fresh water: a scarce resource
Por Indymedia Argentina (translation: mark) - Wednesday, Jun. 23, 2004 at 2:05 PM

Sunday 20th of June The life on Earth depends totally on water. On average, a human being needs a daily minimum of 50 litres of water to drink, to cook, to wash, to cultivate foods and for cleaning. The water consumption in the world is enormously unequal. An inhabitant of the U.S.A. consumes between 250 and 300 litres of water daily. In Somalia people survive on less than 9.

Of the total volume of the water world-wide only 3% is freshwater and only half of that is drinkable. The drinkable water must not have organic matters, pathogenic germs nor chemical substances. In Argentina most of the water we consume comes from places where industrial residues are eliminated. It often contains much more heavy elements, bacteria, nitrates and hydrocarbons than is considered safe.
The rivers, De la Plata, Carcaraña, Paraná, Salado del Norte, Salado del Sur and Colorado are among some of the most polluted in the world. The lake San Roque which provides water to the city of Córdoba, has problems of eutrophication, meaning that the waters are too rich in nutrients (from agriculture) and so fill with plants and other organisms which die and rot and destroy the water quality.
In the province of Buenos Aires, in the area of Riachuelo-Matanza, only 45% of inhabitants have proper sewerage And only 65% have drinkable water. Around 3,000 companies release liquid and solid toxic wastes into the water daily. 30% of the pollution comes from the pharmacy, chemical and petrochemical industries and the alcoholic drinks industries, 3%. This area receives 368,000 cubic metres of industrial residues everday which is double the average volume of the river.
The Riachuelo neighbourhood has great concentrations of chrome, copper, mercury, zinc and lead with some of the greatest concentrations in Avellaneda and Lanús. In the area of Beriso-Ensenada, the water and sediments anre full of benzene, petrol etc, toxic residues produced by distilleries and petrochemical industries.
The Puelche aquifer has different grades of pollution with nitrates and coliform bacteria. The concentration of nitrates is 3 times greater than the permited limits. The Puelche covers nearly half of the Santa Fé province, the Córdoba province and the NE of Buenos Aires up to the bay of Samboromón. Towards Córdoba it becomes salty and towards the Paraná it is freshwater.
It is calculated that 60% of the pollution in the River Reconquista is owed to the waters received from Arroyo Morón in which a great deal of waste is pumped from industry. It lacks oxygen and has an excess of organic material with high levels of chrome and nitrogen.
Los habitantes de Villaguay en Entre Ríos están sufriendo las consecuencias de la utilización de endolsulfan. Esta sustancia es utilizada por los grandes productores de soja transgénica para combatir la chinche verde y las lagartas."Hay varios niños que se han bañado en lagunas y arroyos linderos, que tienen la piel toda lastimada, como si les hubiera agarrado hongos. Hay peces muertos en muchos arroyos y lagunas" (fuente Red de Acción en plaguicidas y sus alternativas para América Latina)
The habitants of Villaguay in Entre Ríos are suffering the consequences of endolsulfan usage. The substance is used by the enormous producers of GM (GE) Soya to combat weeds and lizards. “There are many kids who are bathing in the lakes and adjoining streams who have skin damage as if from fungi. There are dead fish in many streams and lakes” (source: Red de Acción en plaguicidas y sus alternativas para América Latina)
Alter complicitous silences and painful neglect, the ‘waters’ of Riachuelo are still black and deadly polluted. The only thing which is healthy is forgetfullness. All rivers are the source of life, but what we have now are more like the source of death, as child deaths in the watershed of Buenos Aires province and the neighbourhoods of La Boca, Barracas and Villa Lugano in the city centre are twice as high as the city average (Asociación Vecinos de la Boca)
In Neuquen, or more precisely in San Martín de los Andes, the Mapuche communities Vera, Curruhuinca and Cavún carried out various roadblocks in 2002. The motive for these protests was the Cerro Chapelco company whose sewerage effluents were being dumped into the streams which provide water to the commun
The Cámara Ecológica y Sanidad Ambiental (Chamber for Ecological and environmental health) formed an opposition to water being granted to the mining industry in the province of San Juan by Minera Argentina Gold S.A.
“Our water and our reserves are an inalienable part of provincial ownership. It is our duty to protect and conserve it...” they responded “they should know and be aware that are reserves, glaciars, waters and other sources have a much great value than the deposits which they want to exploit”.

The world of privatised water is mostly dominated by 2 french multinationals: La Suez (formally Suez Lyonaisse des Eaux) with profits related to water of more than US$9,000 million in 2001 and Vivendi Universal, with profits of more than US$12,200 million. Both companies are among the 100 biggest in the world according to Global Fortune 500 y have owners and control water companies in more than 100 countries in the world dealing with the water of more than 100 million people

Argentina was a pioneer for the privitisation of water and health. In its moment, the OSN (National Health Works) was the biggest concession in the world because it monopolised Buenos Aires, 14 neighbour districts and 9.3 million inhabitants according to a report by Andrea Catenazzi from the National University of General Sarmiento (UNGS).

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"In the past, other elements have ended up with strategic value. The importance of drinkable water has become increasingly significant recently. It will be a limited resource in the coming years and will be fundamental for humanity. He or she who controls it, will control the world-wide economy and the life of the foreseeable future". (Elsa Bruzzone-CEMIDA)

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