rainforest often work together. In a symbiotic relationship, two
different species benefit by helping each other—you can think of it as a
partnership. For example, some plants produce small housing structures and
sugar for ants. In return the ants protect the plants from other insects that
want to feed on the plant’s leaves.
HOW CAN WE SAVE RAINFORESTS?
Rainforests
are disappearing very quickly. The good news is there are a lot of people who
want to save rainforests. The bad news is that saving rainforests is not going
to be easy. It will take the efforts of many people working together in order
to ensure that rainforests and their wildlife will survive for your children to
appreciate, enjoy, and benefit from.
Some steps for saving rainforests and, on a broader scale, ecosystems around
the world can be abbreviated as TREES:
·Teach others about the importance of
the environment and how they can help save rainforests.
·Restore damaged ecosystems by planting
trees on land where forests have been cut down.
·Encourage people to live in a way that
doesn't hurt the environment
·Establish parks to protect rainforests and
wildlife
·Support companies that operate in ways
that minimize damage to the environment.
Angela Sun talks about her journey to The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
If you care about the future of the world's water, you've probably already watched films like Tapped, Blue Gold, Flow: For the Love of Water, and many others. Angela Sun's journey to The Great Pacific Garbage Patch will take you to an area in the Pacific Ocean contaminated by the plastic we use every day. She tells us that every piece of plastic every produced is still somewhere on the Earth. The devastation of plastic to our planet has been documented in many ways, yet we still buy bottled water and use plastic products at a staggering rate.
Plastic is going to last forever, but our clean drinking water won't.
Please, watch the video and read Angela Sun's report below.
Digging Into The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
By Angela Sun
Our earth is covered by more than 75 percent water, yet we know more about the moon than the depths of the sea. Today on World Oceans Day we celebrate and honor oceans by recognizing the underwater footprint we all unknowingly leave behind.
When it comes to plastic, what you throw away doesn't really go away. This was evident on my journey to one of the most remote ends of the earth - the Midway Atoll.
This small piece of land in the middle of the Pacific Ocean near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to, and should have been the most pristine. There are no cars, streets, lights or air pollution, yet I couldn't escape the remnants of modern society littered everywhere in the form of plastic.
Plastic in birds at Midway Island Photo by Chris Jordan
I had heard about this "island of garbage" in 2005 and was immediately intrigued. As a surfer, scuba diver and ocean lover, the ocean has always been an integral part of my life. What started out as research for a short segment for a show I was working on, morphed into an arduous 7-year journey to investigate and unveil the story behind this plastic paradise known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
At the dawn of the 20th century, scientists invented synthetic plastics as a replacement for raw materials. Plastic production grew more than 3,000 percent from 1927-1943. During the height of WWII, 85 percent of that production was devoted to war. This fantastic invention came in all shapes, sizes and materials such as nylon, cellophane, polyester, polystyrene, and methyl methacrylate, which are made to be durable and withstand the elements. There are great uses for plastics but it's the plastic products that are designed to be used once, but are made to last forever, that have become the main problem.
"The biggest landfill it turns out, is our oceans. We are just beginning to realize that," says Lisa Kaas Boyle, an environmental lawyer and co-founder of the Plastic Pollution Coalition.
"The request is always for a picture of this island of garbage, but there is no such island, the debris is dispersed. We have gotten samples from the Indian Ocean, [and] the Atlantic," says Captain Charles Moore of the Algalita Marine Research Organization who found the garbage patch in 1997 when he accidentally sailed through the area, "There's plastic in all of these oceans."
Because plastics are created from chemicals that are volatile in different environments, they will break down over long periods of time in the oceans through photo degradation, or exposure to the sun. The Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego has found the proliferation of plastic pieces in our environment has infiltrated our oceans at an alarmingly rapid rate. Its latest study estimates the amount of particles of "microplastic"— pieces of plastic smaller than 5 mm in diameter — has increased more than 100 times since the early 1970s. Last year its team found nearly 10 percent of fish in the area had eaten plastic.
"These ecosystems are very connected. If the oceans are in trouble, we humans are in trouble. We don't realize that we are threatening our own existence," says Dr. Gregor Hodgson, founder and executive director of Reef Check Organization.
Ocean currents move around in a the world in a gyre, which is like a slow-motion whirlpool that opposes the wind and earth's rotational forces. Although the Pacific Ocean is the world's largest body of water, few people realize that there are in fact five subtropical gyres around the world - the North and South Pacific Oceans, North and South Atlantic Oceans, and the Indian Ocean. Dr. Marcus Eriksen, executive director of The 5 Gyres Institute, is currently leading an expedition sailing the course of the Japanese tsunami debris that is headed toward Canada and the U.S. "Having just crossed the western half of the North Pacific, we can report that the ocean is peppered with microplastics from California to Japan," he says.
While filming the documentary, I found myself in serendipitous situations, especially when we encountered a hand-written letter from May 1999. It was written by a third grader in Long Beach, California.
[Related: Watch Angela Sun as she traces where the message in a bottle came from]
At first I thought it would be great to return this to the young man, now probably around 23 years old, who wrote the letter. However, Lisa Dugan, his former teacher, had just thrown away her old records. I realized this message in a bottle found more than 5,000 miles from its origin more than 10 years later carries a much greater message for all of us. This moment was a stark reminder that consumers, producers and legislators should be accountable for what we put into the environment and where our trash ends up.
"The oceans provide our air, [they] provide a lot of our food and [they] regulate our climate," says Greg Stone, senior vice president and chief scientist for oceans with Conservation International. "If you put dollars and cents on those services, then we will be forced to from an economic argument to protect it. Right now we're not aware of those values, but the oceans are actually the most valuable asset we have on this planet—people don't get that."
