Finally my video is done! I have learned so much from doing this project. First off that creating a bolg is a lot of hard work, especially for someones who’s not technologically hip, and takes a lot of time. The vided is my favorite part because i feel like it really has gotten my point across. And that point is that water should be for everyone, not just the select few who will inapproiately use it, commodify it, sell it, abuse it, etc. Water, once again is a human right and needs to be respected!
Witout Clean Water 

I hope you and dad are getting a chance to read this, my grammars not perfect, but hey its a blog post!! love ya! katie

The term “POPS” is short for persistant organic pollutants–and these are not the type of organics you want to buy in your local grocery store or find in your food.  They are chemicals that are created as a byproduct of manufacturing, found in transformer fluids, DDT, PCB’s, etc. They travel thousands of miles across the world to seep into the food chain and water. Then the animals or plants that live or drink the water /contaminated land move the toxins higher up the food chain. The POPS cause higher rates of cancer, learning disabilites, behavior problems, etc and numerous other issues wholly including death.  Children are effected the most since they are so sensitive to pollutants.  The Indigenous Environmental Network website outlines POPS in greater detail and their direct impacts on Indigenous peoples. They are working with Greenpeacea and the United Nations to call for the total elimination of POPS.  You can aviod buying plastics with the number 3 on them or the V symbol to help alleviate POPS. Learn more at

www.ienearth.org/pops-drumbeat.html

As clean safe free/affordable drinking water disappears more and more corporations are seeing it as an economic opportunity.  Water used to be kept flowing to a countries people because it was considered an “pubic trust” and was controlled by pubic and manicipal water systems, but know corporations are moving in in big ways. Whether it’s through opening a Coke production plant in India or Suez water in Latin America charging its customers astronomical amounts. The problem is still the same.  Water is not a commodity to be bought and sold, to be distributed unequally, or shipped somewhere else– it is everyones.  The washington Offices editorial about this subject sheds light on when poor people suffer the largest of the burden, “Essentially profit-making water services are separated from loss-making markets. Providing water in urban settings, and wealthy areas, is less costly than in rural areas or slums. So, companies thake the profitable sector, and leave the unprofitable sectors to the government to provide”.  While internaitional institutions allocte more and more water for businesses.  For instance, in poverty stricken South Africa in 2001 prepaid meters failed to provide clean safe water causing a cholera outbreak causing 100,000 to be sickand hundreds to die. The impact of the privatization of water has been devastating.

www.pcusa.org/washington/issuenet/africa-040311.htm

The United Nations General Assembly has named the year 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation (I think its like the dog on the Chinese New Year calendar, next year may be the International year of Fire, or Ice. j/k) The goal of this project is to raise awareness about issues surrounding water sanitation and highlight the astounding number of people who live without clean water in this advanced society. Sadly, only because we already missed it, was World Water Day on March 20. Also, the United Nations is trying to raise awareness for their Millenium Development Goal for 2015 to reduce half the population, 2.6 billion, without access to basic sanitation. The campaign slogan in New York read, “Come stand up for those who can’t sit down” haha

http://esa.un.org/iys/

Factors leading to water contamination and shortages in Africa:

Population growth, food production, poverty, water demand, and resource management, etc. play large roles in increasing contamination and shortages in Africa. As more and more land is being cultiveated healthly ground vegetation is being lost, contributing to falling water tables and scarcity. The people of Africa do not consume a lot of water themselves, but most of the water is being used to grow crops to feed other countries and themselves last. Futhermore, water that originates up stream may be used up before it even reaches other areas down stream. And places that lie downstream have to suffer the consequences of water that is being controlled even before the people have a chance to get it.
Africanwater.org also states that, “Water law which gives certain users exclusive rights to use of water is necessary to provide security for investment (usually in the agricultural sector), but it can result in other users being put in serious jeopardy during times of scarcity” This system is wholly inadequate to save water, and to use it wisely for future generations.

http://www.africanwater.org/drghtwater.htm#_Toc390163832

After reading the water laws regaurding Western States in the United States there are a few important areas to point out. The Winters v. United States case has proved instrumental in reserving water that is on Reservations, in National parks and forests, and other areas that normally should be pretected, for they are now covered under national laws–not differing state laws. It requires that the primary use of the water is to be for the establishment (reservation, park, forest, etc.) and the remaining water is to be used as minimally as possible. Suprisingly, it also protects water that is not being used. However, the law should go even further as to protect water as a human right, as a necessity. Under the Winters laws the water can still semi-freely be bought, sold, or traded. This is a major shortcoming in the protection of water as a right–not a commodity.

http://www.blm.gov/nstc/WaterLaws/fedreservedwate

This week i added a couple books to my Books! page, and added more facts to the facts page.

I started a book page!! Go check it out!

Rural Community Assitance Corporation is an organization that is highly dedicated to working with Native communities to aid housing, finances, housing, community, and most pertinent to my webpage, focusing on wastewater and clean drinking water for the communities they work with. Their community environmental work includes such things as, establishing the Native American Water Masters Association in southern California with 18 tribes, doing studies on waste generation and recycling , contamination testing, well sampling, water operations certification classes, etc. This group is very active in providing/fighting with Native Americans for their rights to basic human rights.
Thier most recent activities include Drinking water workshops in New Mexico and many other parts of California. In most cases their assistance is offered at no charge, but is covered by state and federal contracts. This is all great news, except for the fact that RCAC may be linked to large corporations of have its hands tied due to its close relationship with the US government. It was difficult to figure out via website what lenght these ties are.