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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>PUBLIC
CITIZEN PRESS RELEASE<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>For Immediate
Release:
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>(415) 596-9772 <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Oct. 31,
2005
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>“Water
Market” Concept Betrays Public Interest, New Report Shows<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Commodifying
Water is Detrimental to Consumers, <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>’s
Environment and Economy<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>OAKLAND,
Calif. * Creating water markets in California, a system that would allow for
open sales of water and water rights and enable water distribution to be run by
the highest bidder, would irreversibly harm consumers and the state’s
agricultural system, said Public Citizen today in a new report. The consumer
group called on Gov. <st1:City w:st="on">Arnold</st1:City> Schwarzenegger and
the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">California</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">State</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> Legislature to re-prioritize the
state’s interest in protecting water as a public trust. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>When
water is treated as a commodity rather than a public good, conflict arises
between poorer rural areas and wealthy urban neighborhoods, Public Citizen has
found. Public Citizen’s report, Water for People and Place:<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Moving
Beyond Markets in California Water Policy, shows that the largest buyers of
water in the state are Southern California water agencies and private
development corporations, predominantly located in <st1:place w:st="on">Southern
California</st1:place>. The purchased water comes from the vast agricultural
lands in the Central Valley and the <st1:place w:st="on">Imperial Valley</st1:place>,
which depend upon imported water supplies. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>While
these valleys house the wealthiest agricultural region in the <st1:country-region
w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region>, they are also home to the poorest
populations in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>,
and the rural communities*cut off from the agricultural canals and
aqueducts*have the highest number of drinking water quality violations.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>In <st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State>, it is likely that the rural areas in the
north and the dry agricultural valleys will be further neglected as water
increasingly goes to nourish <st1:place w:st="on">Southern California</st1:place>
property values and subdivisions built by developers who can pay more for water
than farmers.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>“Water
is not the same as sneaker designs, Hollywood movies or pizza crust; there are
no consumer choices,” said John Gibler, author of the report and a <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place> researcher
for Public Citizen. “Everyone needs water to drink and bathe. Everyone
develops thirst equally. In a water market, those with access to the most
capital can decide, by the power of their checkbooks, whose thirst is most
valuable.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on"><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>California</span></font></b></st1:State></st1:place><b><span
style='font-weight:bold'> houses one of the largest and most complex water
infrastructures in the world. Taxpayers and ratepayers across the state and
country paid to build the many dams, canals, pumping stations and hydroelectric
power stations that make up this system. The movement of water in the state,
from the rainy and less populated north, to the dry agricultural valleys in the
middle and the highly populated cities of the south, depends entirely upon the
publicly funded water projects. With hundreds of dams and thousands of miles of
aqueducts and canals, agribusinesses and <st1:place w:st="on">Southern
California</st1:place> cities have bloomed beyond imagination, while rural,
farm-working communities have stagnated, left to pull water from aquifers that
have been depleted and contaminated by industrial agriculture.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'> Water
has long been a controversial issue in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>
as its population continues to grow and its urban areas explode with growth
without any consideration of water usage or needs, threatening the viability of
agriculture as well as the rural communities that provide the industry’s
labor force. Among the biggest proponents of the notion of water marketing are
corporations involved in urban housing development.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>The <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place> constitution
declares that the public owns the water. Over time, however, changes to state
and federal laws have made it possible for people and businesses with water
rights to sell those rights on a temporary, long-term or permanent basis.
In 1982, the legislature directed <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place>
’s Department of Water Resources, the State Board, and “all other
appropriate state agencies to encourage voluntary transfers of water and water
rights.” And in 1992, Congress passed the <st1:place w:st="on">Central
Valley</st1:place> Project Improvement Act (CVPIA), allowing contractors with
the federal water project to sell water to cities or developers outside the
project. No such sales of federal project water have yet taken place, although
the CVPIA is credited with spurring a recent increase in state water sales and
trading.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'> The
two largest proposed urban development projects in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place>*Newhall Ranch and Tejon
Ranch’s Centennial*illustrate the longstanding inequities in land ownership
and water subsidies. Both projects are business ventures pursued by
corporations, focused on new urban development outside of any existing city.
Both projects lack a sufficient natural water supply to serve future residents.
And both projects plan to buy rights to drinking water for future residents
from <st1:place w:st="on">Central Valley</st1:place> agribusinesses or
descendents of old-time land and water magnates.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Public
Citizen calls on the governor and state legislature to reallocate water based
on need, not price. The report recommends banning all for-profit water sales
between private entities and establishing a statewide task force to study water
use in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place>
to identify urgent drinking water needs in rural parts of the state as well as
wasteful water practices.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>“Treating
water allocation*who gets water and how much*as a business disempowers
communities and environmental advocates by cutting them out of the
decision-making process,” said Gibler.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>To read
the report, go to<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a href="http://www.citizen.org/documents/Water-for-People_web.pdf">http://www.citizen.org/documents/Water-for-People_web.pdf</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><em><i><font size=3 color=gray
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker</span></font></i></em></st1:PersonName><em><i><font color=gray
face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'>, </span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends of <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Consultant, California Trout, Inc.</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>PO Box</span></font></i></em></st1:Street><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'> 2327</span></font></i></em></st1:address><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>Mill Valley</span></font></i></em></st1:City><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'>, <st1:State w:st="on">CA</st1:State>
<st1:PostalCode w:st="on">94942-2327</st1:PostalCode></span></font></i></em></st1:place><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810 ph</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 9562 fx</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><u><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net">bwl3@comcast.net</a></span></font></u></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'><a
href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org">bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</a><u>
</u></span></font><font color=gray><span style='color:gray'>(secondary)</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="http://www.fotr.org">http://www.fotr.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'><a href="http://caltrout.org">http://caltrout.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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