Educational Media Reviews Online

This film documents how water rights are rapidly becoming an important commodity for the future. Global corporations are quickly buying up local water supplies, and selling the water for outrageous sums to local consumers. This video tells the story of communities in Cochabamba, Bolivia; Stockton, California; and Rajasthan, India; and how they are dealing with various attempts to preserve, conserve, or avoid water takeover moves by corporations. Interspersed throughout these stories is a meeting of a major Water Privitization and Rights conference in Japan, where numerous protestors and petitioners question top corporate executives about their attempts to takeover water rights from citizens around the world. The major issue for protestors is that they see water as a basic human right, one that should not be sold or marketed for profit. On the other side, global corporations see water privatization as a new area of exploitation and profit, and feel that they can more effectively manage and preserve water for the future. Most of the film focuses on the attempt by the mayor of Stockton, California, to privatize water resources in order to save money. Private citizens banded together to protest and call for a vote by the people on the issue. City employees working in the water plant are profiled, as well as how the process came down to a vote by the city council, rather than a vote by the people. In the end, all over the world, the issue of whether water is a human right or a commodity for exploitation may determine the future of many communities, states, regions, and countries.

This film is an excellent representation of the current struggle concerning water rights around the world. This is an especially timely topic for the Western United States, where water rights determine the success or demise of communities and states. Hoover Dam, for instance, is the major determining factor for the current existence and success of Los Angeles, given that most of the water and electricity from this dam go there. The water rights for the Colorado River are currently under constant legal manipulation and wrangling by many Western states. In the end, given the growing human population and the continuing drought conditions around the world, water rights will be a major issue for many.