Trusting the Tap 29.2

21 April, 2003

Editorial: Water is Life

The United Nations has declared 2003 the Year of Freshwater, with a number of major international conferences planned to discuss this important resource. One of the slogans emerging from these events is “Water is life.” I’m not normally partial to slogans, but this one is too true to ignore. Our bodies are composed almost entirely of water. We drink water, make things with water, play in water, conduct religious ceremonies with water, and enjoy its beauty. Water is, indeed, life itself.

Water Privateers
Tony Clarke
International trade agreements and loan conditions are pushing the privatization of public water systems around the world.
Inset: Water Privatization Glossary - David A. McDonald
Inset: GATS Threat - Karl Flecker

Public Water
Ron Crawley
The Canadian Union of Public Employees has been leading the fight against the privatization of municipal water services in Canada.

Liquid Assets
Karen Bakker
How we provide water depends on whether we view water as a commodity or as a public good.
Inset: Water Pricing and the Poor - David A. McDonald

Trusting the Tap
Kathleen Cooper
One key lesson from the Walkerton and North Battleford tainted water tragedies is the need to protect our drinking water at the source.

Chlorine Conflict
Shirley Roburn
Residents of Erickson, BC, treasure their clean water and do not want it chlorinated.

Watershed Canaries
Chris Jones and Brian Craig
Aquatic insects, crustaceans, worms and molluscs are excellent indicators of early water quality changes.

Myth of Abundance
John B. Sprague
The common claim that Canada boasts the world’s largest supply of fresh water is false.

Against the Flow
David B. Brooks
A better response to the coming world water crisis is not expansion of supply, but less waste and fairer allocation.
Inset: Grey Water in Iqaluit
Inset: Urban Farmers Use Wastewater - Mark Redwood
Inset: Rooftop Water in Nepal - Gopal Nakarmi and Juerg Merz

Mandatory Co-operation
Jennifer Pedersen and Evan D.G. Fraser
Because water knows no political boundaries, water-sharing nations must work together.

More Alternatives

AlterNotes

Plus Canadian News, Global News, Campaigns, Research Findings

Science Desk
Denyse O’Leary
Lab accident links plastic chemical to reproductive disorders; climate change may weaken monsoon.

Letter from Yellowknife
Petr Cizek
Petr Cizek finds the diamond rush has made the “New North” a lot like the Old South.

Emissions Test
Paul Bobier
A quiz to check your greenhouse savvy.

Full Blast
Monty Ilan Kapoor
Noise invades our common spaces, to the detriment of our health and civic culture.

Political Science
Stephen Bocking
Stephen Bocking examines why most research on BC salmon farming explores business opportunities, not environmental effects.

Reality Cheque
Kathryn Townshend
The Canadian Environmental Grantmakers’ Network shows where environmental funding goes in Canada.

Review essay: In Poor Health
Neil Arya

More reviews

Pollution in a Promised Land by Alon Tal
Judaism and Environmental Ethics by Martin D Yaffe
Anatomy of a Conflict by Terre Satterfield
Water Follies by Robert Glennon
Hot Green Web Sites

EXTRA reviews

Blue Gold: The Battle Against Corporate Theft of the World’s Water by Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke
Coffee with Pleasure: Just Java and World Trade by Laure Waridel
The Natural Step Story: Seeding a Quiet Revolution by Karl-Henrik Robèrt
The New Economy of Nature by Gretchen Daily and Katherine Ellison
Wolves and Human Communities: Biology, Politics, and Ethics by Virginia A. Sharpe, Bryan Norton, and Strachan Donnelley, eds.

Letters

A Modest Proposal
Albert Koehl
Albert Koehl vows to help make the world a safer place by buying an SUV.

Plus: Poster Pullout map of Canada’s Water Hot Spots.