Friends of Rural New York

Community Water Rights Protection Workshop
Date: June 9-10, 2006
Location: Rural-Urban Center, 208 Broadway, Montour Falls
Why:  Learn how to protect our local water resources from corporate control

Alarmed that water resources in the Finger Lakes will be targeted by large corporate water companies for privatization of municipal water services and for mining bottled water, members of the Finger Lakes Progressive Coalition and the Finger Lakes Group of the Sierra Club have organized a Water Rights Protection Workshop to be held June 9-10, 2006, at the Rural-Urban Center in Montour Falls.  The workshop is designed for the general public to learn what can be done to prevent corporate control of water resources and services in the Finger Lakes.

“Here in the Finger Lakes we take for granted ample supplies of fresh water, but as fresh water becomes an increasingly valuable commodity, large corporations are setting their sights on the giant reservoirs of fresh water in our lakes and aquifers for distribution and profit,” said Rachel Treichler of Hammondsport, a member of the Sierra Club, and one of the organizers of the program.

“Members of the Finger Lakes Progressives are watching water privatization efforts in surrounding states; including Pennsylvania and N. H., with alarm,” Jack Ossont of Yates county, coordinator of the Progressive Coalition, remarked. “Folks in the Finger Lakes have always regarded water as a resource for the use of all and we have organized this workshop to help us keep it that way.”

The workshop will be led by two nationally-known activists on community water issues: Victoria Kaplan, national organizer of the Water for All Campaign with Food & Water Watch in Washington DC, and Ruth Caplan, national coordinator of the Alliance for Democracy’s Defending Water for Life campaign and chair of Sierra Club’s national Water Privatization Task Force. Their presentations will show what communities can do when municipal water and sewer services are targeted for corporate take-overs and when local water resources are targeted by water bottling companies. The workshop will feature discussion of who has the rights to make decisions about water usage in a community and what local communities are doing in the Finger Lakes. People are invited to bring their stories to share.

“From Mt. Shasta, California to Bigelow Mountain in Maine, Nestle and other giant corporations are pursuing big profits pumping pristine water from America’s gems of nature to put in little plastic bottles”, warns Ruth Caplan. “Now is the time to act, if you don’t want this to happen to the Finger Lakes.”

“Communities around the country and around the world have experienced major problems when a corporation gets control of their water--from rate increases to declining customer service,” said Victoria Kaplan. “Luckily, residents of the Finger Lakes region have a great opportunity right now to protect their water for future generations.”

The workshop is being held the evening of Friday, June 9 and the day of Saturday, June 10 at the Rural-Urban Center, 208 Broadway, in Montour Falls. It is free and open to the public. There is a suggested donation of $10 on Saturday. $5 charge for lunch on Sat.

Friday’s program, which begins at 7:00 pm, features a showing of the prize-winning documentary, THIRST, and a discussion of the issues raised by the film. The 62 minute documentary looks at the corporate drive to control and profit from our water and shows the global scope of the debate over water rights. Is water part of a shared commons, a human right for all people? Or is it a commodity to be bought, sold, and traded in a global marketplace? THIRST tells the stories of communities in Bolivia, India, and the United States that are asking these fundamental questions, as water becomes the most valuable global resource of the 21st Century.

Saturday’s program begins at 10:00 am and features in-depth presentations and discussions among those in attendance. In the morning, Victoria Kaplan will address municipal privatization issues and tell us how global trade talks threaten U.S. municipal water services. Ruth Caplan will talk about how water bottling companies are taking local water supplies and what communities are doing about it. In the afternoon, everyone will discuss what is happening in the Finger Lakes area. The program ends at 3:30.

The workshop schedule is at: http://www.ecobooks.com/fingerlakeswaterworkshop.html .  Contact Rachel to reserve a space: 607-569-2114 or

About the Presenters

Victoria Kaplan is a national organizer for the Water for All Campaign at Food & Water Watch in Washington, DC. She works with community groups and local elected officials who want to strengthen public water works and resist water privatization efforts. Ruth Caplan, also from Washington DC, is National Campaign Coordinator for the Alliance for Democracy’s Defending Water for Life Campaign. In 2003, she helped to organize the Water Allies Network, a diverse national network of people and groups who believe “secure and equitable access to clean water is a human right and must be protected for all generations and all living things.” Ruth Caplan’s environmental career began in New York. She was a founding member of Ecology Action of Oswego NY in 1971 and played a key role in regional organizing and successful legal appeals that prevented the construction of three nuclear units on Lake Ontario. Caplan is also chair of the national Sierra Club’s Water Privatization Task Force. In 2004, she received the national Sierra Club’s Special Service Award for her work on corporate accountability, international trade, water privatization, and energy policy.

Learn more about Food and Water Watch at http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/waterprivatization
Learn more about the Alliance for Democracy Defending Water for Life Campaign at http://www.thealliancefordemocracy.org/water
Learn more about the Sierra Club Water Privatization Task Force at http://www.sierraclub.org/cac/water/
Learn more about the Finger Lakes Group of the Sierra Club at http://newyork.sierraclub.org/fingerlakes/
Learn more about New York Democracy Schools at http://www.ecobooks.com/FLdemocracyschool.htm