The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has released a new reform proposal for water resources, entitled Water for Life. While we generally think of the UK as a relatively wet place, Defra identified a number of water challenges facing the nation, including over-abstraction from rivers and groundwater basins, point and diffuse source [...]
Archive for the ‘Privatization’ Category
UK Government Releases Water Resources Reform Proposal: Water for Life
Posted in Climate change, Privatization, United Kingdom, Water companies, Water conservation, Water markets/transfers, Water rights on December 14, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Tap v. Bottled Water in the Private Sector
Posted in Bottled Water, Municipalization, Private v. public, Privatization, Public private partnerships on April 25, 2011 | 1 Comment »
We often see critics linking together private water companies and bottled water as jointly promoting “commodification” of the world’s water supplies. While the differences should be fairly obvious between investor-owned utilities and companies that provide design, construction, operations and maintenance services to governments, on the one hand, and companies that bottle, distribute and sell water [...]
Democrats and Environmentalists Oppose California Water Bond
Posted in California, Economics of water, Privatization on April 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
It’s not surprising, but a group of Democratic politicians and environmental organizations has come out against the California water bond scheduled for the ballot this November. The group has formed an organization simply titled “No on the Water Bond” and started a website and public relations campaign. It is interesting to see the differences of opinion that water [...]
More Mythical “Privatization” in the California Water Bond
Posted in California, Privatization, Water markets/transfers, Water rights on January 30, 2010 | 1 Comment »
In an earlier post, I discussed the errors contained in certain criticisms of the proposed California water bond to be voted on in November 2010. Those criticisms were centered on the provision that allowed investor-owned public water utilities to receive bond funding for projects to benefit their customers, who make up 20 percent of all Californians. Critics asserted (incorrectly) [...]
The California Water Bond, Private Profit and Public Benefit
Posted in Economics of water, Private v. public, Privatization, Public utilities regulation on January 4, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Several commentators have recently criticized the proposed California water bond for allowing private companies to own, operate and profit from water infrastructure paid for with bond proceeds. These criticisms have appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle and California Progress Report, and have been repeated in a number of other publications. The $11.14 billion water bond [...]
