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Draft Resolution for Cities Supporting Water as a Public Trust

Water as a Public Trust

Whereas, cities have a responsibility to supply their communities with vital services including water and sewage;

Whereas, access to safe water is a basic human right and is essential to human life;

Whereas, water is a finite natural resource which is growing increasingly scarce, and is crucial to the welfare of all societies as well as integral to the survival of all species and ecosystems;

Whereas, citizens have a right to participate in the decision-making processes that fundamentally affect their lives, such as control of water, and government officials have a duty to protect this right; 

Whereas, water is key to sustainable development in its social, economic and environmental dimensions;

Whereas, 460 million people worldwide currently suffer water shortages, and national and global corporations have responded to this crisis with attempts to commodify water and transform water management, treatment and delivery into a profit-generating activity;

Whereas, water privatization has been shown to decrease access to clean and affordable water and discriminate against poor and under-represented communities who cannot pay “market prices” for water;

Whereas, huge inequities exist in access to water between and within countries, and between rural and urban areas;

Be it resolved that the <NAME HERE> City Council

Affirms that every human being has a right to clean, safe and affordable water in quantity and quality sufficient to life and basic economic needs, and pledges to create and uphold policies within <city> as well as support state and national policies that ensure that all individuals have equitable and affordable access to water that meets basic human needs, and that no one is cut off from water supply due to inability to pay;

Affirms that citizens have a right to know about and take part in decisions regarding water services and pledges to maintain a high degree of democracy and transparency in policy-making in order to protect this right;

Affirms that water is a common good that sustains all life, and that it must remain an essential part of the public trust. Water should never be treated as a for-profit commodity and cannot be privately owned;

Affirms that any contract or subcontract granted by the city for $50,000 or over (relevant amount depending on city) to a private company to provide essential water and sanitation services must be approved by public referendum or public initiative;

Affirms that international trade agreements that underwrite municipal state or federal labor, environmental, health and safety regulations not be binding in the city of <NAME HERE>;

Affirms the necessity of policies that improve the conservation and stewardship of our water resources for all living things present and future. 

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