years since 1985 has failed to reach the ocean.^5 The once mighty Nile,
Ganges and Colorado Rivers barely reach the sea in dry seasons.^6 The
introduction of industrial agriculture into India and Northern China
has in those areas led to dangerous lowering of the water table.
The construction of large dams, whether for hydroelectric power
or for irrigation does incalculable environmental damage, as well as
annihilating viable human communities. Dams destroy ecosystems
and sever the balancing of energy from one part of the landscape to
another. Since 1970, when Egypt's Aswan High Dam came into oper-
ation, the number of commercially harvested fish species in the Nile
dropped by two-thirds, and the Mediterranean sardine catch has
fallen by 80%.^7Water for profit
Traditional societies know how to manage their water, but increas-
ingly the supplies of rural communities are being privatized by
companies whose major priority is profit. In April 2000 the protest-
ing citizens of Cochabamba in Bolivia suffered over 180 casualties
at the hands of their police before their government revoked the
right of International Waters of London to impose a 35% increase
in water prices. The Bolivian government has now reconsidered its
policy to privatize all public water supplies.
Vast new networks of supply and disposal pipes must be built in
the cities if basic water needs are to be met. Governments, unwill-
ing these days to invest in social infrastructure, are privatizing
water utilities, and the results seldom benefit the consumer. A short-
age in any essential commodity brings out the profiteers and extor-
tionists. Pro-privatization propaganda reached a climax at the
Water Forum meetings in The Hague in March 2000, but the abuses
and inadequacies of commercial control have become apparent.
One study has shown that Swedish municipal water authorities
delivered water at around a third of the cost, had operating costs of
about half, and produced nearly three times higher return on capi-
tal than English private water companies of similar size.^8 However,
since the economic downturn of 2001, several English private water
companies have been experiencing financial difficulties. It makes
complete nonsense that essential water supplies should be subject
to the ups and down of the financial markets.
A great danger to our water comes from the globalization of sup-HIDDEN NATURE