Water Privatization

You can survive a few weeks without food, but only a few days without water. It is essential for life, but it is increasingly being treated as a private commodity. 

Bottled Water

Companies that bottle water not only turn a public resource into a private commodity, but they do so by stealing water from communities that actually need it and distributing this water all over the country. Companies such as Nestle, PepsiCo, and Coca-Cola use single-use plastic bottles to sell water at a rate thousands of times higher than water from a tap.

Corporate Control of WaterSystems

When urban areas in developed and developing counties are struggling with a crumbling water supply system, financial institutions like the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and other corporations push privatization as the solution.They sell their publicly owned water supply and distribution assets to a private company in hopes that they can more effectively operate the system using their corporate resources (money) to improve water quality and lower costs. The problem is that once the company purchases the water system, they begin acting as a monopoly, raising rates. this makes it much harder for poor people to buy water.

Water privatization can have economic impacts such as job losses and corruption. After supplies become privatized, massive layoffs intended to minimize costs and increase profits usually occur.  Internationally, corporations often target the most vulnerable countries. The World Bank is the largest funder of water management in the developing world, offering loans to developing countries with conditions that require privatization of water and sewer utilities and increased consumer prices for these essential services. Since 1995, The World Bank has lent more than $75 billion for water and sanitation around the world. Loans and finances are channeled through the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

This privatization has created disparities that are unacceptable when it comes to water, as extreme inequality can mean death. The private sector doesn't find it profitable to invest in the infrastructure needed to ensure access to clean and affordable water, which creates unsafe, unclean, and unreliable water sources.

People are fed up

Many cities that signed with water companies with expectations of clean and affordable water are now choosing to terminate these long standing agreements and return to public water systems. The World Bank documents a 34 percent failure rate for all private water and sewage contracts entered into between 2000 and 2010. This is significantly higher than the failure rates of energy (6%), telecommunications (3%), and transportation (7%).  The Transnational Institute, Public Services International Research Unit and the Multinational Observatory report that 180 cities and communities in 35 countries, including Buenos Aires, Johannesburg, Paris, Accra, Berlin, La Paz, Maputo and Kuala Lumpur, have all returned to public water systems in the past decade.

In 2013, Corporate Accountability International along with 70 advocates from around the world released an open letter to the World Bank calling for "“an end of all support for private water, beginning with IFC divestment from all equity positions in water corporations.”

With water in the hands of corporations, decisions are being made in favor of private interests, rather than in favor of the people. Corporations are focused on making profits, therefore they lack a social or development mission. They are not in service to the people, they are in service for the money. In order to restore justice with regards to water, decisions for funding must be in the hands of the governments that are naturally accountable to the people.

Clean and affordable water is essential for maintaining life. Water privatization promises vulnerable people a clean, reliable, and cheap water supply, and often fails to provide this service. Prices skyrocket, supply becomes unreliable and unsafe, infrastructure fails and is not maintained, and then these people are bound to contracts that require this continued service. Public institutions, not private corporations, must have authority when it comes to water systems and delivery. Water cannot be treated as another commodity to be profited from, especially in the name of human life.

Lichen Project

Data

• North: 2
• East: 1
• South: 1
• West: 1
• Coordinates: 39 19’32.2” N 82 05’40.2” W
• Standard deviation = .3214

Background

A.) Lichens are a symbiotic organism in which there exists a relationship between fungi and green or blue algae. The fungi feeds off of the algae by harvesting the sugars it produces during photosynthesis. The algae benefit by being protected from the environment by the filaments of the fungus, which also gather moisture and nutrients from the environment. The algae could survive without the fungi, but it would not be very resilient, while the fungi could not survive most environments without the algae. The properties of the whole lichen are very different than the properties of the individual organisms by themselves. The names given to lichens refer to their fungal partner.

B.) The interaction between lichens and air pollution has been used to monitor air quality since 1859. The relationship between lichens and air quality varies depending on the type of fungus. The sensitivity of a lichen to air pollution is directly related to the energy needs of the fungi. The stronger the dependency of the fungi on the food that the algae produces, the more sensitive the lichen is to air pollution. By observing the presence of lichens in an area, it is possible to assess air quality. Many lichens are very sensitive to sulfur dioxide pollution in the air. This is because they have a very efficient absorption system, which results in rapid accumulation of sulphur when exposed to high levels of sulphur dioxide. The algae is most effected by the Sulphur dioxide, as chlorophyll is destroyed and photosynthesis is inhibited. Lichens also absorb sulphur dioxide dissolved in water. Some lichens, such as Usnea, will only survive in areas with good air quality, while other types such as Parmelia and Physica that can survive in areas with poor air quality, such as nears high traffic roads or factories with high emissions. By knowing which lichens prefer what type of environment, you can map air quality and monitor it over time in an area. The most sensitive lichens are shrubby and leafy while the most tolerant lichens are all crusty in appearance. Since the time of industrialization, many of the shrubby and leafy lichens that can only survive good air quality, such as Ramalina, Usnea, and Lobaria, are only found in areas with very pure air.

C.) Beatrix Potter was from The Lake District in northwest England, home to an expansive rolling countryside surrounded by mountains. This picturesque landscape was a huge inspiration for her famous children’s book illustrations about Peter Rabbit, but it also fueled her other passion of botany. Beatrix Potter was the first person to observe the potential relationship between a fungus and algae that creates a lichen. She drew hundreds of fungi, and in the process she discovered what she believed to be a symbiotic relationship between fungi and algae. She conducted experiments in her kitchen, cultivating both the algae and fungi cells, and recorded in detail her observations of algal and fungal properties. Because she lacked a scientific education, she was not taken seriously by scientists in England. A woman named Mary Noble stumbled up on Potter’s drawings about 15 years ago and discovered that Potter’s illustrations and observations had captured details about fungi that other scientists failed to see up until then.

D.) Candellara Sp. Yellow falls under the category of lichen known as Candellara Concolor, a type of lichen that favors bark high in nutrients, but it can also grow on rocks. Candellara Sp. is sensitive to sulfur dioxide.

E.) Physica Sp. Blue / green is the type of algae that is usually in a symbiotic relationship with the fungi. It has a greenish blue color, but can be kind of gray. It is found on barks, in urban areas, on rocks, and on other wood structures.

Method

The two species of lichen that we were observing grow more readily on the bark and branches of the ash and maple tree. We identified a maple tree by examining opposite branching. The tree was near a road that cars drive by often, but I would not consider it a heavy traffic road. People drive by this tree when they are accessing the dorms on south green. We then took measurements with our metal measuring device that was divided into four quadrants each measuring 4 square centmeters. We measured with the lowest quadarant abuot 1 meter off the ground. We repeated this on all four sides of the tree: north, east, south, and west. We used the GPS on our phone to observe the coordinates of the tree, and we used our phone to take photos of the tree trunk, branches, and leaf. The data that we collected is being given to the graduate students in the class and will be used for future lichen projects. Our combined data can be used to track air quality over time. 

Other sources: 

http://staff.concord.org/~btinker/gaiamatters/investigations/lichens/lichens.html

http://www.air-quality.org.uk/19.php

What is a dead zone?

A dead zone is an area where no life exists. In marine ecosystems, dead zones are caused by excess nutrients that lower the available oxygen for fish and other marine life, creating a zone where no life can exist. Dead zones can also be caused by the input of hot wastewater into a marine ecosystem. Habitats that would normally be teeming with life are transformed into biological deserts.

An increase in chemical nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous are the major contributing factor to dead zones. These nutrients are the fundamental building blocks of certain types algae, including Cyanobacteria, Green Algae, Dinoflagellates, Coccolithophores, and Diatom Algae. The increase in these nutrients leads to a rapid increase in the density of these organisms, creating an algal bloom. This is called eutrophication, which is defined as an excess of nutrients in a body of water due to runoff from the land that increases plant production and therefore causes death of species due to lack of oxygen. Algae blooms result from the inputs of nitrogen and phosphorous, especially Cyanobacteria, but these Cyanobacteria are not good food for zooplankton and fish, so they accumulate in the water, die, and then decompose. The process of decomposition leaves the water with uninhabitable oxygen levels for most fish and other species.

The use of chemical fertilizers, mainly by big agriculture, is the main cause attributed to eutrophication in inland and coastal waters. Runoff from sewage, urban land use, and fertilizers used in home lawns and gardens also contribute to dead zones, but while this is still a very important piece to the puzzle, the levels contributed by big agriculture are much higher than domestic contributions. Natural causes can include coastal upwelling and changes in wind and water circulation patterns.

Oceanographers began noticing increased cases of dead zones during the 1970s. The UN Environment Programme published its first Global Environment Outlook year Book in 2004, and in it they reported 146 dead zones in the world’s oceans. These dead zones were directly attributed to depleted oxygen levels. The largest dead zone was 70,000 square kilometers, or 27,000 square miles. In 2008, there were 405 known dead zones worldwide.

While dead zones, also known as hypoxic zones, do occur naturally, scientists are concerned with the ones that are created by anthropocentric activities. Dead zones are most present in the United States on the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the Great Lakes. The second largest hypoxic zone in the world is in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

A 2013 map of the dissolved oxygen levels in Gulf of Mexico 

The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is ever-expanding, according to scientists. As of August 2015, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration measured the hypoxic zone measured 6,474 square miles, larger than the measurement taken by NOAA in June of this year. The increase in size was likely caused by a wet summer in the eastern half of the country along the Mississippi watershed. Last year, the dead zone was measured at 5,052 square miles. The Gulf of Mexico/Mississippi Watershed Nutrient Task Force has a target of 1,900 square miles for this dead zone. 

The impact that dead zones have on ecosystems is tremendous. The massive loss of life that we are seeing can have a chain effect, creating holes in food chains that cause problems in ecosystems all over the world. We do not yet know the full extent of the effects. Dead zones also have detrimental impacts on human life. An area that is unable to support marine life is an area that is unable to produce natural resources and food resources for the human population, effecting the economy and peoples ability to reap benefits from our environment, from the place we call home. 

Other sources: 

National Ocean Service

NASA Earth Observatory 

What is aquaculture?

Aquaculture, also rightfully known as aquafarming, refers to  "the breeding, rearing, and harvesting of plants and animals in all types of water environments including ponds, rivers, lakes, and the ocean," according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Essentially, all kinds of species of freshwater and marine fish, shellfish, and plants, are being farmed. Seafood from fish and shellfish are grown in ponds, tanks, and cages until they reach market size, and are then harvested to be sold. Aquaculture can also be utilized for aquarium trade. A form of aquaculture called "enhancement" is also practiced, where hatchery fish and shellfish are released into the wild in order to help rebuild wild populations or coastal habitats. Plant species can be grown for pharmaceutical, nutritional, fuel, or biotechnology product uses as well.

Marine aquaculture refers to farming species that live in the ocean, while freshwater aquaculture refers to species native to rivers, lakes, and streams. Marine aquaculture produces species such as oysters, clams, mussels, shrimp, salmon, yellow tail, sea bass, and more. It can take place in the ocean with a built cage around it, or on land in a man made tank. Catfish dominate freshwater aquaculture production, but trout, tilapia, and bass are also common. It can take place in ponds or in man made tanks.

Raceways are also a technique utilized by aquaculture. A raceway is a flow-through system in which an artificial channel is used to keep water flowing, allowing no stagnant water. This eliminates the issue of dirt, debris, and feces collecting, lowering the risk of toxins and disease. This method is also useful for species who have high oxygen requirements, such as trout. The water source is generally streams or springs flowing downhill, often coming from melted ice off mountain peaks. Cold water species are suited for this kind of raceway system, including rainbow trout, freshwater shrimp, catfish, tilapia, and juvenile salmon.

Is Aquaculture Safe?

The industry is regulated by federal agencies such as the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Harvesters are required to carefully manage aquatic resources, but over 88% of the seafood consumed in the United States is imported, often from countries that do not have strict environmental and safety standards, according to The National Aquaculture Association.

Image from UC Davis GeoWiki

TheNational Aquaculture Association states that before a hormone drug is used in aquaculture, it must be shown that it will not harm the environment or public health. This statement leads me to believe that not only are there a number of hormones used in raising fish and shellfish, but these drugs may be harmful to the environment or public health, given what I know, and what I am currently learning in Environmental Law about the current state and process of testing potentially harmful substances in the U.S. The NAA states that farm-raised oysters, clams, and mussels are monitored by the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference (ISSC), and operate under FDA approval.  

Is Water a Human Right?

On July 28, 2010, the United Nation's General Assembly formally recognized the human right to water and sanitation by acknowledging that clean drinking water and effective sanitation are essential to the realization of all human rights. They did this through Resolution 64/292, which "calls upon States and international organizations to provide financial resources, help capacity-building and technology transfer to help countries, in particular developing countries, to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all," according to the United Nations. But, this isn't the first time this human right has been recognized by the UN. In November 2002, the General Comment No. 15 was adopted by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It stated in Article I.1 that "The human right to water is indispensable for leading a life in human dignity. It is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights." Comment No. 15 also defined the right to water as "the right of everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable and physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses." 

Sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible, and affordable. How do we define these things, or rather, how does the United Nations define these things? Are they using adequate measurements, and are they regulating these measurements to the proper and ethical degrees?

This is how the United Nations and World Health Organization define these standards, taken directly from the United Nations website...

• "Sufficient -- water supply for each person must be sufficient and continuous for personal and domestic uses. These uses ordinarily include drinking, personal sanitation, washing of clothes, food preparation, personal and household hygiene. 
• According to the World Health Organization (WHO), between 50 and 100 litres of water per person per day are needed to ensure that most basic needs are met and few health concerns arise.
• Safe. The water required for each personal or domestic use must be safe, therefore free from micro-organisms, chemical substances and radiological hazards that constitute a threat to a person's health. Measures of drinking-water safety are usually defined by national and/or local standards for drinking-water quality. 
• The World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines for drinking-water quality provide a basis for the development of national standards that, if properly implemented, will ensure the safety of drinking-water.
• Acceptable. Water should be of an acceptable color, odor and taste for each personal or domestic use. All water facilities and services must be culturally appropriate and sensitive to gender, life cycle and privacy requirements.
• Physically accessible. Everyone has the right to a water and sanitation service that is physically accessible within, or in the immediate vicinity of the household, educational institution, workplace or health institution.
• According to WHO, the water source has to be within 1,000 meters of the home and collection time should not exceed 30 minutes.
• Affordable. Water, and water facilities and services, must be affordable for all. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) suggests that water costs should not exceed 3 per cent of household income." 

The last one, affordable, made me think. Do people that live in the desert southwest have a right to affordable water? They live in a desert, an area that cannot naturally support that population of people, and they are using extensive amounts of water, much of which is highly unnecessary, especially when compared to people in developing countries who use water only as absolutely necessary for life. Do Americans have the right to affordable water even though we use much more than our share? 

Water is an intrinsic human right, because we are water. Water is the basis of all life, all life needs water to survive, so how could anyone possibly argue that it is not a human right? The real question should be, is it a corporations right? In America, corporations are treated as persons, so legally, it is a corporations right to water if it is also a human's right to water, but just because something is legal doesn't make it moral. Corporations, including industries related to manufacturing and animal and plant agriculture, use up much more than any single person's share of water, and I do not believe it is in their right to do so. The animal agriculture industry uses and pollutes a huge disproportionate share of this vital resource while millions of human beings die every year for lack of clean or accessible water. Animal agriculture accounts for nearly half of all freshwater used every year, using around 1.8 billion gallons per day. 

As the economic value for this commodity increases, companies have used this opportunity to buy up water rights on nearly every continent, creating a highly privatized industry for water. Ninety percent of water rights in the world remain public, but privatization is expanding rapidly. Water privatization has led to corruption, lack of corporate accountability, loss of local agency, weakened water quality standards, and steep rate hikes that eliminate poor people’s access to water. 

The bottling plant, located on the Morongo Band of Mission Indians’ reservation, draws spring water from Millard Canyon

Nestle is an excellent example of corruption in the privatization of water. They own or lease about 50 spring sites throughout the United States, and are unlawfully or immorally extracting water from many of these aquifers. For example, Nestle steals water from already drought-ridden Colorado. Over the next decade, "Nestlé will extract 650 million gallons of Arkansas Valley water so that every day they can load 25 trucks with 8,000 gallons of water, drive 120 miles to a bottling plant in Denver, and fill millions of plastic Arrowhead Springs water bottles to be sold in the western US."  Food Empowerment Project

Photo: Photo illustration by Michael Snyder/ The Desert Sun

Arrowhead, a brand of Nestle, is bottled on the Morongo Band of Mission Indians' Reservation, and draws spring water from Millard Canyon in California.

Stream erosion has shaped the landscape of the planet. Constructional areas are limited, and include volcanoes, river plains and deltas, coral reefs, and the surfaces of glaciers and ice sheets. Mountain ranges are built by forces within the Earth, but individual mountains are only the remnants left behind by the erosion of the valleys that separate them. The continually eroding valleys are the active, evolving part of the landscape.

Rivers have been credited with up to 90 percent of the total sediment transported to the sea, although this journey can take many human lifetimes. All of the sediments that eventually end up in the sea were at some time, a part of the continental landscape.

Rivers and Landscape Shaping

Stream erosion occurs when water flowing through a channel is able to transport sediment downstream. The amount of sediment transported depends mainly on the volume of flow, which is related to the size of the drainage basin and can fluctuate immensely. Volume of streamflow, or discharge, is measured in cubic meters per second. Most riverbed erosion occurs during times of high discharge.

New landscapes can be created by constructional forces, such as a volcanic eruption, the melting of a glacier, or the uplift of the ocean floor. On a new landscape, river runoff follows an irregular path downhill towards sea level, forming lakes in closed basins and then overflowing to continue downhill. This pre-mature drainage is called a consequent system because it is a direct consequence of the preexisting landscape.  As time goes on, the drainage network becomes more streamlined. Water cuts new paths and consolidates others as it follows the path of least resistance to sea level. Drainage networks become sophisticated but simplified, as they shape the landscape and adjust to their climate region.

As rocks erode, rivers gradually change their courses to keep their path of least resistance. Where a river crosses rocks resistant to erosion, it generally cuts a steep, narrow canyon. This occurs because the river is unable to erode the underlying rock at the rate that the river erodes the rock downstream, creating a steep gradient. An example of this process is a wide, open valley in the mountains with a flat running stream, while upstream you find a steep, narrow gorge cut through rocks that were unable to be eroded at the rate the valley was.

Sediment Transportation

There are three ways sediment is transported in a river: in a solution, suspended, or as bed load.

Solution load - These are sediments that are dissolved in the water. Solution load is generally higher where water flow is derived from mainly groundwater and where local bedrock, such as limestone, is prone to chemical weathering.

Suspended load - These are sediments that are not dissolved in the water, but are present in them. They are suspended in the water. These usually include fine sediments such as clay and silt. They are suspended mainly by turbulence, and will settle out when they have been dormant for awhile.

Bed load - These are sediments that roll, skip, or slide across the stream bed. There will be periods of time that these sediments are settled at the bottom of the bed, and times when they are being transported, depending on turbulence.

This photo taken by me from a plane flying near Las Vegas, Nevada clearly shows the effect of stream erosion on this landscape. Over time, the stream has eroded the surrounding bedrock and was able to maintain its flow, making it a subsequent stream. 

For more information, visit
The Water Encyclopedia

The American Geosciences Institute

Wetlands are Essential - Ramsar Convention

Wetlands are an essential part of our planet's hydrologic system. They are vital to the health of waterways and surrounding communities. They provide essential services, both environmentally and economically. Wetlands include swamps, marshes, and bogs, and can vary greatly in soil composition, climate, topography, vegetation, water chemistry, etc. Wetlands found in flood plains or near waterways are connected to surface water, while there are other wetlands that have a stronger connection to ground water.

Wetlands provide habitat to one of the most biologically rich ecosystems on the planet. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, numerous species rely on wetlands for reproduction, food, and shelter. For some forms of life, including wood ducks, muskrat, and cattails, wetlands are their sole habitat. Many bird species food, nest, and raise their young in wetlands. Some species of migratory birds, in fact, are so dependent on certain wetlands that they would become extinct of those wetlands were destroyed. Wetlands provide habitat for water lilies, turtles, fish, frogs, snakes, alligators, waterfowl, and mammals.

Wetlands help trap flood waters, recharge groundwater supplies, filter pollution, provide habitat, and provide recreation. Because they are able to provide habitat and recreation, that makes them vital to economic health as well. Most commercial and game fish breed and raise their young in coastal marshes and estuaries, including enhaden, flounder, sea trout, spot, croaker, and striped bass. Shrimp, oysters, clams, and blue and Dungeness crabs need these wetlands for food, shelter, and breeding grounds. Recreation can offer an important economic influx as well.

      The Ramsar convention was a convention held in Iran in 1971 with representatives from 18 industrial countries to prepare the first comprehensive treaty regarding wetlands. The treaty addresses the conservation and sustainability of wetlands. It is the only global convention that has focused on an ecosystem. The Convention defines wetlands broadly, including lakes and rivers, underground aquifers, swamps and marshes, wet grasslands, peatlands, estuaries, tidal flats, mangroves, coral reefs, and all human-made sites such as reservoirs, fish ponds, and rice paddies. Ramsar does not cover deep oceans. Its mission statement reads, "The conservation and wise use of wetlands through local, regional and national actions and international cooperation as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world.” They define the wise use of wetlands as, "their sustainable utilization for the benefit of humankind in a way compatible with the maintenance of the natural properties of the ecosystem” Today, there are 2040 Wetlands of International Importance, or "Ramsar sites," totaling at 193 million hectares. Some criteria for classifying these areas can include the support of important biodiversity or an important life-cycle site for species, such as turtles, waterbirds, and fish.

The idea to form the Convention occurred in 1962, but it took eight years to actually realize it. Managing wetlands is a global challenge, and the member countries of the Convention recognize the value of having one international treaty dedicated to a single ecosystem. The Ramsar Convention recognizes the importance of wetlands for human well-being, including the importance in goods and services as well as food and water security. The model supports practical and "wise" use, hopefully lending to sustainable practices.

Strouds Run is a man-made reservoir, which would be classified as a wetland under Ramsar

For more information:
The Nature Conservancy
EPA Wetland Fact Sheet 
PowerPoint about Ramsar
The World Wildlife Foundation