Christian Arambula, Sophia Nguyen, Damian To

Storer
English III H
23 October 2019

Editorial Challenge: Should Water be Privatized?

In today's materialistic society where most of our possessions are unnecessary luxuries,
the question of what is truly necessary to survive is often ignored. In order to survive, whether in
comfort or not, one only needs food,water and shelter. But in an era where our resources are
increasingly strained, should corporations be allowed to own and sell perhaps our most valuable
resource of all in freshwater? Water should not be privatized due to its global ownership by the
human race as well as the negative effects of privatization on the general consumer.

From the Indus River Valley Civilization to the early Mesopatamians, early groups of
humans recognized the necessity of a water source in order to succeed. If these early
civilizations realized the essentiality of having such a precious commodity, how can we claim to
be the more modern society if we were to take this right away from the hands of the people?
Almost all religious groups have recognized that water is a gift from a divine figure from which
all life stems. The Christian Bible stating “ And God said, "Let the water teem with living
creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky." (Genesis 1:20). The
Quran similarly stating “And it is He who sends the winds, bringing advance news of His mercy;
and We send down from the sky pure water. To revive dead lands thereby, and to provide drink
for the multitude of animals and humans We created } Holy Quran 25:48-49. These two groups
alone make up over 50% of the global population and they both agree that water is a gift that
was graciously given for our survival. If this gift was given for all of humanity it is both a travesty
and a violation of people's right for corporations to even attempt to own and profit from its
distribution. Even those who do not believe in a higher power are negatively affected by the
privatization of water.

The privatization of water has long been believed to be a solution to the problems
associated with public water utilities such as aging water systems and municipal budget
problems. However, multiple attempts to privatize water have shown that it often backfires and
instead leaves communities with higher costs,worse service and lost jobs. By privatizing water
the people are losing control of a vital public resource and as a result are at the mercy of a
corporation that at the end of the day is trying to profit, not better the community. Once water is
privatized there is a lack of public input on these water systems due to a lack of an election box
to make their voices known and as a result, the public's experience tends to worsen due to lack
of power. These companies on average “charge 59% more for water utilities than public utilities”
according to https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/insight/water-privatization-facts-and-figures
and with worsening service there is no benefit to offset this rise in price. The state of California
in particular has attempted to privatize water multiple times. A long term resident with extensive
study in water resources had this to say : “You should not be able to privatize water due to past
attempts in California failing miserably with the public suffering the consequences, and as a
result the state took over ownership of the commodity, ” (Dr. Till, PhD Geography, University of
Colorado, Boulder, MA Geography, San Diego State University, BA English, UCLA)

The privatization of water not only harms the public but violates the global populations
right to water. It is an irreplaceable component for one’s well being. The privatization of water
may cascade into the violation of other human rights and necessities and thus must be stopped
now for our protection.