Go west, water crusaders.
3,000 residents of the Felton Water District organized for six years against corporate control of their water. Get inspired by their activism and their big win.
There, amidst California’s coastal redwoods, you shall find Felton, a community of water warriors celebrating victory over the corporate forces that controlled their water.
The 3,000 adult residents of the Felton Water District organized for six years against California American Water, a subsidiary of American Water Works, which itself is part of German energy giant RWE.
Feltonites offered to buy the water system, but got rebuffed big time: RWE leadership stated, flatly, that the system was not for sale at any price and expressed its determination to oppose all public acquisition efforts so that Felton did not start a domino effect of citizens taking control of their water resources.
This was despite the fact that RWE was losing money on its U.S. water investments and wanted out. Even its attempt to unload American Water has been a big flop.
Finally, less than a week to go before a jury was to decide how much Felton needed to pay the company to take the system through eminent domain, Cal-AM and RWE negotiated a sale. San Lorenzo Valley Water District will buy the water system for $10.5 million and manage it for the Felton community.
Jim Mosher, one of the lawyers representing Felton FLOW – Friends of Locally Owned Water – told Food & Water Watch: “We fought off every one of Cal-Am’s tactics to derail the process. But in the end, our position was completely vindicated.”
Much more about this at “The Fight for Public Water in Felton, California.
Send a high-five to the Felton activists.
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