Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Ojai citizens want local control of water

In the news last week, Ojai group wants to buy out Golden State Water.



The group Ojai FLOW, Friends of Locally Owned Water, has proposed a special public district to buy out their water provider, Golden State Water Co. They propose for Casitas Water District to manage the water supply and infrastructure. According to their website, Golden State is a subsidiary of American States Water Company and is a public utility company engaged principally in the purchase, production, distribution, and sale of water.

For those who have seen the film FLOW (For Love Of Water,) this is a familiar theme. International corporations have seized on the profit potential of controlling water supplies, and there are now many cases in which local people have lost control, and sometimes even the rights to access their local own water supplies. Major businesses depicted in the film are Nestle, The Coca-Cola Company, Suez, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

This movement in Ojai has been brewing for a while, largely in response to ever-increasing rate hikes. At stake is the sustainability of the Ventura River itself.


Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/apr/19/ojai-group-wants-to-buy-out-golden-state-water/

On the web: http://www.ojaiflow.com


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