Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Water privatization pros and cons
Water crisis and privatization
Effects of corruption and bribery
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Water privatization pros and cons
Water is a Public Good
Donna Blizzard
Business Ethics
Professor Ronald Brown
October 2, 2017
Introduction
One fact, not arguable by humanity, is that water is a basic human need for survival. What is up for debate is who should own the water rights. Corporations like Nestle view water not as a public good free for consumption, but as a commodity to profit from (True Activist, 2016). Society suffers from privatization of our water resources due to the high prices charged to gain access to one of life’s necessities to the lack of social and environmental responsibility by the large corporate conglomerates profiting by this natural resource (Paul, 2013, p.470). Governments need to own their responsibility to protect the rights of humanity,
…show more content…
Corporations like Nestle recognize water as a scarce resource, and reflect that society is treating it irresponsibly, so their solution is to place a dollar value on water to modify the wasteful use by humans to ensure our supply of water is sustainable for future generations (Confino, 2013). Another benefit to privatization is the ability for financially strapped governments to find a solution to build and maintain the much needed infrastructures to service their citizens with clean potable water (Paul, 2013, p. …show more content…
is conveyed to be the solution by the governments due to their lack of money, knowledge, and experience to build and repair the much needed infrastructure to provide the basic need of water to its people, negative results of privatization has occurred. One negative impact on humanity is that the corporations managing the water resources are supporting the shareholder theory and placing profits above stakeholders (Paul, 2013). The cost of the water infrastructure improvements has been transferred to the citizens in the form of exorbitant rates for water to the point that it is no longer affordable (Paul,
Humans need water. In a world that is overpopulated, we use a lot of water and other natural resources. Currently, in our world, clean water is getting scarce. Recently, for example, Flint, Michigan, had a water crisis. In early 2016, the water was discovered to be tainted with lead and other toxins. Long before that, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and Governor Rick Snyder along with his council, knew about the lead, but to save money for the city of Flint in early 2014 Snyder had changed the city’s water source to the Flint River which had corroded pipes, causing people of all ages to be sick from the high amounts of lead
Maude Barlow’s “Water Incorporated: The Commodification of the World’s Water” gives a voice to a very real, but vastly unknown, issue: the privatization of water. I refer to it as vastly unknown because it wasn’t until this article that I was even aware such a power struggle existed. Barlow first introduces startling statistics, meant to grab the attention of its readers. Once she has your attention, she introduces the “new generation of trade and investment agreements.” (306)
Water has long been a controversy in countless places worldwide and Colorado is no exception. The water rights in Colorado involve different stages within the Prior Appropriation Law; the senior and junior water rights. Senior water rights are privileges that were the first to be issued on unappropriated streams in Colorado and are to be filled before the junior water right holders. Junior water rights are similar to senior water rights, but are filled after the senior water holders take their allotted amount (Wolfe Prior Appropriation Law). The water in Colorado is just that; Colorado’s water, owned by the people and restricted by the state. However, Colorado is required by law to send over 30 million acre – feet of water to seven western states (“Missouri River”). An acre – foot is “The quantity of water required to fill one acre with one foot of water and is equivalent to 43,560 cubic feet or 325,850 gallons” (“Missouri River”). The State enforces all water laws in Colorado even though they are not straightforward and are riddled with loopholes. These water laws came into effect “As early as 1879” (Hundley, Jr. 53). In the laws, there are even more constraints and idiosyncrasies including; owning ground water, owning surface water, senior rights and junior rights, and the use and reuse of rainwater or graywater. Water users in Colorado need to familiarize themselves with the laws and regulations involving water in order to receive the allotted water and the reasoning behind that number.
“How can you buy or sell the sky-the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. Yet we do not own the freshness of air or the sparkle of the water. How can you buy them from us? We will decide in our time” (Chief Seattle: 1855). In the Documentary “Flow – for the love of water” it visualizes the global crisis we face on Mother’s Earth as it pertains to the diminishing of fresh water. The Documentary portrays along with the help of experts that this global crises is affecting each and every one of us in today’s society including animals. The film shows us that water is constantly being wasted, polluted, and privatized by big co operations. Prime examples of these greedy companies were mentioned in the film such as Nestle, Thames, Suez, Vivendi, Coca Cola and Pepsi.
although having water available for economic development is important, the growth of industry cannot be allowed to take precedent over protecting the most valuable resource of all, the individuals of each nation.
In the documentary, Blue Gold: World Water Wars, it follows several people and countries world-wide in their fight for fresh water. The film exposes giant corporations as they bully poorer developing countries to privatize their own supply of fresh water. As a result of the privatization, corporations make a hefty profit while the developing countries remain poor. Blue Gold: World Water Wars also highlights the fact that Wall Street investors are going after the desalination process and mass water export schemes. This documentary also shows how people in more developed nations are treating the water with much disregard, and not taking care of our finite supply. We are polluting, damming, and simply wasting our restricted supply of fresh water at an alarming speed. The movie also recognizes that our quick overdevelopment of housing and agriculture puts a large strain on our water supply and it results in desertification throughout the entire earth. The film shows how people in more industrialized nations typically take water for granted, while others in less industrialized nations have to fight for every drop.
Water is essential to life. By being so important it is crucial to keep it maintained and preserved. Our water supply is affected by environmental, economic, and legal issues. In Oklahoma water is very sacred to its people especially to Native Americans. Both Choctaw and Chickasaw nations are suing the state of Oklahoma for the regulatory authority over Sardis Lake and the water resources it holds. The Choctaw and Chickasaw nations deserve the rights over Sardis Lake because it is their main water supply and they own the rights through the treaty of the Dancing Rabbit Creek of 1830.
The total area of Mexico’s surface is slightly less than 2 million km2 (UNESCO 2006). The population is about 103 million people (Castro and Heller 2009). In the last two decades, as the population of the country has been growing intensively, the demand of water also dramatically increased. According to Armentia and Cisneros, the number of people who don’t have an access to water supply is about 11 million, almost 11% of Mexico’s population (Castro and Heller 2009). But there are far more people who don’t have an access to safe water. Moreover this situation with lack of water is exacerbated by malfunction of sewer systems. But to understand the causes of scarcity of water in Mexico and to evaluate the policy of the government in this sector, it needs to be observed thoroughly.
Drinking water is essential and indispensable to life itself possible on the face of the earth, it is much more than a well, a resource, a commodity, drinking water is specifically a human right of first order and an element essential national sovereignty itself and, most likely, whoever controls the water control the economy and life in the not so distant future.
Developing our national economy, especially industry, requires a great amount of natural resources, such as land, water, oil, coal, gas and iron. However, the natural resources are limited and decline very quickly when a large population exploits them everyday. Take fresh water as an example, in 1990, 58% of Chinese cities (http://www.cass.net.cn/y_sjr/y_cn_sjr_334.htm) suffered from the insufficiency of water. It not only brings great disadvantages to people's daily life, but also has a passive influence on the economic development. Released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the economic loss caused by the insufficiency of water is 250 billion RMB per year, including 230 billion lost industrial output and 20 billion agricultural losses.
Water is pure and a transparent liquid that is vital for all humans, plants and animals on the planet. In the United States, people have access to clean drinking water and clean sanitation systems, not like in other parts of the world where clean safe drinking water is getting scarce. A lot of people don’t have access to it, and many regions are suffering severe drought. Yet, humans take it for granted, they don’t appreciate that a reliable clean supply of water is essential to human health, economy and agricultural prosperity. Having clean and safe potable water is a right and not a privilege. Some individuals don’t appreciate the advantage of having clean water available at
As of this year, nearly 1.1 billion people live without clean drinking water and 2.6 billion live without adequate water sanitation. The McDonald's down the street, however, will sell you a 1/3 pounder burger for only 150 gallons. Changes in lifestyle can easily reduce this number and help not only save water, but money as well. Currently, with our diminishing water supply, one of the main goals of humanitarian organizations is ensuring that everyone has the right and equality to water. With global access to water, it reduces the responsibility for political tension between countries fighting to literally stay alive.
There is a global shortage of drinking water. A person might wonder how this can be if seventy percent of the earth’s surface is covered by water. Most of the Earth’s water is unsuitable for human consuption. Ocean water is salt water, which makes up 97.5% of all water on the planet. Freshwater is only 3.5% of all the water on Earth. Drinking water is sourced from bodies of freshwater.
According to CQ Researcher’s Cooper “More than a billion people around the world lack access to safe drinking water and their numbers are growing”(Water Shortage). Is it fair that so many people must go without water while thousands of gallons are wasted here in the United States? Cooper in addition commented that “unlike the vast majority of natural resources water often is seen as a free commodity like the air we breathe” (Water Shortage). Without seeing water as something worth conserving, we literally pour away our most valuable resource. We can not afford this; water shortages already ravage the majority of the world: “If per-capita water consumption continues to rise at current rates, humans will take more than 90 percent of all available fresh water by 2025, leaving only 10 percent of the earth’s fresh water for all animals and plants on the planet” (Cooper, Water Shortage). Even the water that is available to humans is often not clean enough to safely drink: “Outbreaks of cholera and other waterborne diseases kill 10 million people each year” (Cooper, Water Quality). Cooper acknowledged that“1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to safe drinking water...
One main causes of water scarcity is water mismanagement worldwide. Water mismanagement has become a crisis of governance that will impact heavily ...