WATER, A RIGHT NOT A COMMODITY JAUME DELCLÒS (coord.) WATER, A RIGHT NOT A COMMODITY PROPOSALS FROM CIVIL SOCIETY FOR A WATER PUBLIC MODEL This book has been printed in 100% Ancient Forest Friendly paper from sustainable forests. The production process is TCF (Total Clorin Free) in order to collaborate with a forest manage- ment respectful with the environment and economically sustainable. This book has the support of: Cover design: Laura Niubó. © Pedro Arrojo Agudo, José Esteban Castro, Vicky Cann, Eloi Badia, Lluís Basteiro, Ana Gris, Lluís Basteiro, Maude Barlow, Philipp Terhorst, Jaume Delclòs, Ayats, Adriana Marquisio, Al-Hassan Adam, José Esteban Castro, Josep Centelles, Olivier Hoedeman, Silvano Silvério da Costa, Carlos Crespo. © This edition First published: March 2009. ISBN: Legal deposit: Typesetting: Printed by Printed in Spain. Total o partial reproduction prohibited. CONTENTS Foreword 9 I. Type and roots of conflict over water in the world,Pedro Arrojo Agudo 11 II. Notes on the commodification process of water: a review of privatization from a historical perspective, José Esteban Castro 39 III. The role of donors and its support to promote water privatization in developing countries, Vicky Cann 61 IV. The failure of water privatization, Eloi Badia, Lluís Basteiro and Ana Gris 79 V. The inclusion of water in the General Agreement on Trade in Services, Lluís Basteiro 103 VI. The right to water, Maude Barlow 113 VII. Politicizing participation in urban water services, Philipp Terhorst 129 VIII. Public management with a social participation and control towards the water as a Human Right, Jaume Del- 7 clòs and Ayats 143 IX. The struggle for a public model of safe water services and sanitation in Uruguay, Adriana Marquisio 161 X. The history of deprivation and creation of an activists network, Al-Hassan Adam 173 XI. The experience of England and Wales in the organi- zation and regulation of the water services and sanitation, José Esteban Castro 189 XII. Thoughts about the institutions of water governance, Josep Centelles 231 XIII. Public-public partnerships, Olivier Hoedeman 249 XIV. The provision of water supply and sanitation public services in Brazil – New public-public partnerships and ways of civil participation, Silvano Silvério da Costa 257 XV. Bolivian Water Social Movement: from resistence to co-optation (2000-2007), Carlos Crespo Flores 265 About the authors 291 8 FOREWORD This book is the result of the collective learning experience and actions of the global water justice movement. One of the cam- paigns forming a part of that movement is the Water, a Right, not a Commodity campaign of Engineers Without Borders (Ingeniería Sin Fronteras). This book aims to focus on the main causes, on a global level, of lack of access to water, both in quantitative and qualitative terms, without entertaining secondary issues. It therefore compiles the core contributions and proposals of a wide range of social groups regarding water as a human right, and universal access to water and sanitation. The book explores key challenges and conflicts in socio-envi- ronmental terms and takes a historic look at the commoditization and privatization of water. It analyses the prevailing policies pro- moted by international financial institutions, the implementation of those policies by the various levels of government, at the service of large private water corporations to the public sector’s detriment, and the consequences of such policies in social terms. Civil society and social movements have responded, developing excellent alter- native initiatives to return control over water, over life, to the citiz- enry. The development of alternatives has taken a variety of forms, 9 ranging from social mobilizations to the drafting of proposals. Underlying these alternatives is a desire to build institutions in the service of all, recognizing and defending the rights of all the planet’s inhabitants. This book would never have been possible without the collabo- rative effort of all its authors, from different walks of life, including trade unionists, academic activists, and management personnel. To all of them, our sincere thanks for their contributions. 10 I. TYPOLOGY AND ROOTS OF CONFLICTS OVER WATER IN THE WORLD Pedro Arrojo Agudo* As a consequence of the systematic, generalized degradation of con- tinental water ecosystems, 1.2 billion people in the world currently lack access to potable water. If current trends continue, this figure will reach 4 billion by the year 2025. Moreover, the crisis of unsus- tainability of water ecosystems aggravates world hunger problems, inasmuch as, by degrading or destroying river and marine fisheries, it devastates traditional agricultural production processes linked to river cycles. Said fisheries play an essential role in the diet of millions of people, especially in poor communities. In this critical context, the current globalization model, devoid of the most basic ethical principles, aggravates these problems. Far from arresting ecological degradation, it is accelerating the depre- dation of water resources and a breakdown of continental water cycles. Far from closing the wealth gap and guaranteeing funda- mental rights to the poorest of the poor, such as access to potable water, it opens the field of environmental resources and environ- mental values to the market as a space for doing business. In this context, multiple clusters of conflict have been emer- * Economic Analysis Department at Universidad de Zaragoza. 11 ging related to water management, generating crises along two great fault lines: – A crisis of sustainability: with movements in defense of terri- tories and water ecosystems, in response to hydro-megaprojects and pollution problems. – A crisis of governability: with a resilient movement in defense of human and civil rights, in response to privatization of basic water and sanitation services. These movements, whose social and environmental concerns vary considerably, are demanding new approaches to water mana- gement to guarantee: 1. The sustainability of water ecosystems; 2. Effective access to potable water for all, as a human right; 3. The establishment of universal rights for the citizenry world- wide; 4. The development of new forms of participatory gover- nance. Beyond promoting political and institutional changes, as well as technological improvements, there is a need for a new ethical approach as called for by the civic and philosophical movement for a «New Water Culture». The Sustainability Crisis of Rivers and Aquifers and Access to Potable Water The ancestral paradigm of «Mother Nature» offers a mythical view, making use of the image of a mother, personified in female form, as the generator and sustainer of life. The Renaissance spirit, however, in its zeal to break the code of nature, ended up shattering that myth in large measure. The objective of learning about nature in 12 order to dominate it and have it serve mankind was voiced with ever increasing clarity. Bacon went so far as to state that science should treat nature in the same way the Spanish Inquisition treated its victims: it should torture her until she revealed the last of her secrets… Romanticism gave that approach a more elaborate and subtle tone, praising nature’s beauty, which arouses our passions and ena- mors us. Thus, the paradigm shifted towards a new mythification, again personified in female form, but this time as a lover, as man’s object of desire. Yet once reaching that point, emphasis was and genera- lly continues to be placed on nature’s irrational, unstable, erratic, unpredictable qualities. Said qualities, attributed to the female gen- der, need to be dealt with through the rational, firm hand of science and technology, clearly personified, of course, in masculine form, with the aim of «dominating her and having her serve mankind». With this logic and a blind faith in scientific and technical developments, considerable improvements in the quality of life for billions of people have undoubtedly been achieved. Nonetheless, breakdowns in the natural order have also been seen, at a high price, especially for the poorest of the poor and future generations. It is currently estimated that more than 1.2 billion people do not have guaranteed access to potable water, which results in over 10,000 deaths per day, mostly of children. On the other hand, rivers, lakes and wetlands are undergoing one of the biosphere’s most severe biodiversity crises. As underscored by the European Declaration for a New Water Culture, signed in early 2005 by one hundred scientists from several countries of the European Union, both these realities are part of the same crisis: the crisis of unsustai- nability of continental water ecosystems and underground aquifers. In fact, the problem is not so much the scarcity of water, but rather pollution and environmental degradation. No one has built his house far from a river, a lake or a spring or from areas with access to groundwater. The problem is that, given our insatiable, 13 irresponsible developmental ambitions, we have degraded those ecosystems and aquifers, creating severe health problems for the population that depends on them. Sustainability has frequently been considered a priority objec- tive for developed countries only, the assumption being that the economic growth of impoverished countries necessarily entails the degradation of their environmental assets and resources. Such an approach, which is almost always unfair, is particularly unaccepta- ble in regards to water, given that the health and lives of people are at stake. The fact that certain polluting and environmentally damaging technologies have been used in developed countries in the past does not mean that the same mistakes have to be made in impoverished countries, ruling out the use of modern technologies and strategies that are now available. Unfortunately, a lack of democracy and the irresponsibility of many governments, combined with the logic of «free competition» as imposed by the World Trade Organization (WTO) favor the possibility of completely unregulated pollution in impoverished or developing countries, in a practice known as environmental dum- ping.