Great news! I'm excited to share with you that a Mexican appeals court overruled an initial judgment in one pending case brought by the Habitat International Coalition of Mexico (HIC-AL), a UUSC civil-society partner working to implement the human right to water in Mexico. HIC-AL is working on behalf of the residents of Ampliacion Tres de Mayo, a community of 100 families who were cut off from a water network by the local municipality. For the first time, the district appeals court judge recognized violations of the human right to water and ordered the utility to give more water to the community.

The legal journey for the residents of this rural community began after more than 10 years of purchasing water for their basic needs, because the local water utility failed to provide them with services. The community got in touch with HIC-AL asking for their assistance. With UUSC support, HIC-AL presented four cases on their behalf to challenge this situation and gain a court ruling that states that the residents of Ampliacion Tres de Mayo have a right to water. Although the idea for all of the cases was the same, each case went before a different judge, per Mexican law at the time.

In the first case, the court decided that the applicant must show proof of ownership of the property where she lives before it would even consider her claims that her right to water was violated. In the case brought on behalf of Lydia Velazquez Reynosa, the judge did not analyze the human right to water and dismissed the case because Lydia is not the owner of the house where she lives. HIC-AL supported the community to appeal this decision. In the appeal, HIC-AL explained that the right to water is not linked to property ownership and bolstered their arguments for adequate water services beyond four hours per week, asking the appeal judge to analyze the violations of the human right to water.

As a result of the pressure from the cases  and to counteract the efforts of HIC-AL and the community in pursuing their right to water, the authority installed a water line and began providing water to the community twice per week, about four hours total. And a few days ago, we received the great news from Maria Silvia, HIC-AL's legal officer, that the appeal tribunal has ruled in their favor and accepted their argument! The court has decided to rule on the merits of the case and analyze the violations of the human right to water.

Looking back on their journey, Maria told us shortly after the judgment was announced: "Thanks to the line, we gave water to these women and their families; now more than 100 families have water. But it is not enough to put the line and provide water four hours per week. Certainly four hours per week is a violation of their human right to water."  

Maria can testify that recognizing the human right to water and realizing it are two different things. She said, "To have a real change we need a lot, more than a law. You cannot only change things because you have a better constitution — everyone has to apply pressure, including NGOs and local community groups." This victory comes as we are reflecting on Earth Day and reminds us that human rights and positive social change do not occur overnight!

Last fall Beacon Press released a new book about water, Cynthia Barnett's Blue Revolution: Unmaking America's Water Crisis. Barnett's evocative prose and excellent research make this book a fantastic contribution to the growing body of work on water issues in the United States, comparing our experience to the experiences of people overseas.

A quotable and trustworthy source, Florida journalist Barnett focuses on two case studies throughout the book: the Florida Everglades Reclamation Project and the Central Valley Project in California. These two form the central thread of Barnett's argument for a "new water ethic." There are other case studies woven in, like the "Dutch miracle," where flooding wiped out communities and not one life was lost, and the "we need to eat" argument made by agribusiness (when much of water brought to homes in the United States goes to grow grass).  

Coining phrases like "supersized infrastructure," "liquid litter," and the "water industrial complex," Barnett brings water down to an understandable level. For example, in Chapter 5, "Taproot of the Crisis," Barnett discusses American agriculture in its absurdities and in its hope. You will be buffeted by statistics of water policies gone mad and buoyed by glimpses of a future that we can actually make real.  Barnett's book is an engaging, cogent discussion of what is wrong and what could be right about big-picture water-resources management in the United States.

One thing to keep in mind when reading the book: Barnett mentions the human right to water only briefly in Chapter 2 and again when she discusses "affordability" and how to price water in Chapter 9, "The Business of Blue." Barnett points her pen toward the environmental issues more than human rights. She says that human-rights activists believe that water should be free. Not true. Human rights require affordable water, not free water. Yes, we must price water to force society to conserve- but it must be matched with policies, like lifeline water rates, that take into account those who cannot afford high water rates. If not, we will continue to deprive people of water and make access to water a privilege rather than a right.

I recommend the book in its entirety, but pay close attention to Chapter 12, "Local Water." There, Barnett lays out the principles that should guide American water decisions, including our own personal use of water. The new water ethic would require us to do the following:

• Value water, from streams to water bills
• Work together to use less and less, rather than fighting to get more
• Keep water local
• Not make the same mistakes of taking too much from aquifers and streams and paying for the most expensive fixes when solutions that cost less and use less water are possible
• Leave as much water as possible in nature

Let us add the human right to water to this ethic to ensure that the public investment in water benefits all — and not just the select few, in select neighborhoods and select economic sectors. Read Chapter 1 online at Beacon Press and discuss the book with the author on March 4 with UUSC. Barnett's book is the second in recent Beacon Press publications on water, following Fred Pearce's great book When the Rivers Run Dry.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has affirmed the importance of safe drinking water and sanitation to the health and safety of every human being. In a recent decision, the court agreed that tenants have a right to water and sanitation and that a dwelling without running water is unfit for human habitation.

The case, Leo Belanger et al v. John Mulholland, was brought by tenants who lived in a trailer for several months without running water and a functioning toilet after the water pipes were damaged. When asked by the tenants to fix the water pipes, the landlord merely gave abatement on the rent and told the tenants that he had no obligation to make the repairs. He even told one of the tenants that he "was on his own with that." As a result, the tenants were forced to buy bottled water and haul water from their neighbors' homes for several months. In its ruling, the court said that lack of running water endangers human health and safety.

According to the court, any agreement for rental of a dwelling unit comes with a warranty that the dwelling is fit for human habitation. Therefore, any condition that threatens human health, such as lack of running water and a functioning toilet, constitutes a breach of this warranty. The tenants were awarded damages by the court.

This is yet another victory for the human rights to water and sanitation in the United States. Although the human rights to water and sanitation primarily call attention to the obligation of governments to ensure that all people — regardless of their status — have access to safe drinking water and sanitation, the obligation of private actors involved in water provision to respect these rights is increasingly being highlighted. This decision of the Maine Supreme Court underscores the obligation of private actors as well as the vital role water and sanitation plays in our lives every day.

We celebrate the passage into law of four bills in the California human-right-to-water bill package. After months of hard work, the following four bills have become law:

• A.B. 983, which will help communities access funds for drinking-water systems
• A.B. 1221, which will allow communities to be eligible for already allocated clean-up funds
• A.B. 938, which will make sure people know what is in their water
• S.B. 244, which will require cities to develop plans for providing service to small communities

This is a tremendous victory. With leadership from the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of California (UULMCA) and UULMCA Executive Director Rev. Lindi Ramsden, and from our partners Environmental Water Justice Coalition, Community Water Center, and Food and Water Watch, Unitarian Universalists in California have helped their state take an enormous step forward in ensuring safe, sufficient, and affordable water for all.

Over 550 UUSC members and supporters from 37 states sent letters to UULMCA thanking them for their strong witness for the human right to water (see selections below). 

At UUSC we extend our deepest gratitude for those who have worked tirelessly over the last few years to support the human right to water in California. We celebrate this victory today and stand in solidarity with all those promoting the human right to water — in our own communities; in California as they continue the work to pass A.B. 685, the human-right-to-water bill, in this next legislative year; and for all those who lack access to drinking water and sanitation throughout the world.

Moving messages of gratitude from UUSC members and supporters

At such a cynical and crucial time, your work in saving lives is inspirational. —Alabama

Here in Alaska, where we seem to have plenty of fresh water, the glaciers that provide most of our water are melting.  In the near future, we may find ourselves in a quite different situation. —Alaska

I enthusiastically support your human justice work. —Arizona.

As a California resident, every day I witness the need for water rights to be extended to everyone. —California

You are an inspiration to those of us who are early in our investigation into the issues surrounding water in our communities. Thank you. —Colorado

As we expand our values into the new challenges facing us as humans on earth, your work with water rights leads us into important new understanding and advocacy. I am personally very grateful for your example. —Connecticut

Thank you for your vigilance and courage in this struggle for a more just and compassionate world. —Washington, D.C.

You can be proud of how you are putting our Unitarian Universalist values to action. You are truly living our great tradition — an inspiration to all UUs and hopefully to all people of faith. —Florida

Right on to my sisters and brothers in spirit and social justice! —Georgia

Along with Unitarian Universalists across the country, I am grateful for how hard you have worked to advance the human right to water in California and around the world. —Illinois

Please continue your hard work to ensure that all Californians have safe and affordable drinking water! As a UU in Indiana, I am 100 percent in support of your efforts and wish you the best! —Indiana

Access to water is a basic human need and right that most of us in the United States take for granted. —Louisiana

Your service is an answer to our prayers. —Maine

Your model for your work will aid other such efforts. —Maryland

We will cheer you on, follow your inspiration, and in concert with fellow supporters, pursue achieving this essential right for all people. We will be following your efforts and joining forces wherever possible. Thanks for your courage and perseverance. —Massachusetts

Thanks and ever thanks again for your inspiring, informed, compassionate activism. —Michigan

Your action makes me proud to be a UU. —Minnesota

Water is essential to life. What a remarkable difference you have made in so many lives. I applaud you. —Missouri

Here in Nebraska, we are also protecting our water supply by blocking the Keystone XL pipeline. Thank you for your important work. —Nebraska

I think we should also demand clean, safe water for everyone. —Nevada

The world is a better place for us all because you have stood and worked for that which is right, honorable, life-giving, and necessary. A huge accomplishment in a world where "NO" is spoken with a shrillness that deafens those with values and concern. Thank you and may blessings abound. —New Hampshire

I join Unitarian Universalists across the country to thank you for all of your hard work. —New Jersey

I would like to share that my heart is with you as you work on this project. My spirit soars anytime I hear of others working on such important work. Thank you, thank you, thank you. —New Mexico

Accessibility to clean water is such a basic, yet elusive, right in many parts of the world. Thank you for your efforts. —New York

The right to water is one of our most pressing social issues and one that is often overlooked. Thank you for being at the vanguard of the movement to preserve this human right. I very much appreciate all the work you have done and are doing to bring safe and affordable water to all Californians. —North Carolina

Those of us who never have to think about access to water, and safe water at that, cannot fully appreciate the difficulty of life without this precious resource. But, we can try to understand and fight for the rights of those who maybe do not have a voice. —Ohio

Thank you, thank you, thank you! —Oklahoma

Thank you for your inspired and inspiring efforts. —Oregon

California has long been recognized as a leader in promoting and implementing many social and environmental causes and this is another example. The passing of these bills should be a springboard for other states, at the federal level and the entire world community. Thanks for living your principles as UUs. —Pennsylvania

I hope this is just the start of many other efforts elsewhere. Water is a basic need!Thank you.—Rhode Island

Everyone needs the right to safe and clean water. —South Carolina

Keep up the good work. It makes me proud to be UU. —Texas

All of us working together, UUs as well as non-UUs, for the good of all, with full hearts, ARE making a difference that is not noted in mass media, but is being felt in the core of humanity. —Vermont

It has been said, "Water is life," and I truly believe this is so. It should be the birthright of all people, and all living things. —Virginia

I'm proud of us all — your congregations, our congregation, and UUSC. —Washington

Human rights are precious and a victory anywhere is a victory for all of us. —Wisconsin

Clean water is critical to most of the regions of the world. Please set an example that can be replicated globally. —Paris, France

On Thursday Catarina de Albuquerque, the U.N. special rapporteur (SR) on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, presented her report on her February visit to the United States to the U.N. Human Rights Council. De Albuquerque documented significant challenges for the United States in the water and sanitation sector, including discriminatory impacts of water-shutoff policies, lack of access for homeless persons and tribes, and serious concerns about extractive industry practices such as hydraulic fracturing and their potential impact on drinking-water sources.

Acknowledging the complexity of the water and sanitation sector in the United States, de Albuquerque recommends that the country take steps to adopt a federal standard prioritizing access to safe drinking water and sanitation (the human right to water and sanitation), in particular equal access and affordability.

The U.S. response in Geneva today — making a commitment to taking action on the report — was promising. A U.S. government representative in Geneva made the following statement: "We look forward to continuing to work with the special rapporteur to take concrete action to reduce the number of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation." See the full text of the U.S. statement.

UUSC welcomes the SR's recommendations and the commitment by the U.S. government and looks forward to working with federal, state, and local governments to address the serious gaps in access to safe, affordable drinking water and sanitation.

We are happy to announce that over 50 congregations have made a commitment to recognize the human right to water in their congregation's Water Communion or water ceremony this September, many of them this coming weekend.

By bearing witness, you are helping us move one step closer to achieving this unrecognized inalienable right.

And this is an exciting time for the human right to water in the United States! At the same time that you are holding a Water Communion or water ceremony this weekend, two important things are happening:

• UUs in California, led by our partner the UU Legislative Ministry of California (UULMCA), are strategizing how to ensure AB 685 stays alive and the human-right-to-water bill package gets signed into law. This is a tenuous time because special interests are trying to stop us from advocating on behalf of 11.5 million people in California that have been receiving contaminated water for years. Read Shelley's blog post to learn more. For great interviews and photos from a rally on the Capitol last week as well as more information on the bill package, check out the coalition website.
  
• Special Rapporteur for the Human Right to Water and Sanitation Catarina de Albuquerque will be preparing for her speech to the United Nations. To be delivered in Geneva on September 15, her speech will cover her two-week trip to the United States this past spring. De Albuquerque pointed out that although the United Nations has declared a human right to water, there is no federally recognized right in the United Sates to safe drinking water and sanitation. She said the absence of clear legal standards threatens to undermine the realization of the human right to water and sanitation for all, the rights that are being fought for in California. Read more about her visit to California. You can also read her full U.N. report [PDF].

You can be a part of helping ensure the human right to water by incorporating it in your Water Communion or water ritual this fall. Consider pouring an empty vessel into the communal bowl and making a simple statement such as: "This container, empty of water, reminds us of all who lack access to safe and affordable water." This is a powerful symbolic act of solidarity with Unitarian Universalists and affected communities in California — and other groups around the world — on the leading edge of advocacy for the human right to water.

We are really thankful for the response we've already received, and we invite you to share the idea with others. Please consider bringing a camera to your congregation's water ceremony and taking a few photos if appropriate. We'd love to feature these on UUSC's Facebook Page and in other UUSC communications vehicles. Photos may be e-mailed to mobilization@uusc.org.

If you are going to participate and you have not let us know yet, please tell us about your plans.

Clean drinking water is essential to us all, but California's most vulnerable and impoverished communities have been receiving contaminated water for years. 

Yet when the human-right-to-water bill AB 685 — which calls for all Californians to have access to safe drinking water — came before legislative leaders last week, they blocked it without comment or explanation. Powerful, wealthy interests raised groundless concerns that apparently trump our right to safe water when we turn on our taps.

Affected families are very upset. They have waited way too long for safe water. Today, along with a broad coalition of allies, UUs are standing with California residents as they bring their toxic tap water from home — their "Central Valley Blend" — to pour into bottles for delivery to legislators in Sacramento. The partnership between UUSC and the UU Legislative Ministry of California has been successful thus far because thousands of concerned California residents have been supporting the human-right-to-water bills.

Special interests hope that we stop demanding our rights, but we won't stop now! Our voices need to be stronger than those special interests.

If you live in California, help us by speaking up and taking action. 

Why is a basic right endorsed by the United Nations, the federal government, and other states around the country being denied Californians? Even major corporations are starting to get on board with the human right to water.

The United Nations just issued a report pertaining to California and our human-right-to-water bills — and the local NPR affiliate has already picked up the story with a great interview of UUSC's Patricia Jones! You can listen to the program now at their website.

Also check out this website on AB 685 and the rest of the human-right-to-water bill package to learn more! 

The ongoing famine and drought in the Horn of Africa and in East Africa has left more than 12 million people in the region in need of urgent food aid. In Somalia, where the situation is most severe, thousands have fled their homes to seek refuge in Kenya and other East African countries. According to the United Nations, the situation is not likely to abate in the coming months. Some people have asked whether the famine was preventable. Wangari Maathai, an environmentalist and winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, answers in the affirmative. In a recent interview she gave to National Public Radio (NPR), Maathai speaks candidly about the root causes of the famine, linking it with decades of environmental degradation that governments in the region knew about but failed to stop.

"This did not happen overnight," Maathai said. "We have seen a situation where rains have not come for four years, not just because of climate change, but because of the gradual environmental degradation that is influenced by the Sahara to the north."

Several reports have linked the famine, particularly in Somalia, to decades of conflicts and lack of leadership. Maathai agrees that these are important contributing factors. However, she believes that environmental degradation, made worse by unpredictable rainfall, has over time robbed the people of food security and natural protection. Lack of leadership has meant governments have failed to protect the people. Maathai gave a very poignant example of the Ewaso Nyiro River in Kenya. The river, which flows from Mount Kenya, waters the Aberdare forest and the plains, and provides water for wildlife. "Now the river has completely dried up to dead rock, because people have been allowed to move into the forest to cut wood and establish plantations in the forest," Maathai lamented. Because of this, the forest is no longer able to harvest rainwater like before, and the rains no longer come regularly. The resulting drought has made it necessary for the government to supply water in tanks to communities in the northern part of the country. This would not have happened if they acted earlier and made sure the "the rivers flow to the people," Maathai concluded.

Maathai's comments show how grassroots efforts to prevent deforestation and encourage reforestation is important. The SoilFarm Multi-Culture Group (SFMG), a UUSC partner in Kenya, is spearheading such an effort in Kakamega through the Hope in Crops project. The goal is to protect the Kakamega Rain Forest in western Kenya from degradation and, by so doing, protect the watershed of Lake Victoria from drying up. SFMG works with schoolchildren, women, and farmers to plant indigenous trees, which help to retain water in the soil. In addition, they grow indigenous food crops that can withstand drought and adapt to changing weather patterns. Trees planted by the banks of the rivers that form part of Lake Victoria watershed purify the waters and help them maintain their natural flow.

Maathai pointed out how governments tacitly supported environmental degradation through inaction. The Kakamega Rain Forest where SFMG works provides a great example. In the 1980s, the government wanted to convert the forest into a tea plantation. Thanks to resistance by the local peoples, only portions of the forest were converted. However, a tea plantation within the rain forest is an aberration, which disrupts the magnificence of the forest and reduces the protection it provides in the environment. With UUSC's support, SFMG is working to protect the forest from further encroachment by tea plantations.

Maathai calls for grassroots efforts like her own and those of SFMG to be supported by governments and international agencies. By supporting SFMG, UUSC has already assumed leadership in this area, helping to make sure the rivers flow to the people and conserve the environment — and helping to ensure food security for local peoples.

UUSC is also working to support marginalized groups in Somalia and East Africa through its Rights in Humanitarian Crises Program. UUSC has opened an emergency fund that will help the people of East Africa and the Horn of Africa — you can help by donating to the fund. However, we hope that, going forward, policy and decision makers will listen to esteemed environmentalists like Maathai and develop preventive strategies that will support efforts by grassroots organizations already working on the ground.

Each Friday throughout the summer, a UUSC staff member will recommend books or articles about human rights. Today, UUSC Manager for Environmental Justice Patricia Jones shares recommendations from other leaders in the field.

Paul Schwartz is legislative director for Clean Water Action, a leader of the movement for environmental justice and water in our country, and a Unitarian Universalist. He suggests reading the 2009 scientific article “Planetary Boundaries: Exploring a Safe Operating Space for Humanity,” published by a collaboration of researchers and available from the Stockholm Resilience Center.

The article describes the nine planetary boundaries that we must not cross to prevent catastrophic global natural systems change. Climate disruption is only one of the nine — but seven of the nine involve water. See the videos and related web articles.

And if you are a science geek, read the scientific article itself!

Paul Schwartz is a water theologian, in my view, and you can't go wrong by taking his advice on things to read! It is a good thing that Paul; Valerie Nelson of the Water Alliance; the Stockholm Resiliency Center; and colleagues around the world are mapping out potential solutions — real-life, real-time solutions — to avert crossing these thresholds.

On the Water Alliance web page, watch the short and longer videos on the “new water paradigm” they are working on, which impressed the U.N. special rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation during her recent mission to the United States in March. The Water Alliance also has a Restoring the Water Commons report that links the planetary boundaries to the new thinking in water.

While the wave of support for the human right to water builds in California, eyes are also on the nation’s capitol and decisions being made to undermine the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) protections for drinking water resources and the Clean Water Act. Environmental group American Rivers's fact sheet gives some analysis of the dense legislation on appropriations and how it may impact drinking water sources.

The Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2011 (H.R. 2018) begs the question of just what kind of cooperative federalism we can expect from powerful vested interests that successfully got the legislation through the House of Representatives. UUSC ally Clean Water Action has a campaign to educate voters about H.R. 2018. The EPA’s analysis of the impact of this bill is certainly chilling.

A UUSC supporter reported to us this week that Senator Bernie Sanders tweeted the impacts of the budget debates on water infrastructure — expect 50 percent cuts over fiscal year 2010. This is all bad news to think about while we try and find a clean body of water to cool off in this overheated summer.

On my “to read” list for this summer is Alex Prud’Homme’s book The Ripple Effect. Not a light summer read, and won’t be good news, either. The news coming out of California and the organizations working hard on the human-right-to-water bills is one of the few sources of hope that we can collectively see our way through to protecting our drinking water sources and ensuring everyone has access.