In Highland Park, Michigan water wars are a reality. Corporations have urged local governments to privatize municipal water, resulting in water bills exceeding $10,000 for one household. Because these lower-middle class residents cannot afford these bills, their water is shut off, or worse, their houses are foreclosed on, and they are forced to leave their community. Now, residents are fighting back and asserting that their human right to water is being violated. Why is this happening? And what can we do to stop this trend?

Water must stayed a shared-public resource. However, as eluded to in the previous post, we must find better, cheaper ways to protect and produce our fresh water supplies. The Great Lakes Compact, signed by former President Bush in October 2008, is a step in the right direction. This multi-state agreement is a collaborative approach to managing water restoration and protection, and implementing water conservation measures. The Compact will also protect this fresh water basin from large scale diversions of this resource, which could leave neighboring states without the water they need.

The water war in Highland Park, Michigan and the Great Lakes Compact highlight just how important water is now and will be in the future. While the Compact goes along way to establishing fundamental policy concerning water conservation, clean technology plays a major role in implementing these policies. This technology includes everything from sophisticated waste water recycling systems used then to maintain landscaping, or simple storm-water capture systems that can be created by any environmentally conscious resident. Implementing these conservations measures is the easiest, and cheapest way to insure that this natural resource is protected, but more importantly doesn’t run out.