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Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water
A passionate call to action from one of the leading voices in the global struggle for universal access to the earth's most vital element—a sequel to the acclaimed Blue Gold .
"Life requires access to clean water; to deny the right to water is to deny the right to life." —from the introduction to Blue Covenant
In their international bestseller Blue Gold , Maude Barlow and co-author Tony Clarke exposed how a handful of corporations are gaining ownership and control of the earth's dwindling water supply, depriving millions of people around the world of access to this most basic of resources and accelerating the onset of a global water crisis.
Blue Covenant , the sequel to Blue Gold , describes a powerful response to this the emergence of an international, grassroots-led movement to have water declared a basic human right, something that can't be bought or sold for profit.
World-renowned activist Maude Barlow is at the center of this movement, which is gaining popular and political support across the globe, encompassing protests in India against U.S. bottling giant Coca-Cola; in Bolivia against the water privatization scheme of European water conglomerate Suez; against the use of water meters in South Africa; and over groundwater mining in Barrington, New Hampshire, and dozens of other communities in North America.
With great passion and clarity, Barlow traces the history of these international battles, documents the life-and-death stakes involved in the fight for the right to water, and lays out the actions that we as global citizens must take to secure a water—just world—a "blue covenant"—for all.
"Life requires access to clean water; to deny the right to water is to deny the right to life." —from the introduction to Blue Covenant
In their international bestseller Blue Gold , Maude Barlow and co-author Tony Clarke exposed how a handful of corporations are gaining ownership and control of the earth's dwindling water supply, depriving millions of people around the world of access to this most basic of resources and accelerating the onset of a global water crisis.
Blue Covenant , the sequel to Blue Gold , describes a powerful response to this the emergence of an international, grassroots-led movement to have water declared a basic human right, something that can't be bought or sold for profit.
World-renowned activist Maude Barlow is at the center of this movement, which is gaining popular and political support across the globe, encompassing protests in India against U.S. bottling giant Coca-Cola; in Bolivia against the water privatization scheme of European water conglomerate Suez; against the use of water meters in South Africa; and over groundwater mining in Barrington, New Hampshire, and dozens of other communities in North America.
With great passion and clarity, Barlow traces the history of these international battles, documents the life-and-death stakes involved in the fight for the right to water, and lays out the actions that we as global citizens must take to secure a water—just world—a "blue covenant"—for all.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
32 people are currently reading
529 people want to read
About the author
Maude Barlow
46 books33 followersMaude Barlow is the bestselling author of 20 books. She sits on the board of Food & Water Watch, the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature, and is a counselor with the World Future Council. She served as senior water advisor to the UN General Assembly and was a leader in the campaign to have water recognized as a human right. She is the recipient of fourteen honorary doctorates, the Right Livelihood Award and is the current chancellor of Brescia University. She lives in Ottawa, Ontario.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
October 5, 2010
I want to warn you: this review turned into a bit of a personal rant, 'cause while Barlow might keep a cool calm head about it, I am a different matter entirely!
Growing up in little ol' Tassie, the state that the rest of Australia considers to be cold and wet (but isn't really), during the 80s, the big things I was always hearing about were drought, greenhouse gases and the hole in the ozone layer. I always figured, since I absorbed these pressing concerns as a child, that everyone was concerned about them. Not so. I also grew up on a farm in the country, with a giant rain water tank. That water was a precious resource, not to be wasted, was a fact of life. And maybe it's thanks to my parents, but - like the Aborigines - I've always considered humans to be caretakers of the land, not owners and exploiters of it. Again, I grew up to learn that I was in the minority.
The truth is, I honestly believe that human beings are just one organism among billions, not actually that important to Life (in fact, can be seen to be its enemy), but that with our state of consciousness, we actually owe the planet more - not it owes us. I find it a typically arrogant human trait to think that we are the most important species on the planet, that the planet is our due and we can do what we like with it, and that when it all turns to shit, it'll be okay because by then our scientists will have figured out either a) a way to fix things or b) a new planet to live on (and, in turn, exploit).
To say that this bothers me would be the biggest under-statement of my personality. The truth is, there isn't a single living thing on this planet that needs us - whereas we need everything else. Even the mites that live off our dead skin cells would be able to find new hosts. Even the tape worms! Our pets would certainly have no problems surviving without us, and in fact the entire world would breathe a sigh of relief.
The thing is, not only are we hell-bent on destroying the planet, but we're also hell-bent on destroying ourselves. It sounds melodramatic I know, but if we kill the planet, we kill ourselves. If we pollute the skies, we pollute ourselves. If we clear all the trees, there'll be no more fresh water, and nothing left to drink. If we remove the salt from salt water with desalination plants, we will unbalance the ecosystem with the poisonous by-products to the point where we will kill everything in the ocean. Which we're already doing a pretty damn good job of anyway.
And for what? For money. For ownership. For impressive stock options. For the moment - because it's not sustainable.
Reading Blue Covenant, I didn't read anything that changed the way I think or the way I cringe when I see people waste water in public bathrooms. I read it because I was interested in what was happening on a global scale, to get a behind-the-scenes understanding of the shit that we're in. Because it all comes down to water. It truly is the stuff of life, and there really isn't that much left of it.
Barlow is a highly-regarded activist and writer, and founder of the Blue Planet Project. This book, a follow-up to her previous book on the plight of the world's water, Blue Gold , was published in 2007 and so in some ways is out-of-date already. A lot can happen in a year, let alone three. But a lot of it is still highly relevant, as well as giving great background on the last couple of decades. There are, naturally, two sides: the side that wants to own water and make as much quick cash off it as possible; and the side that wants to protect what's left, and make it a human right - and a government responsibility to deliver it.
The first chapter and the last chapter, which is on Canada's particular predicament, are the scariest. Like, terrifying. The middle chapters are more about the politics involved on a world scale, the global players on either side, and the progress made by both sides. Barlow paints an oft-times bleak picture, but not one entirely without hope. Reading about Canada, though, was all new to me - I've been living here for nearly five years, and it is a common myth that Canada has lots of fresh water and will do alright during the peak of climate change. Barlow tackles head-on this myth and several others, including the myth that we have laws in Canada that protect the water here. The truth is, there are no laws, and water is on the table as a good. The federal government, thanks to NAFTA, has its hands tide - it's only the provinces that are standing in the way between public water and corporate water, and there have been some close shaves already.
The way Barlow explains it (and I can't hope to summarise it very well, but I'll try), is that if any one province grants any one company the license to sell water from any Canadian river, lake, etc., then there's absolutely nothing to stop America - and several other countries eyeing the water here - from buying it all up. They see all the lakes and think, "Look at all this water, just sitting there, going to waste! While we have people in dire need of water in all those cities we built in the desert!" No body of water that is "just sitting there" is wasted water. The land needs it. The plants and animals and microscopic organisms need it. The weather system needs it. The f***ing PLANET needs it! But a whole host of companies - and countries - waits, salivating, eager for the first slip-up when Canada's water becomes a tradable good forever.
And Canada is just one country of many with similar problems. Either they don't have enough water because they screwed up the water table so bad, or they have "too much" and are having to fend off the would-be-looters with pitchforks. No country has it right, no country is NOT facing severe water shortages - including Canada. We are all in the pooh. And we are all so stupid. Companies like Nestlé and Coka Cola are laughing so hard, watching us buy our own tap water at inflated prices, in cheap plastic bottles that leach toxins into the water they contain (which, though it hasn't been proven yet, no doubt leads to the proliferation of cancer cells - that and the pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, chemical dishwashing detergent and so on. Seriously, there's a reason for the dramatic spike in cancer since the advent of commercial farming and plastic containers).
It's a complicated issue, for sure, which is why there are books like this on it. It's a short book, but not an easy read for the simple fact that it's either gut-churning or a bit dull - that's those middle chapters, which read like a backgrounder. Useful, yes, and helpful, but it'd be hard to make it interesting reading. The first and last chapters, the ones I said were the scariest, aren't written in a ranting style or an angry one - Barlow writes in a way that shows deep commitment, sound judgement, expert knowledge in the area, and calm charisma. Her passion is evident but she is not impassioned. She also writes on politics, especially that between Canada and the U.S., and the depth of her understanding and knowledge definitely impresses me. I know not many people will read this book, or many like it. It's not a comfortable read by any means. But water should never have been considered a tradable good - what next, air?
If you don't want to read this kind of non-fiction, you don't have to. There are other media forms for learning about current issues that we should be taking seriously - for example, James Bond movies. Don't laugh - have you never noticed that the films always take on a major issue of the day? The last one, Quantum of Solace, was all about a consortium of rich bastards, making a deal to buy the water hidden under Bolivia, while the people die of thirst. The issue hasn't gone away, and while we assume our duly elected governments are watching out for us, they're quietly allowing companies to buy and sell our own water to us.
Blue Covenant presents a broad, global picture of the current water crisis, and considering the elements at play in the tug-of-war over water, there's really only one thing you can do to contribute: speak up. No little change of a lightbulb is going to make a difference here - Barlow is no sensationalist, and that's not going to make this book popular either - it's too dry and factual. It comes down to the will of the people speaking up to their elected representatives (we tend to forget what "democracy" actually means), and forcing them to make a stand, to take action, to draft legislation, to regulate industry.
And we have to change the way we think and approach water: we have to stop thinking of it as a renewable resource. And we really need to stop shitting in our - and the planet's - drinking water. Literally.
Growing up in little ol' Tassie, the state that the rest of Australia considers to be cold and wet (but isn't really), during the 80s, the big things I was always hearing about were drought, greenhouse gases and the hole in the ozone layer. I always figured, since I absorbed these pressing concerns as a child, that everyone was concerned about them. Not so. I also grew up on a farm in the country, with a giant rain water tank. That water was a precious resource, not to be wasted, was a fact of life. And maybe it's thanks to my parents, but - like the Aborigines - I've always considered humans to be caretakers of the land, not owners and exploiters of it. Again, I grew up to learn that I was in the minority.
The truth is, I honestly believe that human beings are just one organism among billions, not actually that important to Life (in fact, can be seen to be its enemy), but that with our state of consciousness, we actually owe the planet more - not it owes us. I find it a typically arrogant human trait to think that we are the most important species on the planet, that the planet is our due and we can do what we like with it, and that when it all turns to shit, it'll be okay because by then our scientists will have figured out either a) a way to fix things or b) a new planet to live on (and, in turn, exploit).
To say that this bothers me would be the biggest under-statement of my personality. The truth is, there isn't a single living thing on this planet that needs us - whereas we need everything else. Even the mites that live off our dead skin cells would be able to find new hosts. Even the tape worms! Our pets would certainly have no problems surviving without us, and in fact the entire world would breathe a sigh of relief.
The thing is, not only are we hell-bent on destroying the planet, but we're also hell-bent on destroying ourselves. It sounds melodramatic I know, but if we kill the planet, we kill ourselves. If we pollute the skies, we pollute ourselves. If we clear all the trees, there'll be no more fresh water, and nothing left to drink. If we remove the salt from salt water with desalination plants, we will unbalance the ecosystem with the poisonous by-products to the point where we will kill everything in the ocean. Which we're already doing a pretty damn good job of anyway.
And for what? For money. For ownership. For impressive stock options. For the moment - because it's not sustainable.
Reading Blue Covenant, I didn't read anything that changed the way I think or the way I cringe when I see people waste water in public bathrooms. I read it because I was interested in what was happening on a global scale, to get a behind-the-scenes understanding of the shit that we're in. Because it all comes down to water. It truly is the stuff of life, and there really isn't that much left of it.
Barlow is a highly-regarded activist and writer, and founder of the Blue Planet Project. This book, a follow-up to her previous book on the plight of the world's water, Blue Gold , was published in 2007 and so in some ways is out-of-date already. A lot can happen in a year, let alone three. But a lot of it is still highly relevant, as well as giving great background on the last couple of decades. There are, naturally, two sides: the side that wants to own water and make as much quick cash off it as possible; and the side that wants to protect what's left, and make it a human right - and a government responsibility to deliver it.
The first chapter and the last chapter, which is on Canada's particular predicament, are the scariest. Like, terrifying. The middle chapters are more about the politics involved on a world scale, the global players on either side, and the progress made by both sides. Barlow paints an oft-times bleak picture, but not one entirely without hope. Reading about Canada, though, was all new to me - I've been living here for nearly five years, and it is a common myth that Canada has lots of fresh water and will do alright during the peak of climate change. Barlow tackles head-on this myth and several others, including the myth that we have laws in Canada that protect the water here. The truth is, there are no laws, and water is on the table as a good. The federal government, thanks to NAFTA, has its hands tide - it's only the provinces that are standing in the way between public water and corporate water, and there have been some close shaves already.
The way Barlow explains it (and I can't hope to summarise it very well, but I'll try), is that if any one province grants any one company the license to sell water from any Canadian river, lake, etc., then there's absolutely nothing to stop America - and several other countries eyeing the water here - from buying it all up. They see all the lakes and think, "Look at all this water, just sitting there, going to waste! While we have people in dire need of water in all those cities we built in the desert!" No body of water that is "just sitting there" is wasted water. The land needs it. The plants and animals and microscopic organisms need it. The weather system needs it. The f***ing PLANET needs it! But a whole host of companies - and countries - waits, salivating, eager for the first slip-up when Canada's water becomes a tradable good forever.
And Canada is just one country of many with similar problems. Either they don't have enough water because they screwed up the water table so bad, or they have "too much" and are having to fend off the would-be-looters with pitchforks. No country has it right, no country is NOT facing severe water shortages - including Canada. We are all in the pooh. And we are all so stupid. Companies like Nestlé and Coka Cola are laughing so hard, watching us buy our own tap water at inflated prices, in cheap plastic bottles that leach toxins into the water they contain (which, though it hasn't been proven yet, no doubt leads to the proliferation of cancer cells - that and the pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, chemical dishwashing detergent and so on. Seriously, there's a reason for the dramatic spike in cancer since the advent of commercial farming and plastic containers).
It's a complicated issue, for sure, which is why there are books like this on it. It's a short book, but not an easy read for the simple fact that it's either gut-churning or a bit dull - that's those middle chapters, which read like a backgrounder. Useful, yes, and helpful, but it'd be hard to make it interesting reading. The first and last chapters, the ones I said were the scariest, aren't written in a ranting style or an angry one - Barlow writes in a way that shows deep commitment, sound judgement, expert knowledge in the area, and calm charisma. Her passion is evident but she is not impassioned. She also writes on politics, especially that between Canada and the U.S., and the depth of her understanding and knowledge definitely impresses me. I know not many people will read this book, or many like it. It's not a comfortable read by any means. But water should never have been considered a tradable good - what next, air?
If you don't want to read this kind of non-fiction, you don't have to. There are other media forms for learning about current issues that we should be taking seriously - for example, James Bond movies. Don't laugh - have you never noticed that the films always take on a major issue of the day? The last one, Quantum of Solace, was all about a consortium of rich bastards, making a deal to buy the water hidden under Bolivia, while the people die of thirst. The issue hasn't gone away, and while we assume our duly elected governments are watching out for us, they're quietly allowing companies to buy and sell our own water to us.
Blue Covenant presents a broad, global picture of the current water crisis, and considering the elements at play in the tug-of-war over water, there's really only one thing you can do to contribute: speak up. No little change of a lightbulb is going to make a difference here - Barlow is no sensationalist, and that's not going to make this book popular either - it's too dry and factual. It comes down to the will of the people speaking up to their elected representatives (we tend to forget what "democracy" actually means), and forcing them to make a stand, to take action, to draft legislation, to regulate industry.
And we have to change the way we think and approach water: we have to stop thinking of it as a renewable resource. And we really need to stop shitting in our - and the planet's - drinking water. Literally.
March 13, 2013
I found this book to be quite hyperbolic and uneven. I actually agree with Ms. Barlow - and work in water in the public sector. But, she does not provide a well balanced analysis - she talks about places where private water systems failed, but never mentions where public systems have similarly failed, or any places where private water has worked - too much cherry-picking. I respect her advocacy, but this is really just another book, similar to her other ones, geared to whipping up opposition - it is not a book that gives a good analysis of the complex reality of the situation.
May 24, 2016
A well researched book on an essential subject. We cannot live without water and while climate change gets its day in the court of public opinion / concern, water is rarely discussed.
The intro to the final chapter gives a great summation of the issues we face with water.
"The three water crises - dwindling freshwater supplies, inequitable access to water and the corporate control of water - pose the greatest threat of our time to the planet and to our survival. Together with impending climate change from fossil fuel emissions, the water crises impose some life-or-death decisions on us all. Unless we collectively change our behavior, we are heading toward a world of deepening conflict and potential wars over the dwindling supplies of freshwater - between nations, between rich and poor, between the public and private interest, between rural and urban populations, and between the competing needs of the natural world and industrialized humans." - p. 142
If you read nothing else of this book other than this paragraph you will understand how grave this situation is.
The intro to the final chapter gives a great summation of the issues we face with water.
"The three water crises - dwindling freshwater supplies, inequitable access to water and the corporate control of water - pose the greatest threat of our time to the planet and to our survival. Together with impending climate change from fossil fuel emissions, the water crises impose some life-or-death decisions on us all. Unless we collectively change our behavior, we are heading toward a world of deepening conflict and potential wars over the dwindling supplies of freshwater - between nations, between rich and poor, between the public and private interest, between rural and urban populations, and between the competing needs of the natural world and industrialized humans." - p. 142
If you read nothing else of this book other than this paragraph you will understand how grave this situation is.
June 24, 2017
Reading challenge 2015 #nonfiction-book 2/50
Water is a human right. Don't buy bottled water.
Water is a human right. Don't buy bottled water.
January 11, 2022
The book is quite informative for readers willing to get educated on matters of water governance. I am fairly new to the fight and found the book interesting enough to read. However, have I been more educated on the matter, I'd probably have stopped midway for reasons that I will mention in the next few paragraphs.
I do appreciate the effort Barlow put into making sure that the book is readable by literally anyone, not just experts on the matter. Many technical terms and yet I never felt the need to put down the book and look for definitions to understand the context of the argument (terms like virtual water and whatnot...) so thank you for that!
That said, today is the 11th of Jan 2022 and I am reading a book published in 2008. I can say that some of the predictions (a lot were not cited...) don't hold their own weight and cruelly miss the mark but that's alright estimation errors higher the further you project in time I suppose.
The ideas are also condensed, some series of information don't feel very cohesive, sometimes hard to navigate, and ultimately confusing at times. Too much information, not enough discussion on some extremely important ideas (a pity but again I'm ok with this because this is all new to me and I'm still learning anyway).
The main problem that is still rubbing me up the wrong way however is the lack of any sort of nuance or antithesis that might have strengthened the argument. This book feels like reading a bunch of overzealous arguments stretched over 200 pages (perhaps I'm exaggerating because I thoroughly enjoyed the book but this point really upsets me). Educational? VERY! Biased? ALSO VERY, and you lose a lot of readers there. I say this as I'm taking a sip from my bottle of water not because I like to throw money from the windows but because public water management in my country like many others is plagued with mismanagement and incompetence. I only read praise for public water management, not a single critique which sounds like a lie by omission.
One thing's for sure, I never thought that I could dread capitalism more than I already do.
I do appreciate the effort Barlow put into making sure that the book is readable by literally anyone, not just experts on the matter. Many technical terms and yet I never felt the need to put down the book and look for definitions to understand the context of the argument (terms like virtual water and whatnot...) so thank you for that!
That said, today is the 11th of Jan 2022 and I am reading a book published in 2008. I can say that some of the predictions (a lot were not cited...) don't hold their own weight and cruelly miss the mark but that's alright estimation errors higher the further you project in time I suppose.
The ideas are also condensed, some series of information don't feel very cohesive, sometimes hard to navigate, and ultimately confusing at times. Too much information, not enough discussion on some extremely important ideas (a pity but again I'm ok with this because this is all new to me and I'm still learning anyway).
The main problem that is still rubbing me up the wrong way however is the lack of any sort of nuance or antithesis that might have strengthened the argument. This book feels like reading a bunch of overzealous arguments stretched over 200 pages (perhaps I'm exaggerating because I thoroughly enjoyed the book but this point really upsets me). Educational? VERY! Biased? ALSO VERY, and you lose a lot of readers there. I say this as I'm taking a sip from my bottle of water not because I like to throw money from the windows but because public water management in my country like many others is plagued with mismanagement and incompetence. I only read praise for public water management, not a single critique which sounds like a lie by omission.
One thing's for sure, I never thought that I could dread capitalism more than I already do.
August 20, 2018
I consider this book eye opening. From information on current reserves and policies tied to water use all the way to currently proposed solutions such as desalination. Barlow presents the argument clearly, pointing out real world examples and history. The book is as much tied to water as it is to governance around water - how water is a valuable commodity and how trade without oversight can lead us to a very undesirable outcome. Barlow argues that water should be a human right not available only to the rich, but how the current progress is not headed in that direction. Recommended.
December 20, 2020
200 sayfalık bir Facebook paylaşımı. Anlatım dili, atıf sistemi ve başlıklandırma sistemi profesyonellikten ve bilimsellikten yoksun. Sade bir dili var gibi anlaşılmasın; bu yoksunluklar dili de anlaşılmaz kılıyor. Örneğin “Güney Afrikalı kadınlar toplamda su için Ay’a gidip gelmeye denk bir uzaklığı her gün on kez yürüyorlar” diyerek hem okuru canlandırması zor bir matematiğe davet ediyor hem de ifadeyi bayağılaştırıyor. Temelinde haklı ve değerli olan eleştiriler ise bir mızmızlanma havası ile ukalâca dile getiriliyor. Belki konuya çok yabancı biri için etkileyici bir giriş kitabı olabilir ama biraz eğitimli biri, bu eserin neredeyse kurgu bir eser gibi yazılmasından muzdarip olacaktır. İçerdiği onlarca çeviri ve ifade/yazım hatası da cabası.
September 26, 2018
I 'read' the audiobook version and the reader was terrible. I had difficulty knowing which places she was referring to - 'naypel' 'youragay' and the 'wild beasts of nabiba' were some of the highlights. Regarding the book, it was extremely one sided. Access to water should be a fundamental right, but a company making a profit from bottled water is not inherently evil.
January 17, 2024
Have had a signed copy of this book for some time. Decided to read it because of the current situation with regards to what could happen this coming year considering the lack of snow and water in Alberta, Canada this fall.
June 25, 2018
Man... we are in so much trouble.
September 23, 2019
bleak.......absolutely do i trust our world leaders to do whats right for the planet and the people without worrying about $
November 26, 2021
Terrifyingly gloomy narrative of future of communities and how they are ruined by global companies and institutions.
February 26, 2023
Really important subject, great introduction.
July 13, 2011
Headline and lead from a recent news story:
Worst Drought in More Than a Century Threatens Texas Oil Boom
The worst Texas drought since record-keeping began 116 years ago may crimp an oil and natural- gas drilling boom as government officials ration water supplies crucial to energy exploration.
In the hardest-hit areas, water-management districts are warning residents and businesses to curtail usage from rivers, lakes and aquifers. The shortage is forcing oil companies to go farther afield to buy water from farmers, irrigation districts and municipalities…
This story provides an interesting context for Maude Barlow’s book. The story centers around the requisite use of large amounts of water for ‘fracking’ (hydrofracturing) to recover natural gas from shale formations. The necessity of water for direct human use is a side story.
So water is crucial for a variety of industrial processes. But every human requires fresh water, in one form or another, essentially every day of our lives. Many other animals and a lot of plants have the same requirements.
But fresh water systems around the world are being degraded by chemical pollution (agricultural, industrial, and other). They are also being depleted by loss of natural watersheds, and by melting glaciers, droughts and/or toxic floods. We compensate by increasing our dependence on underground reserves (aquifers). But in many cases, these are being drained much faster than they can be replenished.
These are the inconvenient truths of water. Every human has to have it, but there are more humans on the planet every day and less drinkable water. Maude Barlow makes a compelling case that all of this amounts to a slow-motion train wreck of major proportions. She also argues that technological ‘solutions’ such as desalination plants and (eventually) nanotechnology will probably do more harm than good.
So what to do? Here as elsewhere, companies step in to privatize water resources and sell it at a profit to those who can pay. Those who can’t pay must make do with what is left, both for drinking and for wastewater treatment. One result, among many, is frequent death from waterborne diseases such as cholera.
Barlow’s presentation of this dilemma is compelling and scary. With that said, I struggled with her core argument for a ‘blue covenant’ - a universal and binding declaration that water is a human right.
I have no problem with the declaration - I like the idea that anything clearly necessary for human existence should be regarded as a right. My problem is that I don’t see an effective mechanism for enforcement, and for me this wasn’t very well defined in the book. Vigilant grassroots organization can be a very effective tool, but money speaks in a loud and tireless voice. The latter is a dominant principle – and constraint – in our mercantile culture and the current global economy. As a minor point, I was also bogged down by the detailed history of grassroots efforts around the world. Good for acknowledging the progress that has been made and those who have made it, but for me it diluted the message.
To me, the missing ingredient – and a central challenge for our times - is an economic model that makes the sustainable path work by the numbers. Accounting for the ‘total real cost’ of depleting natural resources is an obvious potential approach. Efforts to implement this concept are at early stages, and it will not be easy to clearly define the monetary values or to bring such a system online. There is also a big issue with enforcement of this mechanism. But payment for a market-based asset seems to me more practicable than enforcement of a ‘new’ human right. Routine violations of recognized human rights, in many parts of the world, speak tragically to this issue.
In the meantime, the blue covenant is a powerful idea. If it gains enough momentum, it could be the way forward. But I see it as a very difficult goal in a short-term, profit-dominated world. Making money talk in a more sensible, real-world language – call it the ‘blue contract’, the ‘blue manifesto’ or simply the public interest - may become the winning approach as the train careens down the track.
Worst Drought in More Than a Century Threatens Texas Oil Boom
The worst Texas drought since record-keeping began 116 years ago may crimp an oil and natural- gas drilling boom as government officials ration water supplies crucial to energy exploration.
In the hardest-hit areas, water-management districts are warning residents and businesses to curtail usage from rivers, lakes and aquifers. The shortage is forcing oil companies to go farther afield to buy water from farmers, irrigation districts and municipalities…
This story provides an interesting context for Maude Barlow’s book. The story centers around the requisite use of large amounts of water for ‘fracking’ (hydrofracturing) to recover natural gas from shale formations. The necessity of water for direct human use is a side story.
So water is crucial for a variety of industrial processes. But every human requires fresh water, in one form or another, essentially every day of our lives. Many other animals and a lot of plants have the same requirements.
But fresh water systems around the world are being degraded by chemical pollution (agricultural, industrial, and other). They are also being depleted by loss of natural watersheds, and by melting glaciers, droughts and/or toxic floods. We compensate by increasing our dependence on underground reserves (aquifers). But in many cases, these are being drained much faster than they can be replenished.
These are the inconvenient truths of water. Every human has to have it, but there are more humans on the planet every day and less drinkable water. Maude Barlow makes a compelling case that all of this amounts to a slow-motion train wreck of major proportions. She also argues that technological ‘solutions’ such as desalination plants and (eventually) nanotechnology will probably do more harm than good.
So what to do? Here as elsewhere, companies step in to privatize water resources and sell it at a profit to those who can pay. Those who can’t pay must make do with what is left, both for drinking and for wastewater treatment. One result, among many, is frequent death from waterborne diseases such as cholera.
Barlow’s presentation of this dilemma is compelling and scary. With that said, I struggled with her core argument for a ‘blue covenant’ - a universal and binding declaration that water is a human right.
I have no problem with the declaration - I like the idea that anything clearly necessary for human existence should be regarded as a right. My problem is that I don’t see an effective mechanism for enforcement, and for me this wasn’t very well defined in the book. Vigilant grassroots organization can be a very effective tool, but money speaks in a loud and tireless voice. The latter is a dominant principle – and constraint – in our mercantile culture and the current global economy. As a minor point, I was also bogged down by the detailed history of grassroots efforts around the world. Good for acknowledging the progress that has been made and those who have made it, but for me it diluted the message.
To me, the missing ingredient – and a central challenge for our times - is an economic model that makes the sustainable path work by the numbers. Accounting for the ‘total real cost’ of depleting natural resources is an obvious potential approach. Efforts to implement this concept are at early stages, and it will not be easy to clearly define the monetary values or to bring such a system online. There is also a big issue with enforcement of this mechanism. But payment for a market-based asset seems to me more practicable than enforcement of a ‘new’ human right. Routine violations of recognized human rights, in many parts of the world, speak tragically to this issue.
In the meantime, the blue covenant is a powerful idea. If it gains enough momentum, it could be the way forward. But I see it as a very difficult goal in a short-term, profit-dominated world. Making money talk in a more sensible, real-world language – call it the ‘blue contract’, the ‘blue manifesto’ or simply the public interest - may become the winning approach as the train careens down the track.
February 23, 2017
Imagine I try to convince you of an idea by first overwhelming you with dry data until you cry 'uncle' and admit I am credible. Imagine that I then hide my strong prejudices, yet use these as the backbone of my thesis. Imagine that I make a moral argument without giving you the opportunity to question morality's relevance. Well, if you read Blue Covenant, a clear insult to your intelligence, you won't have to imagine any of it. The author will scream that you are an imbecile to your face. There is so much false logic in this book that it's impossible to pick a place where to start. It seems as if the plentiful nature of these bad structural components has more to do with a clear sense of insecurity by the author; an insecurity that makes the author try to bully the reader. So I am upset to have wasted my time on such a poorly executed argument. As someone who is very aware of the challenge associated with the availability of fresh water at any one moment in time, I was hopeful to learn something from this book. But the author seems to completely misunderstand the issues herself. Her approach is clearly biased and myopic; something common among want-to-be problem solvers who part-time their efforts. I hated the book and felt intellectually violated by it.
March 5, 2016
Water shortage and usage is continuing to become a growing concern for federal governments. Maude Barlow portrays the future of water in her nonfiction novel, Blue Covenant. Barlow goes in depth about the government's methods on the water crisis and the privatization of water in the world. She laces the novel with abundant information in every paragraph. The first few chapters have information relevant to teenagers, but as the book continues on, she transitions to describe the problems with water privatization. Her views are made clear by overemphasizing her points about the water privatization system; it only benefits the upper class and picks apart those who cannot pay for their water bill. She is clearly persuading her readers to take action towards access to water for all. From the beginning, the novel was engaging because I have never come across any of the information Barlow has obtained pertaining to water conservation.
Barlow’s engaging points in her novel describe how water privatization is reaping the benefits and destroying the global South's suffering economy. The World Bank does not care about conserving water for the future; money is their only objective. Large corporations have taken over the industry of creating water pipelines and bottling. The global North creates pipelines in the southern continents to suck their bodies of freshwater dry. Barlow gives credible scientific evidence to back up each of her claims with the shrinking water levels in almost every freshwater lake in the United States of America. In addition to water shortage, she describes water pollution as an equally dramatic problem. China and India specifically continue to dump waste in their rivers being supplied by the runoff from glaciers in the Himalayas. The more water that is produced, the more water that is polluted. The solutions governments have in place are not the answer to the concerns because desalination transfers more polluted water than it cleans, and the global North continues to waste precious water. Any of the global forums on water Barlow summarizes could be used to relate the actions the World Bank and governments perform now in order to try and change the system. Our government is hiding the true urgency of the future of water on Earth. Maude Barlow tries to express her concern in Blue Covenant towards creating public water equality for the future.
August 29, 2016
A far more focused book than Blue Gold, Barlow dissects how corporations have made water their next goal. Barlow begins by breaking down how severe our current water problems are and where we are headed, before launching into an analysis of how corporations have convinced the world that they are our saviors when it comes to providing water to the masses who do not have access.
While Barlow does not get into too much detail about how corporate entities (empowered by local, regional and national governments) have failed in providing water, she widens the scope highlighting how much damage has been done by making water a tradeable commodity. From consistent water price rises, to increasingly larger land grabs, to the willful ignorance of everyone involved, Barlow paints a grim picture. It seems that everywhere you look, problems are just waiting to be compounded.
Barlow offers one solution, take the power back, and force water to be recognized as a human right, not a human need. While she details the resistance movements building at the time, there is not much in the way of major systemic solutions beyond popular resistance. While I don't think she fails to make her case, she doesn't get into the kind of detail that would help readers galvanized by the issue spring into action. She lists groups she's worked with and others that are in motion, but doesn't give a clear idea of what the reader can do, besides seek out local groups.
In the end, the future of water is an incredibly complicated issue, and Barlow manages to put a laser like focus on making sure corporate control of water resources plays as little a part in this future as possible.
While Barlow does not get into too much detail about how corporate entities (empowered by local, regional and national governments) have failed in providing water, she widens the scope highlighting how much damage has been done by making water a tradeable commodity. From consistent water price rises, to increasingly larger land grabs, to the willful ignorance of everyone involved, Barlow paints a grim picture. It seems that everywhere you look, problems are just waiting to be compounded.
Barlow offers one solution, take the power back, and force water to be recognized as a human right, not a human need. While she details the resistance movements building at the time, there is not much in the way of major systemic solutions beyond popular resistance. While I don't think she fails to make her case, she doesn't get into the kind of detail that would help readers galvanized by the issue spring into action. She lists groups she's worked with and others that are in motion, but doesn't give a clear idea of what the reader can do, besides seek out local groups.
In the end, the future of water is an incredibly complicated issue, and Barlow manages to put a laser like focus on making sure corporate control of water resources plays as little a part in this future as possible.
April 11, 2011
In a nutshell:
" The three water crises -- dwindling freshwater supplies, inequitable access to water and the corporate control of water -- pose the greatest threat of our time to the planet and to our survival. Together with the impending climate change from fossil fuel emissions, the water crises impose some life-or-death decisions on us all. Unless we collectively change our behavior, we are heading toward a world of deepening conflict and potential wars over the dwindling supplies of freshwater -- between nations, between rich and poor, between the public and the private interest, between rural and urban populations, and between the competing needs of the natural world and industrialized humans."
We need to think of water as a basic human right, and make sure governments protect and defend this right for their people globally. It is wrong for corporations to see water as a commodity to benefit their bottom line. A water company cannot conserve and protect water and stay competitive. For the growth they require, they rely on scarcity of clean water worldwide. This is true whether they are bottling it for sale, or controlling it for farming, mining, energy production, high tech manufacturing, building dams or pipelines, purifying it or treating waste water.
Let's be mindful of this issue, and do what we can to conserve and protect water, and enable our governments to do so, too.
" The three water crises -- dwindling freshwater supplies, inequitable access to water and the corporate control of water -- pose the greatest threat of our time to the planet and to our survival. Together with the impending climate change from fossil fuel emissions, the water crises impose some life-or-death decisions on us all. Unless we collectively change our behavior, we are heading toward a world of deepening conflict and potential wars over the dwindling supplies of freshwater -- between nations, between rich and poor, between the public and the private interest, between rural and urban populations, and between the competing needs of the natural world and industrialized humans."
We need to think of water as a basic human right, and make sure governments protect and defend this right for their people globally. It is wrong for corporations to see water as a commodity to benefit their bottom line. A water company cannot conserve and protect water and stay competitive. For the growth they require, they rely on scarcity of clean water worldwide. This is true whether they are bottling it for sale, or controlling it for farming, mining, energy production, high tech manufacturing, building dams or pipelines, purifying it or treating waste water.
Let's be mindful of this issue, and do what we can to conserve and protect water, and enable our governments to do so, too.
September 5, 2010
There was a lot of information in this book if you have a grasp of the Organizations, groups and Government agencies mentioned (and there are quite a few, its almost as if she's name dropping) sadly there is too few mentions of concrete things to do to end the cycle we seem to be stuck in. I guess this book may have been written for those that didn't know politicians make policies then go to work in the self same industries they had been charged to regulate. And that we spend crazy amount on bottled water, just so we can throw the plastic bottles in the land fill never to decompose. And know the big market target is our children, let's sell them plastic bottles of water shaped like rockets and pandas because it shows them we love them.
oops sorry for the rant. THE WTO,IMF MUST END WE NEED A GLOBAL WATER POLICY.
9/3/2010 I knew it bad but if this book is anywhere near valid we are in some serious trouble.
I will do some skeptical research into this one to make sure, but I know from 1st hand knowledge 20% or so of what I read so far is true.
oops sorry for the rant. THE WTO,IMF MUST END WE NEED A GLOBAL WATER POLICY.
9/3/2010 I knew it bad but if this book is anywhere near valid we are in some serious trouble.
I will do some skeptical research into this one to make sure, but I know from 1st hand knowledge 20% or so of what I read so far is true.
November 15, 2012
A tremendous warning is the one Maude Marlow makes with this wonderful book... fascinating in essence, it lets us know why we must head towards a different kind of "growth"... simple: we are finishing even water supplies! the degree of detail she describes cannot be interpreted other than a last warning... either we rationalize our economies (world, national and even individual) or we are condemned to a next war: for water!
Referring to water, Ms. Barlow says: "...those areas of life thought to be common heritage of humanity for the benefit of the many, now coming under corporate control for the benefit of the few (rich)" is a phrase that resonates in my head as I drink water from my purchased bottle of water and wake up to conscience of this once simple act and its implications...
Worth reading document, rich (to say the least) in data, research material, etc.
¡Bravo Ms. Barlow!
Referring to water, Ms. Barlow says: "...those areas of life thought to be common heritage of humanity for the benefit of the many, now coming under corporate control for the benefit of the few (rich)" is a phrase that resonates in my head as I drink water from my purchased bottle of water and wake up to conscience of this once simple act and its implications...
Worth reading document, rich (to say the least) in data, research material, etc.
¡Bravo Ms. Barlow!
October 4, 2015
Kirjan nimi on veden varassa ja sen on kirjoittanut kanadalainen Maude Barlow.
Kirja kertoo maailman nykyisestä vesitilanteesta ja mahdollisesta veden tulevaisuudesta.
Itsekin olen erittäin huolestunut asiasta mutta en ole varma mitä minun pitäisi tehdä asialle. Tuntuu vain siltä että joudun katsomaan vierestä kun vedestä käydään poliittista sotaa, vesiyhtiöt tuottavat hirveästi rahaa ja pahentavat tilannetta, vesistöt saastuvat ja puhdas makea vesi loppuu kokonaan planeetaltamme. Kirja kertoo hyvin paljon esimerkkejä vesikriiseihin liittyvistä asioista joka saa minut huolestumaan enemmän koko asiasta. Tässä on pieni esimerkki kirjasta:"Uuden vuosituhannen ensimmäisenä seitsemänä vounna on julkaistu enemmän raportteja, tutkimuksia ja kirjoja maailmanlaajuisesta vesikriisistä kuin edeltävänä vuosisatana."
Maailman vesi tilanne ei ole mikään hyvä, sitä voi aina parantaa kunhan pyrimme muuttamaan tapamme veden käytössä. Vettä ei voi omistaa vaan sse kuuluu kaikille.
Kirja kertoo maailman nykyisestä vesitilanteesta ja mahdollisesta veden tulevaisuudesta.
Itsekin olen erittäin huolestunut asiasta mutta en ole varma mitä minun pitäisi tehdä asialle. Tuntuu vain siltä että joudun katsomaan vierestä kun vedestä käydään poliittista sotaa, vesiyhtiöt tuottavat hirveästi rahaa ja pahentavat tilannetta, vesistöt saastuvat ja puhdas makea vesi loppuu kokonaan planeetaltamme. Kirja kertoo hyvin paljon esimerkkejä vesikriiseihin liittyvistä asioista joka saa minut huolestumaan enemmän koko asiasta. Tässä on pieni esimerkki kirjasta:"Uuden vuosituhannen ensimmäisenä seitsemänä vounna on julkaistu enemmän raportteja, tutkimuksia ja kirjoja maailmanlaajuisesta vesikriisistä kuin edeltävänä vuosisatana."
Maailman vesi tilanne ei ole mikään hyvä, sitä voi aina parantaa kunhan pyrimme muuttamaan tapamme veden käytössä. Vettä ei voi omistaa vaan sse kuuluu kaikille.
January 4, 2013
Incredibly interesting book. I met Maude at an event last week and picked up her book. I intend to also pick up her previous work, Blue and Gold. This is a startling look at an issue that has been knocking at our door but we have not bothered to acknowledge. When you examine many of the worlds conflicts through the prism of water and access to water may pieces fall into place. This book will make you think twice about your water consumption and the type of world you want in the future.
December 16, 2009
Polemic discourse against private water companies. Her analysis is thin and lacked any evidence that her proposed model (which only comes in the last 10 pages of the book) would work any better than the model promoted by the World Bank (whose failures are thoroughly addressed). She applauds Uruguay's new water system but gives no numbers to indicate that it is actually working. Perhaps her Blue Gold book presents a stronger argument...
June 29, 2015
So fresh water is becoming scarce due to the prevalence of industrial agriculture, the increasing population, and poor water management (e.g. deep drilling for ground water, big dams funded by the world bank, etc.) Meanwhile water has come under the control of international conglomerates whose profit margins will increase as the crisis worsens. If you're at all interested in this topic, skip the book and go right to a film called FLOW (For Love of Water). Great movie.
May 24, 2013
Although the topic is interesting and increasingly relevant, the entire book is mostly a list of facts barely assembled into paragraphs and chapters. Barlow seems to be trying to draw the reader into joining the cause, but fails to do so through his lack of narrative, which is ultimately disappointing as the story would seem to be rather compelling for anyone hoping to be able to get a drinkable glass of water from their kitchen tap 20 years from now.
October 23, 2008
interesting book so far. definitely depressing. as a resident of california the water crisis is always a topic of discission. i agree with barlows assertion that water should be considered a human right and appreciate her coverage of how water is slowly...i mean quickly becoming privatized. scared to finish the book because i will need to address the question, what should i do?!
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May 8, 2008Maude Barlow made the transition from housewife to feminist activist in the 1970s, eventually advising former prime minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau on women's issues. In the 1980s, she shifted her attention to the long battle against Canada's free trade agreements.
read more ...
http://thetyee.ca/Books/2007/10/29/Ba...
read more ...
http://thetyee.ca/Books/2007/10/29/Ba...
January 19, 2009
Barlow explains the hydrologic cycle, water systems presently in use today, as well as the role private water companies are playing across the world today. She warns about preserving wetlands and forests, costs of desalination. She points out that private companies cannot foster needed conservation.
March 11, 2015
Another one where I just found things lacking. I've read so much about the water movement that it takes something new and unique to reach me so this is sort of unfair but I think Blue Gold was a lot better. This one just seemed like a summary of her other books or other water rights books in general.
September 17, 2014
Ok... here's the sobering quote from this book:
"It is evident that the world is moving toward a corporate-controlled freshwater cartel, with private companies, backed by governments and global institutions, making fundamental decisions about who has access to water and under what conditions."
"It is evident that the world is moving toward a corporate-controlled freshwater cartel, with private companies, backed by governments and global institutions, making fundamental decisions about who has access to water and under what conditions."
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