As Corporate Power Threatens Americans' Right to Water, Groups Offer UN Body List of Issues to Raise With US

When it comes to ensuring the human right to clean water, the United States has a long way to go.

That’s the thrust of a new letter (pdf) to the United Nations Human Rights Committee as the body gets ready to review how the U.S. is faring in its implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a treaty seen as part of the “International Bill of Human Rights.”

“Since the U.N. recognized the human right to water in 2010, things have not become substantially better for people struggling in the U.S. with unsafe water, high bills, or the effects of industrial pollution from fracking and factory farms,” said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch. “Civil and political rights must encompass the human right to water, which is increasingly under threat by corporations that seek to use and abuse our water supplies for profit.”

The letter, submitted by Food & Water Watch and co-signed by the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, Alabama Center for Rural Enterprise, and In the Public Interest, was sent Monday, the deadline for organizations to send to the committee areas they feel should be included on the “List of Issues Prior to Reporting.” As the ACLU has explained, “In 2017, the U.S. agreed to receive a List of Issues Prior to Reporting from the U.N. Human Rights Committee which will form the basis for the U.S. government’s periodic report to the committee. “

The groups’ letter outlines five main issues, the first of which is the growing privatization of public water and sewer services. These efforts, the groups say, pose “a threat to water affordability and access for low-income neighborhood.” At the same time, increases in water costs are driving water shutoffs, which in turn can lead to evictions or even child protective agencies taking parents’ children away.