Should public water be privatized?

What does the privatization of public water systems mean for citizens and who is fighting back? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about the growing trend to privatize the country's water. Private companies are increasingly moving in to take over the operation of municipal waters systems by operating and profiting from reservoirs and other water-storage projects. Who is pushing for privatization? Join us live at 11 or send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org. How are communities fighting back? It's Your Call with me, Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:
Emily Wurth, Program Director at Food & Water Watch's "Water: Private Vs. Public"

Jim Graham, one of the founders of the Felton Friends of Locally Owned Water (FLOW)

Click to Listen: Should public water be privatized?

Your Call 100709 The Commons: California's Water Crisis

California is running out of water. After three years of drought, is it the day of reckoning for California's water system? How do we get water to California's farms, businesses and houses, and still leave enough for the fish? Send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org or join us live at 11 a.m. How can we share California's limited water with everyone, and still save enough for the future? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Dave Runston in Davis
Policy director with the Community Alliance with Family Farms and the California Agricultural Water Stewardship Initiative.

John Cain in the studio
Director of conservation for flood management at American Rivers. He previously served as the Director of Restoration Programs at the Natural Heritage Institute in San Francisco.

Click to Listen: The Commons: California's Water Crisis

Your Call 120208 A community-based water policy

What should a community-based water policy look like? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about the growing push to privatize water. This week, multinationals, including Coca-Cola and Nestle Water, are meeting in San Francisco for a conference called "Corporate Water Footprinting." Environmentalists are having a gathering of their own to challenge corporate control of water. What needs to happen to ensure water remains a fundamental human right and stays in public hands? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar.

Guests: Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food and Water Watch
Caleen Sisk-Franco, Chief, Winnemem Wintu Tribe
Amit Srivastava, Coordinator, International Campaign Against Coca-Cola

Click to Listen: A community-based water policy

Your Call 081908 Your Water Footprint

How big is your water footprint? On the next Your Call we'll talk about the surprising amount of fresh water used to support our daily life. This is World Water Week, and we'll be looking at how much water is made unusable in the manufacture and consumption of the goods we all use. On average, says WaterFootprint.org, that adds up to 655,000 gallons of fresh water per year, and most of it isn't from showers or washing off your driveway. To make a single glass of beer, manufacturers use 20 gallons of water; a pound of beef uses nearly 1,000. Do you know how much water you use everyday? It's your call, with me, Rose Aguilar and you, weekdays at 11.

Guests:
Kai Olson-Sawyer in New York
Water project manager for H2O Conserve, a non-profit that promotes water conservation.

Gil Friend in Berkeley
Founder, President & CEO of Natural Logic, a Berkeley-based company that does environmental consumption analyses of businesses.

Click to Listen: Your Water Footprint

Your Call 071408 Bottlemania

Why did Americans invest billions of dollars piping clean water to every home and building only to abandon the tap for bottles? On the next Your Call we talk with Elizabeth Royte, author of Bottlemania: How Water Went On Sale and Why We Bought It. Americans' per capita consumption of bottled water has jumped from 5.7 gallons in 1987 to more than 27 gallons today and there are more than 700 domestic and 75 imported brands to choose from. Was this a cultural oddity from the consumption crazed SUV era, or is it a long term habit born of distrust of the government? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guest:
Elizabeth Royte in Brooklyn
Author of Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It.

Noelle Ferdon in San Francisco
Senior organizer for food campaigns in California for Food and Water Watch, a nonprofit consumer rights organization that challenges the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources.

Click to Listen: Bottlemania

Your Call 021808 Who owns our water supply?

Who owns our water supply? On the next Your Call, we continue our series on the commons by focusing on water with Maude Barlow, author of Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water. According to the UN, over one billion people live without access to safe drinking water and 2.5-billion lack proper sanitation. What we can we do to ensure everyone has the right to safe water? It's Your Call, with Sandip Roy, and you.

Guest:
Maude Barlow, the national volunteer chair of the Council of Canadians, Canada's largest public advocacy organization.

Click to Listen: Who owns our water supply?