Ideas
Water is the heart of all life. It is embedded in all life forms and in economic, social and spiritual practices across the globe.
Disaggregating and disconnecting water from this essential nature is what has led us to think of it as something that can be owned and has led to laws and practices that encourage its waste, overuse, and pollution and that reinforce class, race and gender inequity because of lack of access.
We live on a water planet that has one global water cycle. That water cycle is broken and is contributing to and being affected by chemical pollution, unheard of and accelerated biodiversity loss, disrupted nitrogen and phosphate cycles , hardening of the landscape and desertification, ocean acidification, estuary and freshwater ecosystem collapse and climate change.
Because we have sought to solve water, disease, waste and transportation problems as they have come upon us, we have siloed and stove piped our solutions. We have created huge and disruptive drinking water, waste water, storm water, storage, conveyance, irrigation and flood control measures that are contributing to the degradation of the places where we live and our food supply and are putting our basic survival at risk.
Nothing less than a new water paradigm is necessary to turn this picture around. It is clear that we have to re-think our footprint on global water systems including how we build and re-build our cities and towns, how we produce food, how we get around, where jobs come from and how we deal with waste. Pollution prevention, efficiency, conservation, reuse, doing things locally and in a distributed and decentralized manner are all core principles for moving forward with water and other natural resources. Integrated and holistic designs will reveal an abundance of resources and capacity that we are currently ignoring or treating as waste. Working with and mimicking nature will support new solutions and systems that restore the health and wealth of the Water Commons.
Reports
Restoring the Water Commons - 21st Century Water Management
The Baltimore Charter for Sustainable Water Systems
New Approaches in Decentralized Water Management
Highlights - Report - Whitepapers 1, 2, 3, 4
Workshops and Briefings
Restoring the Water Commons - A Facilitated Dialogue
White Papers
Truly Sustainable Water Systems
Market Strategies: Decentralized Technologies
Civil Society and 21st Century Water Management
Case Studies
Solaire, New York City
Dockside Green, Victoria, B.C.
Los Angeles Integrated Resource Management