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AlterNet: It’s Time for the UN to Make Water a Human Right

http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/77350

 

 

This entry was posted on Monday, February 25th, 2008 at 7:06 PM and filed under Articles, Environment, Health, Human Interest. Follow comments here with the RSS 2.0 feed. Skip to the end and leave a response. Trackbacks are closed.

2 Responses to “AlterNet: It’s Time for the UN to Make Water a Human Right”

  1. ben stagg said:

    Fresh water is such a National issue. One country’s water problem is not anothers. Water is not like air, in that we all have air over us, but only some of us have water around us.
    Water conservancy is not talked about here, but it should be.
    The article admits that the problem is bigger than the present solutions offered. It’s heart is in the right place, but without water conservancy on a grand scale, this initiative is likely to be ineffective.

    Posted on 26-Feb-08 at 4:07 am | Permalink
  2. Ian Alterman said:

    Ben:

    This ignores the fact that all water is ultimately connected: from the mountains from which springs flow and glaciers melt, to the rivers they create, to the lakes and oceans they empty into, to the water tables that underlie EVERYTHING.

    My father gave a great “local” example of this. Farmer Smith grows produce on a “regular” farm. His neighbor Farmer Brown grows produce on an “organic” farm. But is Farmer Brown’s produce truly “organic” if it gets its water from the same water table as Farmer Smith’s, and Farmer Smith’s farm is leaching pesticides into that water table?

    The water table underling southern Texas also underlies northern Mexico. The water table underlying the particular border of ANY country in the world also underlies the border(s) of its neighbor(s). And the water that each uses – from mountain to river to lake or sea – is SHARED water. As well, the pollution that affects one country’s water affects the water of every country that shares that source.

    So it is NOT a “national” problem, to be solved by individual sovereign nations. It is a global problem that requires a global solution.

    Peace.

    Posted on 26-Feb-08 at 10:16 am | Permalink

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