Water, water everywhere...

Vermont is extraordinarily fortunate to have a generally abundant supply of fresh drinking water, yet debates rage about the preservation of our streams, rivers and lakes. The availability, cleanliness and control and of water supplies for drinking and recreation is high on our list of issues and the subject of great debate. It seems the French have a long term strategy to be in the water business big time. Vivendi (yes, the same outfit we know as an entertainment conglomerate!) is a major owner of water supply systems worldwide. Here is a public/private ownership debate that can only intensify in the years ahead.
Here's an excerpt:
Other activists worry there is a flaw in the logic of privatization: If companies make money by delivering water, won't their incentive be to sell as much as they can rather than to conserve a scarce resource?

But William Cosgrove, a Canadian consultant who helped draft the World Water Vision paper for an environment summit last year in the Hague, Netherlands, insists that most people, company executives included, believe water is a basic right. "This is controversial simply because it's not understood," he said. "As long as it is accepted that governments set up regulatory frameworks and define objectives, they can make the best use of water they have."

"Executives at Suez and Vivendi agree. Jean-Luc Trancart, a Suez spokesman with long experience in French water management, argues that private companies fill a vital need. "I always tell activists if they really want to hurt us, they should make the public sector work better," he said."

I certainly don't want water supply systems owned by Vermont governments, except in unusual cases. Who owns water anyway? Is it like oil that we can own if we find and extract it? If I fill a tank truck with water from a public source, do I 'own' the water? Water ownership is debate that will surface at some point. According to the PSB, we have at least 45 Vermont water companies. Do they 'own' the water they move through their pipes?

I'm thirsty.