Community Water Rights
Protection Workshop

June 9-10, 2006, Montour Falls

Sponsored by the Finger Lakes Progressive Coalition
and the Finger Lakes Group of the Sierra Club

at the Rural-Urban Center
208 Broadway, Montour Falls

Directions to Rural-Urban Center

Workshop Schedule

Friday, June 9, 2006, 7:00 - 9:30 pm

Introduction to water privatization issues by Ruth Caplan from the Alliance for Democracy and the Sierra Club and Vicki Kaplan from Food and Water Watch. View the prizewinning documentary Thirst. Discuss issues raised by the film. Overview of Saturday's agenda.

Thirst looks at the corporate drive to control and profit from our water and shows the global scope of the debate over water rights. Is water part of a shared commons, a human right for all people? Or is it a commodity to be bought, sold, and traded in a global marketplace? THIRST tells the stories of communities in Bolivia, India, and the United States that are asking these fundamental questions, as water becomes the most valuable global resource of the 21st Century. 62 minutes.

Saturday, June 10, 2006, 10:00 am - 3:30 pm

Friday free, Saturday $10 suggested donation, Saturday lunch $5

Contact Rachel to reserve a space: 607-569-2114 or rachel at ecobooks.com

About the Presenters

Victoria Kaplan is a national organizer for the Water for All Campaign at Food & Water Watch in Washington, DC. She works with community groups and local elected officials who want to strengthen public water works and resist water privatization efforts.

Ruth Caplan, also from Washington DC, is National Campaign Coordinator for the Alliance for Democracy's Defending Water for Life Campaign. In 2003, she helped to organize the Water Allies Network, a diverse national network of people and groups who believe "secure and equitable access to clean water is a human right and must be protected for all generations and all living things." Ruth Caplan's environmental career began in New York. She was a founding member of Ecology Action of Oswego NY in 1971 and played a key role in regional organizing and successful legal appeals that prevented the construction of three nuclear units on Lake Ontario. Caplan is also chair of the national Sierra Club's Water Privatization Task Force. In 2004, she received the national Sierra Club's Special Service Award for her work on corporate accountability, international trade, water privatization, and energy policy.

More Information

Food and Water Watch, http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/waterprivatization
Alliance for Democracy Defending Water for Life Campaign, http://www.thealliancefordemocracy.org/water
Sierra Club Water Privatization Task Force, http://www.sierraclub.org/cac/water/
Finger Lakes Group of the Sierra Club, http://newyork.sierraclub.org/fingerlakes/
New York Democracy Schools, http://www.ecobooks.com/FLdemocracyschool.htm

Directions

Mapquest.com map of Montour Falls at http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?email=1&mapdat

From I90 East and West, Syracuse and Rochester

Take Interstate 90 to EXIT 42 for Geneva. From the exit take NY 14 south through Geneva all the way to Montour Falls, about 46 miles.

1. Take the RT-14 exit- EXIT 42- toward GENEVA/LYONS. (0.55 miles)
2. Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto NY-14. (5.79 miles)
3. Turn RIGHT onto NY-14/CASTLE ST. Continue to follow NY-14 S. (38.51 miles)
4. Turn LEFT onto W BROADWAY ST. (0.09 miles)
5. End at 208 W Broadway St. The Rural Urban Center is a remodelled school on the left. If you reach the intersection with Rt. 224 to Odessa, you have gone one block too far. You can turn left on 224 and then turn left on Mulberry Street, the first street off 224.

From Ithaca

Take NY-13 South to Alpine Junction

1. Turn RIGHT onto NY-224. (8.47 miles) to Montour Falls. Just before intersection with NY-14
2. Turn RIGHT onto N MULBERRY ST. (0.03 miles) One block before the intersection with NY-14
3. Turn RIGHT onto W BROADWAY ST. (0.01 miles)
4. End at 208 W Broadway St. The Rural Urban Center is a remodelled school on the left.

From Corning and points west on Route 17

Take I-86 East/NY-17 E/SOUTHERN TIER EXPY to Corning

1. Take the RT-414 exit- EXIT 46- toward WATKINS GLEN/CORNING MUSEUM OF GLASS. (0.29 miles)
2. Turn LEFT onto NY-414. (18.11 miles)
3. Turn RIGHT onto STEUBEN ST/CR-16. (1.43 miles)
4. Turn RIGHT onto N GENESEE ST. (0.12 miles)
5. Turn LEFT onto W SOUTH ST. (0.28 miles)
6. Turn LEFT onto NY-14/S CATHERINE ST/S CATHARINE ST. (0.22 miles)
7. Turn RIGHT onto W BROADWAY ST. (0.09 miles) One block before the intersection with Rt 224 to Odessa.
8. End at 208 W Broadway St. The Rural Urban Center is a remodelled school on the left. If you reach the intersection with Rt. 224 to Odessa, you have gone one block too far. You can turn left on 224 and then turn left on Mulberry Street, the first street off 224.

From Horseheads and points east on Route 17

Take I-86 West/NY-17 E/SOUTHERN TIER EXPY to Horseheads

1. Turn RIGHT onto GRAND CENTRAL AVE. (0.71 miles) This section of Route 17 is in construction
2. Turn RIGHT onto E FRANKLIN ST. (0.05 miles)
3. Turn LEFT onto N MAIN ST. (1.13 miles)
4. N MAIN ST becomes NY-14. (12.45 miles)
5. Turn RIGHT onto W BROADWAY ST. (0.09 miles) One block past the intersection with Rt 224 to Odessa.
6. End at 208 W Broadway St. The Rural Urban Center is a remodelled school on the left.

Media Release

For immediate release: May 18, 2006

LOCAL GROUPS OPPOSE CORPORATE WATER MINING IN THE FINGER LAKES

Alarmed that water resources in the Finger Lakes will be targeted by large corporate water companies for privatization of municipal water services and for mining bottled water, the Finger Lakes Progressives and the Finger Lakes Group of the Sierra Club are sponsoring a Water Rights Protection Workshop to be held June 9-10, 2006, at the Rural-Urban Center in Montour Falls. The workshop is designed for the general public to learn what can be done to prevent corporate control of water resources and services in the Finger Lakes.

"Here in the Finger Lakes we take for granted ample supplies of fresh water, but as fresh water becomes an increasingly valuable commodity, large corporations are setting their sights on the giant reservoirs of fresh water in our lakes and aquifers for distribution and profit," said Rachel Treichler of Hammondsport, a member of the Sierra Club, and one of the organizers of the program.

"Members of the Finger Lakes Progressives are watching water privatization efforts in surrounding states; including Pennsylvania and N. H., with alarm," Jack Ossont of Yates county, coordinator of the Progressive Coalition, remarked. "Folks in the Finger Lakes have always regarded water as a resource for the use of all and we have organized this workshop to help us keep it that way."

The workshop will be led by two nationally-known activists on community water issues: Victoria Kaplan, national organizer of the Water for All Campaign with Food & Water Watch in Washington DC, and Ruth Caplan, national coordinator of the Alliance for Democracy's Defending Water for Life campaign and chair of Sierra Club's national Water Privatization Task Force. Their presentations will show what communities can do when municipal water and sewer services are targeted for corporate take-overs and when local water resources are targeted by water bottling companies. The workshop will feature discussion of who has the rights to make decisions about water usage in a community and what local communities are doing in the Finger Lakes. People are invited to bring their stories to share.

"From Mt. Shasta, California to Bigelow Mountain in Maine, Nestle and other giant corporations are pursuing big profits pumping pristine water from America's gems of nature to put in little plastic bottles", warns Ruth Caplan. "Now is the time to act, if you don't want this to happen to the Finger Lakes."

"Communities around the country and around the world have experienced major problems when a corporation gets control of their water--from rate increases to declining customer service," said Victoria Kaplan. "Luckily, residents of the Finger Lakes region have a great opportunity right now to protect their water for future generations."

The workshop is being held the evening of Friday, June 9 and the day of Saturday, June 10 at the Rural-Urban Center, 208 Broadway, in Montour Falls. It is free and open to the public. There is a suggested donation of $10 on Saturday. $5 charge for lunch on Sat.

Friday's program, which begins at 7:00 pm, features a showing of the prize-winning documentary, THIRST, and a discussion of the issues raised by the film. The 62 minute documentary looks at the corporate drive to control and profit from our water and shows the global scope of the debate over water rights. Is water part of a shared commons, a human right for all people? Or is it a commodity to be bought, sold, and traded in a global marketplace? THIRST tells the stories of communities in Bolivia, India, and the United States that are asking these fundamental questions, as water becomes the most valuable global resource of the 21st Century.

Saturday's program begins at 10:00 am and features in-depth presentations and discussions among those in attendance. In the morning, Victoria Kaplan will address municipal privatization issues and tell us how global trade talks threaten U.S. municipal water services. Ruth Caplan will talk about how water bottling companies are taking local water supplies and what communities are doing about it. In the afternoon, everyone will discuss what is happening in the Finger Lakes area. The program ends at 3:30.