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WED SEP 26, 2012 AT 07:31 PM PDT
Governor Brown Signs Human Right to
Water Bill
Dan Bacher

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Governor Jerry Brown on September 25 signed historic legislation establishing a state policy that
every Californian has a human right to safe, clean, affordable and accessible drinking water.
AB 685, authored by Assemblymember Mike Eng (D-Alhambra), also requires that all relevant
state agencies consider the state policy when creating policies and regulations.
Around 8.5 million people in Californians repeatedly experience excessive levels of toxicity in
their drinking water every year, said Assemblymember Eng. As the representative of a district
that sits on an aquifer that is the largest Superfund in the United States, I am very pleased that
Governor Brown agreed that safe, clean, affordable and accessible drinking water is a basic
human right and is willing to codify it into state policy.
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Californias failure to provide clean, safe drinking water to its residents captured the attention of
the United Nations in a special report released in August 2010. Reporting on her mission to the
United States, Catarina de Albuquerque, the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe
drinking water and sanitation, cited a host of alarming drinking water supply and sanitation
conditions in California. (http://blogs.alternet.org/...).
The report noted that over 250,000 California residents lack clean groundwater and are forced to
purchase bottled water to ensure safe and clean drinking water. With annual median household
incomes in some of the most severely contaminated areas reaching only $14,000, some
households are devoting approximately 20 per cent of their income to water and sanitation,
according to Engs Office.
Clean water and environmental justice advocates throughout the state, nation and world
applauded Browns signing of the legislation.
The basic human right to safe, clean, affordable and accessible water became part of state
policy yesterday when Governor Brown signed AB 685, said Caleen Sisk, Chief of the Winnemem
Wintu Tribe. Thanks to all who have supported the Winnemem and all the other advocates for
clean water in this fight!
"We are proud that the governor has signed this legislation, following the lead of the United
Nations, states like Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, and communities like Detroit, which have
already affirmed the human right to water," said Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food and
Water Watch. "AB 685, however, was truly the first citizen-led effort in a U.S. state to recognize
this basic right."
A.B. 685 directs relevant state agencies to advance the implementation of this policy when those
agencies make administrative decisions pertinent to the use of water for human consumption,
cooking, and sanitary purposes, according to a news release from the Environmental Justice
Coalition for Water (ECJW). (http://www.ejcw.org)
Safe, affordable water is a basic essential of survival, said Alecia Sanchez of the California
Center for Public Health Advocacy (CCPHA), a member of the Safe Water Alliance that has
worked on this issue. We applaud the Legislature and the Governor for recognizing this and
taking the bold action to cement it into law."
For years, grassroots activists, community leaders, faith-based groups, and dedicated
environmental justice, public health and environmental organizations, drawn together by a
shared commitment to improve access to safe drinking water in our poorest communities, have
been advocating at the local, regional, and state level, combating powerful, entrenched interests
determined not to change the status quo in California water policy, according to Paola Ramos
EJCW Interim Executive Director.
It is disgraceful that there are communities in California that have struggled to gain access to
safe water for decades," said Maria Herrera of the Community Water Center, a member of the
Safe Water Alliance. "What our communities have lacked in influence, we make up in heart. Our
impacted communities have been the lodestar of our work. Their voices have carried us all
forward."
On August 29, legislators from regions all over the statefrom Coachella Valley to San Diego,
Fresno to the Central Coast, and San Gabriel to Marin County to Berkeley stood up to support
this bill and through their speeches echoed the voices of communities challenged to ensure safe
water.
Governor Brown also heard our communitys voices and now, with his signature of AB 685, state
agencies making decisions that impact drinking water will have to consider our voices when
setting policy, funding criteria, and regulation, Herrera emphasized. Todays action will move
not just these communities, but all of California, forward to the day where everyone can enjoy
something as basic as safe drinking water. We are very grateful to Governor Brown for taking
this historic step.
Catarina de Albuquerque, the United Nations Special Rapporteur, welcomed the adoption of AB
685. She said the law will be an inspiration not only for other states within the USA, but equally
for many other countries in the world. (http://www.ohchr.org/...)
When I received the good news about the adoption of this bill, my thoughts immediately went
to those people I met last year in California who still do not benefit from this fundamental human
right, de Albuquerque said.
I remember the tragic stories of farm-worker women in Seville, in the San Joaquin Valley, who
were condemned to drinking the water from their polluted wells because they did not have the
money to purchase bottled water. I recall the crying women who told me that they were devoting
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AB 685 California e-Kos Environment Governor Jerry Brown Human right to water
Jerry Brown Rescued Water Winnemem Wintu Tribe
about 20 per cent of their US$14,000 per year income to water and sanitation. I am also
thinking about the indigenous people of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, whose lack of water and
adequate sanitation was appalling," she stated.
The Safe Water Alliance co-sponsored AB 685. This alliance includes the Alliance for Democracy,
Asociacion de Gente Unida por el Agua, California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, Clean
Water Action, Community Water Center, California Center for Public Health Advocacy,
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, Food and Water Watch, Policy Link, San Jerardo
Cooperative, Inc., Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry Action Network, Unitarian
Universalist Service Committee, Urban Semillas, Winnemem Wintu Tribe and Women's
International League for Peace and Freedom, U.S. Section.
Opponents of the bill included the Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District
7, Association of California Water Agencies, California Chamber of Commerce, California Farm
Bureau Federation, El Dorado Irrigation District, Friant Water Authority, Kern County Water
Agency, Stockton East Water District, Valley Ag Water Coalition and Western Growers.
Opponents focused on the requirement that water be affordable. For example, the Association
of California Water Agencies (ACWA), questioned to what extent water agencies would be forced
to comply with the law. Additionally, some opponents argued that by establishing a potentially
enforceable human right to water, this bill has uncertain legal implications that may result in
litigation, according to the Senate Analysis.
Last October, Brown signed Assembly Bill 983, the Access to Safe Drinking Water Act, as part of
the Human Right to Water bill package backed by a broad coalition of environmental justice
advocates. The Governor also signed three other bills in the package: AB 938 by
Assemblymember V. Manuel Prez (D-Coachella), AB 1221 by Assemblymember Luis Alejo (D-
Salinas) and SB 244 by Senator Lois Wolk (D-Davis). (http://blogs.alternet.org/...)
AB 685, the Human Right to Water Measure, was held in the Senate Appropriations Commiteee
and never reached Brown's desk in the 2011 Legislative session, but passed through the
Legislature this year.
By signing AB 685, Brown made a clear break with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who vetoed
a previous Human Right to Water Bill, bowing to powerful corporate agribusiness interests.
While clean water advocates applaud Browns signing of AB 685 and the other bills, Brown has
continued and expanded many of the other controversial environmental policies of the
Schwarzenegger administration.
Brown has followed in Schwarzeneggers foot steps by fast-tracking the plan to build a peripheral
canal or tunnel, forging ahead with the privately funded Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA)
Initiative that creates questionable marine protected areas, and presiding over record fish kills
at the state and federal pumps in the 2011 water year.
The text of the bill is available at: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/...
ORIGINALLY POSTED TO DAN BACHER ON WED SEP 26, 2012 AT 07:31 PM PDT.
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Republished to California Politics.
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by bythesea on Wed Sep 26, 2012 at 08:17:15 PM PDT
* [new] thanks for reporting this story
let's hope other states follow.
what a difference having dem in office. In 2009, this act passed both chambers,
but vetoed by Arnold.
some water companies opposed because afraid it creates an enforceable right
which means lawsuits.
it should not have been necessary to codify this right, but it was. and glad it was
signed.
Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed.
Mohandas K. Gandhi
by Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse on Wed Sep 26, 2012 at 08:25:02 PM
PDT
* [new] What a difference my ass
I've been sick again, right, I'm supposed to mellow out and chuck stress, so I
refrain from formally blogging about this amazing governor of ours.
The immutable, massive political wall of no new tax cuts has finally crumbled in
California. It's a great story but no one writes about because Jerry has fucked it
up so much.
He's terrified to do it, so he screwed the little people with a sales tax increase
(unforgivable in these times, precisely what a fucking Republican would do.) No
extraction tax on oil or minerals, no prop 13 reform, no real income tax reform,
just a chickenshit sales tax. What a leader to finally bring in revenue.
Then this ass.....hole held our kids and cripples hostage: if his stupid sales tax
on the little people fails he won't cut prisons or roads too, no, all of the revenue
burden guts our kids and wheelchair folks.
What a man. What a Christian. What a Democrat. What a great fiduciary
manager our dear Jerry is, I suppose it never occurred to him that it's his duty in
any one of those roles never to let even a remote chance of cuts happening
against our children occur. But he openly threatens it.
Economically the cut threats are insane too, it's so so stupid to cut now, but Jerry
loves to put the scenario out there endlessly. He's so fucking obnoxious I should
vote No just as a rejection of his utter rectum brain. My God.
You tunneling fool, tunnel under the San Gabriel mountains to save that incredible
pump bill for LA if you're so hot to dig. Dear Jerry's latest Delta ploy will steal
water from the delta, of course, so cotton growers can raise billions more than
pear orchards. Another California environment--the delta--given up for grower
money. Fight like hell, delta towns.
That's three stories right there, and this guy is no fucking liberal or Democrat,
give me a break. He's stupid, mean and defensive, because being a liberal
Democrat is what's called for and he hates the idea, he's actually a cranky old
man who really wants to be a Republican. Now it's time for my fucking yoga.
by paradox on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 05:40:37 AM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] my comment only discusses the issue
of making water a human right. GOP and companies opposed, GOP gov vetoed;
and now dem signs. so yes, on this issue, having a dem made a difference.
Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed.
Mohandas K. Gandhi
by Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 07:58:36 AM
PDT
[ Parent ]
by FaithGardner 611 1
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by Joan McCarter 856 58
by Hunter 195 2
by bobswern 512 15
DAN BACHER' S TAGS
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* [new] So clean water is a human right in California.
What about the rest of the world?
Oh, they don't matter?
And just where is California going to get all this water WHICH THEY DON'T HAVE
NATURALLY?
"I believe more women should carry guns. I believe armed women will make the
world a better place. Women need to come to think of themselves not as victims
but as dangerous." Anna Pigeon
by glorificus on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 12:12:41 PM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] 2 years ago, UN adopted resolution w/ right
to water as a human right. The right to water was derived from the right to an
adequate standard of living, which is already contained in several international
treaties on human rights. This was a critical first step and the question now is
whether it is legally binding right.
Why you would think i don't care about the rest of the world just because i
limited my response to the precise narrow issue addressed in this diary is
beyond me.
The right to water is about "safe, clean, affordable and accessible drinking
water" i.e., not contaminated or polluted water.
Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed.
Mohandas K. Gandhi
by Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 12:53:16
PM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] So where is this water supposed to come from?
"I believe more women should carry guns. I believe armed women will
make the world a better place. Women need to come to think of
themselves not as victims but as dangerous." Anna Pigeon
by glorificus on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 02:38:54 PM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] same place we get water now
requirement is to provide clean water that is not polluted or
contaminated.
Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every
man's greed. Mohandas K. Gandhi
by Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at
03:32:36 PM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] Do YOU know where it comes from?
And btw, with climate change rivers are lower, snowpack is
less, etc.
"I believe more women should carry guns. I believe armed
women will make the world a better place. Women need to
come to think of themselves not as victims but as dangerous."
Anna Pigeon
by glorificus on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 04:18:50 PM PDT
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[ Parent ]
* [new] really? with climate change less water?
i'm water lawyer in california. yes. i know where water
comes from.
not so sure about romney though.
Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not
every man's greed. Mohandas K. Gandhi
by Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse on Thu Sep 27,
2012 at 05:41:31 PM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] "Right" to an adequate living standard?
How exactly does that work?
I can understand free speech rights, religious liberty, etc.
But a 'right' to a standard of living, basically that just because you are
alive, other people are obliged to expend their own resources on your
behalf? And if you choose to have children, perhaps many more than
you can support, the rest of us have our own right to a living standard
abrogated to make room for yours or those of your children? And what
if it isn't possible, that there literally is not enough to go around?
I like state-sponsored potable water and high living standards just as
much as the next guy, but how do you establish an economic concern
on the same level as free speech? Free speech is free in the economic
sense too: how do you establish a right that's not free economically?
(-5.50,-6.67): Left Libertarian
Leadership doesn't mean taking a straw poll and then just throwing up
your hands. -Jyrinx
by Sparhawk on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 02:48:08 PM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] I think the idea is that
anyone that stands in the way of a person getting clean water
would be liable for some kind of penalty.
Water polluters, perhaps, or people upstream who dry up the river
and drought out the downstream folk.
Corporations that 'corner' the water supply and refuse to share.
Like all the other legislation for human rights, nice to have on
paper, hell to put into practice.
by fastwacks on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 09:27:40 PM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] Sure, but
What if those "upstream people" are only using a subsistence
level themselves? Should they be forced to go without?
Those who support banning cocaine are no better than those
who support banning cheeseburgers
by EthrDemon on Fri Sep 28, 2012 at 09:05:52 AM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] The first step is to declare it as a right.
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I'm sure there are many good people working on how to do it from
there.
by doinaheckuvanutjob on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 10:16:02 PM
PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] Gov. Brown's authority only extends to California
but the word "affordable" when it comes to safe drinking water is excellent
leadership for the rest of the world too
by akmk on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 02:21:52 PM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] CA doesn't control the world's water.
by kacemo on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 05:04:34 PM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] Good evaluation of Brown!
paradox
"...he's actually a cranky old man who really wants to be a Republican."
You summed up Jerry Brown very well. Jerry Brown is a corporate "Democrat," a
servant of corporate agribusiness and Wall Street. For the most part, he has
become another Schwarzenegger, in some ways better than the Governator, in
some ways actually worse. This bill is one of the few good things he has done for
the environment, in my opinion.
As I say in my piece, While clean water advocates applaud Browns signing of AB
685, Brown has continued and expanded many of the other controversial
environmental policies of the Schwarzenegger administration.
Brown has followed in Schwarzeneggers foot steps by fast-tracking the plan to
build a peripheral canal or tunnel, forging ahead with the privately funded Marine
Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative that creates questionable marine protected
areas, and presiding over record fish kills at the state and federal pumps in the
2011 water year.
In water politics, there is little real difference between corporate Democrats like
Brown and corporate Republicans like Schwarzenegger. In fact, the corporate
Democratic operatives I have had the misfortune to encounter are much worse
and more vicious than any corporate Republicans I have had the misfortune to
encounter.
Jim Hightower says it best: "Some people say we need a third party. I wish we
had a second one."
by Dan Bacher on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 08:33:13 AM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] Yes, Meg Whitman would have been much better. nt
Kick apart the structures - Seth
by ceebee7 on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 05:25:41 PM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] No, Meg Whitman wouldn't have been better
No Meg Whitman wouldn't have been better, but that doesn't excuse Brown from
having a record similar to that of Schwarzenegger on most water and
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environmental issues.
by Dan Bacher on Fri Sep 28, 2012 at 08:24:51 AM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] Water IS life. Fracking water pollution next?
GO CALI!
by Russgirl on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 09:54:47 AM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] So say I live in an environmentally sensitive area
and there are state laws / environmental regulations that make it impossible to
pipe in water.
Obviously, a human right trumps environmental considerations.
I get my water pipe, right?
by Wham Bam on Fri Sep 28, 2012 at 08:11:21 AM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] Now if only the rest of the nation and the
world will follow suit. We need a quick end to the insidious practice of privatization
of water, even if it is pushed by the world bank and the US tTate Department.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a
group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
by enhydra lutris on Wed Sep 26, 2012 at 08:40:37 PM PDT
* [new] this should be of some help
in fighting the expansion of fracking in the san joaquin valley, i would think.
by wu ming on Wed Sep 26, 2012 at 09:15:13 PM PDT
* [new] Fracking and pollution
The main reason for this bill is the proliferation of surface and groundwater
supplies contaminated by nitrates from fertilizers, selenium, pesticides and other
pollutants. This bill should help the fight to stop the expansion of fracking in the
San Joaquin Valley and elsewhere in California also.
Ironically, while Brown signed this bill, he is fast-tracking the Bay Delta
Conservation Plan to build two peripheral tunnels to divert more Delta water to
agribusiness interests who irrigate toxic, drainage-impaired land on the west side
of the San Joaquin Valley, land that should have never been farmed.
In other words, the peripheral tunnels will not only kill fish and result in Delta
farm land being taken out of production, but they will result in more agricultural
pollution that will contaminate surface and groundwater supplies!
by Dan Bacher on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 05:37:44 PM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] far better IMO to just take the westside offline
and turn it into a grassland wildlife refuge or something. but then i'm 4th
generation norcalifornio and have been hearing about LA stealing our water since
before i can remember. ;)
best hopes for winning the peripheral canal battle again.
by wu ming on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 08:26:09 PM PDT
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[ Parent ]
* [new] This is great! Now...
...if water agencies can't comply with the law, perhaps they should get out of the
way of other groups of people -- like tribes -- who seek not only to exercise their
rights to clean, affordable water but also to fulfill their responsibilities to the
watersheds supplying that water.
by Fresno on Wed Sep 26, 2012 at 09:55:50 PM PDT
* [new] Dirty Soshullists!
Next they'll be saying people have a right to breathe air!
Everything there is to know about the GOP: They're the Bad Guys.
by Troubadour on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 12:50:18 AM PDT
* [new] Clearly this is a blow to America
And especially capitalism! GOD-GIVEN-RIGHT to make obscene profits on
drinking water, people!!! Teh evul libs MUST BE STOPPED!!!!
/s
by catnap1972 on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 05:19:55 AM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] Right up there with food, housing, and health care
by akmk on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 02:23:24 PM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] What is wrong with people on here and in
California???
Much/Most of the state is a DESERT!!!
Which means LIMITED amounts of water.
The Colorado River is already destroyed by people who just have to live a water-
rich life in a desert.
Maybe there should be fewer people in than environment.
Yes, people should have clean water. As it is, Calfornia does not have enough for
its population, where else will they steal from? Build a popeline from Minnesota?
If this issue created an enormous push to develop an affordable way to desalinate
sea water, great. Although there may be pollution issues to counteract also.
Clean water is a huge issue. Why do Californians think they are entitled to the
water of someone else?
"I believe more women should carry guns. I believe armed women will make the
world a better place. Women need to come to think of themselves not as victims
but as dangerous." Anna Pigeon
by glorificus on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 06:38:02 AM PDT
* [new] A popeline? Is that for holy water? Too funny.
Water used for drinking and cooking is only a miniscule portion of the total
amount of water that must be filtered and purified. It applies to all municipal and
other public water sources. In addition to agriculture well water, which doesn't
have to be filtered and purified, a huge amount of snow-melt/reservoir/river
water is used in California for agriculture and municipal water which doesn't have
to be purified. Much of this water is wasted due to the growing of inappropriate
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crops, and inefficient use recovery systems.
Unfortunately, drinking water standards need to be applied to ALL the the water
piped into your house or business establishment, even that used for baths and
showers, watering lawns and gardens, washing cars, process cooling, etc. The
fact that kids drink out of a hose or other utility outlet provides one argument
that all water - huge amounts, must meet drinking water standards. Applying the
new standard only to water that is used for drinking or cooking wold not be very
expensive, relatively speaking. Applying it to all municipal and domestic water
supplies is a huge issue and very expensive. It's a very complicated issue, and
my attempt at a summary opinion is not very comprehensive.
The American desire for convenience and overweening protection from stupidity
and accidents is very costly, and the alternatives are complicated and
controversial. As Keb Mo said in one of my favorite songs, we're "victims of
comfort."
If the world were only a simple black and white place like some "conservatives"
like to think, life would be much easier.
The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking
that created them - Albert Einstein
by DaveVH on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 07:44:46 AM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] Well, this is simply not true.
45% of California is forest. Approximately 24% is desert, according to various
Wikipedia sources...
Water is obviously a political football, and its distribution needs leglislation. Agri-
business has for much too long held sway in Sacramento. Maybe this bill will
force agri-business to farm something besides thirsty rice... but I've never heard
a Californian say we have "the right" to some other state's water.
Where do you live?
I agree about desalination, btw, don't know why it can't get a toehold.
Kick apart the structures - Seth
by ceebee7 on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 05:48:26 PM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] desalination is expensive and energy intensive
or at least it used to be. I don't know the current state of the technology.
"Okay, until next time. Keep sending me your questions, and I will make fun of
you... I mean, answer them." - Strong Bad
by AaronInSanDiego on Fri Sep 28, 2012 at 09:17:47 AM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] Unfortunately, the law is vague and toothless
I live in a very small town in Lake County. We have a small private water utility
that serves our town of 2,000. It was bought by a huge water company,
CalWater and ever since they took over, they've applied for, and received huge
rate increases from the California Public Utilities Commission. They even have
another 70% rate increase before the PUC right now.
It would be nice if that law just might have some teeth, because that water
company is killing our little town.
Just having service is $50 per month, and each 100 cubic feet of water is $7.80.
We're averaging more than $100 per month for water, and that's with no lawn.
The whole town is dried up nobody can afford a lawn, and few can afford a
garden. We're on the shore of a huge natural lake.
The little towns just north and south of us have rates less than half of what we
pay.
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Looking at the text of the law, the PUC isn't even mentioned, and the last
paragraph is a joke:
e: The implementation of this section shall not infringe on the rights or
responsibilities of any public water system.
Property rights remain supreme over human rights when it comes to water policy
in the wild west.
"Societies strain harder and harder to sustain the decadent opulence of the ruling
class, even as it destroys the foundations of productivity and wealth." Chris
Hedges
by Crider on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 07:57:13 AM PDT
* [new] Your problem is not really with Brown. It's with
the privatization of water service in your community. And that is a huge problem.
Internet service in small communities, also, is a huge problem, because they
utility companies in small communities, have no competition, and are not
regulated by the PUC for internet services.
Hopefully, we can all take more steps in providing the necessities of life in a
manner that everyone can afford.
Water is essential and affordable safe drinking as a "right" is an excellent concept.
So is essential communication, and in today's world that is defined by affordable
broadband service.
by akmk on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 02:29:56 PM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] Yah, I'm not complaining about Brown
We pay $60 a month to the cable company just for internet access we got rid
of the TV about two years ago.
We've got an organization here called Lucerne FLOW which has been trying to get
the corporation to let go of their water plant here so we can form a public utility
district and take ownership of if for ourselves.
"Societies strain harder and harder to sustain the decadent opulence of the ruling
class, even as it destroys the foundations of productivity and wealth." Chris
Hedges
by Crider on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 02:52:23 PM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] kudos
by akmk on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 03:33:58 PM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] What about these "uncertain legal implications"?
I like the idea of the law, but I also thought of some legal implications that I hope
they addressed in the bill.
We certainly shouldn't take away someone's water, pollute it, or charge absorbent
fees for it. We should make every effort to make sure poor communities have
access to clean water.
But what if someone in southern California moves out into the Mojave Desert and
demands their right to have water delivered to them?
I'm not arguing against the law in any way. I'm just cutious.
by jockyoung on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 09:36:43 AM PDT
* [new] Exactly. This is the situation in L.A. already.
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The movie 'Chinatown' had water rights as the main crime, covered over by sex
and violence.
"I believe more women should carry guns. I believe armed women will make the
world a better place. Women need to come to think of themselves not as victims
but as dangerous." Anna Pigeon
by glorificus on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 12:14:33 PM PDT
[ Parent ]
* [new] New pipeline
Odd that Brown sponsors this and also supports a massive diversion of fresh
water from above the Delta that will degrade the Delta and send water through
the central valley to LA. It is a power-play by Southern California to steal water
which is very valuable. In the past they ignored flow requirements in the rivers
going to the Delta. Now they say "trust us".
by LillithMc on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 10:04:09 AM PDT
* [new] Sounds so fundamental
why am I so suspicious?
Even Democrats can be asses. Look at Rahm Emanuel.
by Helpless on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 10:15:52 AM PDT
* [new] Jerry Brown is a wild card for me
I do admire his efforts in promoting high speed rail in California although from
what I understand, even a number of Democrats in the State Assembly and State
Senate are raising issues over how Brown is handling the issue.
by pipsorcle on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 10:19:22 AM PDT
* [new] So exactly how is Calfornia's "need" for water
substantially different from the rush to settle parts of America that
killed/relocated Cherokee and many other tribes?
Everyone decries the former, but this is already happening in Arizona as Old Fart
McCain and Odious Jim Kyl try to steal water from tribes.
Maybe California should stop dreaming and be realistic.
"I believe more women should carry guns. I believe armed women will make the
world a better place. Women need to come to think of themselves not as victims
but as dangerous." Anna Pigeon
by glorificus on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 12:10:14 PM PDT
* [new] Desalinization
A recent article in the Sacramento Bee said there are several attempts on the
coast to build desalinization plants that are used widely in the Middle East. They
have had problems and are expensive. Pipelines from Sacramento to LA are also
very expensive and they are taking fresh water needed for drinking. Fracking
pollutes water aquifers and is exempt from Clean Water laws. Water
conservation and recycled water not used for human consumption are options.
Notice this bill was opposed by the usual cast of thieves like the Chamber of
Commerce and the pipeline people who have ignored the laws to begin
construction of the pipeline.
by LillithMc on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 12:45:01 PM PDT
* [new] Water flows uphill to money
It is said in the west that whiskey is for drinking but water is for fighting.
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The peripheral canal/ tunnel primarily would benefit not LA but San Joaquin Valley
giant land owners in the Westlands Water District and other giant agbusinesses.
They would like an $11 billion and counting bond issue passed to benefit them
and not the whole state; much of the crops grown there such as cotton have had
government support. None of the vast dam and irrigation projects have been paid
for by the benefiting agricultural interests, but were paid by the federal
government in the name of flood control. This is corporate welfare at its most
extreme.
Never forget it was that great environmentalist (sarcasm) James Watt, Reagan's
environmental secretary, who put an end to the water projects, when he said he
would never let a fish like the snail darter stop a dam, he would build any dam
that passed a cost benefit analysis. There weren't any.
Two great sources on the water wars:
Marc Reisner's Cadillac Desert
Donald Worster's Rivers of Empire
by forensic economist on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 02:18:42 PM PDT
* [new] Wait 'til Rmoney hears we're entitled to water.
by kacemo on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 05:10:35 PM PDT
* [new] Release from Food and Water Watch re. bill
I just got this news release from Food and Water Watch on the bill:
For Immediate Release
Thursday September 27, 2012
California Affirms Human Right to Water
Statement by Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director, Food & Water Watch
San FranciscoThis week, Governor Jerry Brown signed A.B. 685, which gives
the basic human right to water and sanitation to all Californians. We are proud
that the governor has signed this legislation, following the lead of the United
Nations, states like Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, and communities like Detroit
to become the first citizen-led effort in a U.S. state.
Such commonsense legislation to ensure that all people regardless of where
they live or how much money they have have access to clean and affordable
water is critical in a civil society. There should be no compromising our access to
clean and reliable supplies of this life-giving resource for profit. Hopefully more
states will affirm this basic human right to water and sanitation.
This policy is a crucial first step in resolving the water crisis faced by over
300,000 Californians who have undrinkable water and millions more whose
drinking water does not meet clean water standards. Safe and clean water is the
foundation on which California's people, economy, and environment are secure.
As California needs to invest billions of dollars in upgrading and rebuilding its
water systems, it is essential that these investments be made to benefit all
Californians, regardless of their economic status.
Food & Water Watch works to ensure the food, water and fish we consume is safe,
accessible and sustainable. So we can all enjoy and trust in what we eat and
drink, we help people take charge of where their food comes from, keep clean,
affordable, public tap water flowing freely to our homes, protect the
environmental quality of oceans, force government to do its job protecting
citizens, and educate about the importance of keeping shared resources under
public control.
###
Resources:
Our Right to Water: A Peoples Guide to Implementing the United Nations
Recognition of the Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation in the United
States
Water=Life: How Privatization Undermines the Human Right to Water
Contact: Anna Ghosh, 415-293-9905, aghosh@fwwatch.org
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by Dan Bacher on Thu Sep 27, 2012 at 05:26:08 PM PDT
* [new] Cute, typical for California but...
....no law can be passed requiring it to rain, for instance.
California's always been great on rhetorical symbolism, short on true
achievement. (My favorite was the ZEV law, passed in 1990 with great fanfare,
which required California to have 10% ZEV by 2003.)
They're one of the disaster states that shut a nuclear plant with an insipid claim
that it would be replaced by so called "renewable energy" which - as is always the
case when such bulll is handed out - was actually replaced by dangerous fossil
fuels.
The climate disaster will definitely have a greater impact on human water supplies
than all the laws that the California legislature could pass. Rhetoric does not
effect the laws of physics.
Ignorance Kills.
by NNadir on Fri Sep 28, 2012 at 03:58:07 AM PDT
* [new] Without good water you have nothing
When you don't have it you realize just how important it is.
Women create the entire labor force.
by splashy on Sun Sep 30, 2012 at 02:06:03 AM PDT
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