Should Corporations be allowed to profit from buying and selling water that belongs to all of us? California's public water utilities and resources are governed by a group of private corporations, individuals and semi-public and public officials all working to in essence, " game" state water policy for profit.
In California, water is held as a trust by the state to ensure, " the greatest benefit to the public." California Public Citizen shows how the public trust has been betrayed by those pretending that water regulation is just another example of incompetant bureacracy. The corporate interests that have managed to manipulate control have been able to set up an insider trading system that results in millions of dollars for them.
It was so lucretive that in 2000 even Enron got into the act. As an example in 2001 the Kern County Water Board bought state subsidized water from the State Water Project at $ 161 an acre/ foot. They then flipped it back to the states Environmental Water Account for $250 an acre/foot making 6.3 million dollars.
Mike Taugher in the Contra Costa Times on 5/23/09 wrote that, " tens of millions of dollars in sales to the Environmental account were little more than a paper shuffle.. It is all perfectly legal, done in closed meetings where rules are rewritten and deals cut with only corporate control of this public water infrasructure.
In the California water wars you will find the only true bi-partisanship that exists. Here you can find the likes of Fox News Sean Hannity joining the likes of liberal billionaire Stewart Resnick. Money can smooth over lots of ideological diffreneces.
What Public Citizen called the water plutocracy includes some of the largest private corporations in both agriculture and construction. They have created obscure so called water districts that are largely unaccountable to the public, do business in secret are a sort of' " hidden government."
The theft began in 1994 with a closed door meeting that became known as the Monterey Amendments. These deregulated the State Water Project and giving away an underground water storage facility that cost the state $74 million called the Kern Water Bank.
The Kern County Water Bank is controled by Westside Mutual Water Company. Westside is owned by the largest farming company in the United States, Paramount -Farming Company which is a subsidiary of Roll International owned by Democratic Party high rollers Stewart and Lynda Resnick.
The Resnick's hob nob with the rich and powerful and have donated large sums of money to Democrats. They can call up high powered support for their views such as Dianne Feinstein to put pressure on theObama Administration to review and roll back allegedly onerous Environmental rules that might get in the way of this gravy train of corporate profits with public water.
This whole event is instructive for the real reasons why some people attempt to portray government as overreaching and incompetant. It is all about deregulating average Americans protections against the kind of absolute theft Resnick and his Corporate thieves have loosed on California. Is it any wonder the state is broke?
Public Citizen notes a number of things that should happen but probably won't. These include the return of the Kern County Water Bank to public control, repealing the Monteray Amendments, prevent any future sale of the State Water Project and make sure the water boards have open meetings with elected officials voted upon by all citizens.
In closing the report on Callifornia's water heist Public Citizen notes, " nature provides enough water: that is unless mismangement and greed intervene and allow for the states public water supplies to be manipulated for profit. There is enough for all. To much is at stake to allow for this water heist to continue."
For more on this topic please refer back to Hungry in America a growing problem.
Comments