Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today joined New Mexico’s congressional delegation to advance a vital water supply project that will provide clean, safe and reliable water to a quarter of a million people in the Navajo Nation, the Jicarilla Apache Nation and the city of Gallup, New Mexico.

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Today, June 5 marks the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests which is largely symbolized by this photograph of an anonymous Chinese man standing firm against a line of advancing tanks. Four other photographers managed to capture this moment–photographs which had be smuggled out of China past the state security.

NPR sits down with one of the photographers, Jeff Widener (whose version seen above is one of the most widely reproduced photographs of that moment) to discuss how his life was changed by that image.

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Water nourishes every aspect of life on Earth. Most Americans take access to water for granted. The grim reality is that fresh water is getting harder to find.

When communities cannot get clean water, people are often forced to choose between dying of thirst or drinking disease-ridden polluted water. This heartbreaking situation is playing itself out right now all over the world. As water rights involve complex moral, international and legal issues, we sought out answers from an expert in the field of water rights.

Maude Barlow

Sundance Channel had the honor of interviewing Maude Barlow, who is the Senior Advisor on Water to the President of the UN General Assembly. Maude Barlow also chairs the boards of the Council of Canadians and Food and Water Watch.

The interview with Maude Barlow dealt with many environmental issues, but in part one, we will be focusing on her extensive knowledge of water rights.

Question 1: Fresh water has become a dangerously expensive commodity in some third world countries. How would you improve access to clean water?

Maude Barlow: Fresh water is indeed expensive or non-existent in many poor countries. Water should be declared a public trust, in other words, a public service that must be delivered on a not-for-profit basis to all people. If a government is too poor to deliver clean water, the World Bank must put its aid into ensuring the safe delivery of clean water and not into big for-profit private water companies as it is now doing.

Question 2: Does the U.N. do any work regarding international water rights, and if so, would you explain one of the projects related to water rights?

Maude Barlow: The United Nations is seriously considering the human right to water. The UN Human Rights Council has appointed an “Independent Expert” to study and advise it on next steps and many countries of the UN General Assembly are keen to move ahead with a resolution affirming the right to water.

Question 3: Are there any organizations that work on environmental issues, or water rights, that you could recommend to people interested in helping the cause?

Maude Barlow: There are many organizations and networks working on the environmental and human issues around water. They include the African Water Network; the Australian Water Network; the European Water Network; RED Vida (Latin America); Food and Water Watch (U.S.); and the Blue Planet Project (Canada).

Question 4: Has anything significant happened in the clean water access movement in recent months?

Maude Barlow: In recent months, the global water justice movement has continued to grow and thrive. Activists challenged the leaders at the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul last month (March 2009) for their close ties to the water industry and worked with 25 countries who put forward a counter-declaration to the official summit declaration as the latter had refused to declare water to be a human right.

If you are interested in finding out more about water issues, and want to see a movie that might move you to tears, make sure to watch F.L.O.W (FOR LOVE OF WATER), which premieres April 21 at 10PM on Sundance Channel.

Check back for part two of the Maude Barlow interview and find out what she would do if she had $1 billion.

ISTANBUL, Turkey, March 16, 2009 (ENS) – Global demand for water is greater today than it has ever been and demand will increase in the future, thousands of delegates to the Fifth World Water Forum in Istanbul heard at their opening session today. Driving the demand for water are population growth and mobility, rising living standards, changes in food consumption, and increased energy production by hydropower and biofuels finds a new assessment of the planet’s freshwater resources by 26 United Nations agencies.

“With increasing shortages, good governance is more than ever essential for water management. Combating poverty also depends on our ability to invest in this resource,” said the Director-General of UNESCO Koïchiro Matsuura, who presented the report to the Forum on behalf of the United Nations.

The report finds that corruption in the water sector may account for a rise of almost US$50 billion in the cost of achieving the Millennium Development Goals on water and sanitation. These eight goals, to be accomplished by 2015, were agreed in 2000 by all the world’s countries and major development institutions.

Typical examples of corruption include falsified meter readings, favoritism in public equipment purchases, and nepotism in the allocation of public contracts. The report estimates that 30 percent of budgets can be siphoned off in some countries.

Yet these corrupt practices are rarely curbed, despite initiatives by some countries. Donors and investors have not been blind to this fact, and most developmental aid agencies have chosen to focus on countries with good anti-corruption records.

From left, Albert II, Prince of Monaco; Abdullah Gül, President of the Republic of Turkey; and Emomali Rakhmon, President of Tajikistan. (Photo courtesy Earth Negotiations Bulletin)

One of the six themes of the World Water Forum, governance and management, will address ways to limit corruption.

In his opening remarks, World Water Forum Secretary General Oktay Tabasaran stressed that the Forum’s goal is to urgently address the issue of efficient water use.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul told delegates that water issues require attention at the highest levels of government.

With more than 28,000 participants in attendance, more than 100 thematic sessions are scheduled on topics such as global change and risk management; advancing human development and the Millennium Development Goals; managing and protecting water resources; finance; and education, knowledge and capacity development.

The world is on track to meet the drinking water target of the Millennium Development Goals, apart from Sub-Saharan Africa, which is lagging behind with about 340 million people lacking access to safe drinking water.

But the world is far from achieving the sanitation target. Half a billion people lack access to adequate sanitation in Africa alone and many other regions are also trailing. Current efforts will need to be doubled if we are to achieve the goals set by the United Nations, the report shows.

The link between poverty and water resources is clear – the number of people living on less than US$1.25 a day is roughly equal to the number of people without access to safe drinking water.

This situation has a major impact on health. Almost 80 percent of diseases in developing countries are associated with water, causing some three million early deaths. At least, 5,000 children die every day from diarrhea – one every 17 seconds. About one-tenth of all illnesses worldwide could be avoided by improving water supply, sanitation, hygiene and management of water resources, the report shows.

Meanwhile, energy demand is accelerating, and with it, water demand. Global energy demands are expected to grow by as much as 55 percent through 2030. China and India alone would account for about 45 percent of this increase.

Electricity generation from hydropower is projected to increase at an average annual rate of 1.7 percent from 2004 to 2030 – an overall increase of 60 percent.

Criticized for their heavy footprint on the environment and their tendency to displace large numbers of people, dams still appear to offer a solution, given diminishing fossil fuel supplies, the need to shift to cleaner energy sources and the potential use of added storage in adapting to the increased hydrologic variability and uncertainty due to climate change.

Many new dams are planned for developing countries, where the potential for hydropower is considerable.

The conflict over dams erupted today at the World Water Forum opening ceremony.

International Rivers protesters hold their banner up at the World Water Forum opening ceremony. (Photo courtesy ENB)

Two staff members of the California-based advocacy group International Rivers were arrested and detained for unfurling a banner. They will be deported tomorrow morning or face a year in Turkish prison.

As the opening ceremony began, International Rivers’ South Asia Director Ann-Kathrin Schneider and climate campaigner Payal Parekh unfurled a banner reading “No Risky Dams” in protest of what they believe to be the World Water Forum’s promotion of destructive dams. They shouted slogans as the chair of the World Water Forum and government dignitaries were about to take the stage.

As she was being detained, Parekh said, “Large dams have left a legacy of lies and loss. Continuing to build destructive dams will bring unacceptable risks to people and the planet.”

Schneider said, “The Ilisu Dam in Southeast Turkey is a symbol of outmoded water and energy policies which destroy communities and the environment. We call on the participants of the World Water Forum to embrace smarter and cleaner solutions which are readily available.”

While some Forum participants applauded the protest, the police detained the two protestors. Meanwhile, outside the conference center riot police used water cannons and tear gas against 150 protestors who shouted “water for life, not for profit” in opposition to what they view as the World Water Forum’s agenda of water privatization and river destruction. Seventeen protestors were arrested.

Peter Bosshard, International Rivers Policy Director, whose opinion piece on the World Water Forum and large dams was published in today’s “Turkish Daily News,” said “The response by the Turkish authorities highlights the undemocratic nature of the World Water Forum. Two protestors being deported for unfurling a banner is unacceptable. We call on the World Water Council to respect and support the rights of all people to speak freely and protest peacefully.”

The World Water Forum takes place every three years. It is organized by the World Water Council, a membership organization that includes the large development banks, associations of professional engineers, academic institutions, some of the largest aid and environmental organizations, United Nations agencies, national and local government agencies, and dam construction companies.

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