Statement: California Governor & legislature pass four bills supporting the human right to water, key bill still in the works

October 11, 2011

 

Christine Chester, 617-695-2525

 

BOSTON, MA – Corporate Accountability International commends Governor Brown as well as the California Assembly and Senate representatives for approving legislation that will advance the human right to water for Californians. 

 

On October 7, Governor Brown signed four bills that will require health notifications to be made available in community languages and will improve access to water for low income, unincorporated, and other communities without traditional public water or wastewater systems. A fifth bill – AB 685 – remains to be considered next year and would legally recognize and require states to implement and fund the human right to water. 

 

California’s adoption of these bills signals growing recognition that the human right to water should be explicitly recognized and prioritized in national and local law. The foremost UN legal expert on water – Special Rapporteur Catarina de Albuquerque – recently released a report calling on governments to reform laws and take action to realize the human rights to water and sanitation. In fact, AB 685 was proposed at a press conference attended by the UN Special Rapporteur during her mission to the U.S. in February-March of this year. 

 

More work is still needed to protect water resources and water governance from corporate interference. As our local and national governments begin to heed the call to invest in our public water systems, they must ensure our water remains under public control through transparent, accountable and strong democratic governance. California should take the additional step of broadly recognizing and prioritizing the human right to water. In a demonstration of additional support, Governor Brown should follow the lead of 35 California cities that have chosen to support our public water systems by phasing out spending on bottled water. 

 

For more information, see this fact sheet by the key non-governmental sponsors of the passed bills: Clean Water Action, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry (CA), Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, Community Water Center, Food and Water Watch, Urban Semillas, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, Catholic Charities Diocese of Stockton, and Southern California Watershed Alliance, among others.