Our Water Is Being Stolen From Us!
The Rich Are Buying Up The Rights For
Our Water, To $ell It Back To Us
NewsFocus - 120410
Unbeknown to most Americans, their most precious natural
resource, as in life-giving drinking water, is being stolen, literally right out
from under them. If they ever want a drink, they'll have to buy
it back, at a considerable price.
A recent episode of the hit TruTV investigative program,
"Conspiracy Theory With Jesse Ventura," has literally tapped into a water
scandal that most of the US public has no idea about. Multi-national
corporations and unscrupulous wealthy individuals are buying up water rights for
some of the largest aquifers in the US and the world. With water predicted to
become a scarcity within 20 years, it would appear that some of the elite
wealthy are trying to corner the market on the earth's most precious life-giving
resource, water.
American oil-tycoon T. Boone Pickens was one of the first to rush
to capitalize on the impending water shortage, investing a meager $100-million
in a scheme that he readily admits will make him an easy billion dollars, if not
far more.
In the Texas panhandle, Roberts County sits over the largest
underground aquifer in the US, the Ogallala Aquifer, containing a quadrillion
gallons of water. This vast underground reservoir reaches as far north as South
Dakota. Roberts county is roughly 924 square miles, yet has only a meager 900
residents. Some people would say they were "ripe for the picking."
Perhaps that statement should read, "ripe for Pickens."
Mr. Pickens has purchased 68,000 acres, as well as the right to
drain up to 50% of the Ogallala aquifer to sell for his own personal profit.
Needless to say, that isn't exactly going over too well for many Texas
residents.
T. Boone Pickens 68,000 acres that sit over the Ogallala aquifer.
(Graphics: TruTV)
The fact that something like this is even allowed tells you that
government doesn't always work in our best interests, especially when big money
is there to buy off the legislators, something Pickens knows a thing or two
about.
Money Buys (Bribes) Legislation
Thanks to many state legislators whose campaigns he helped
finance, Pickens has been bestowed with a tremendous power generally reserved
for state and local governments, the power of "eminent domain." He did
this by creating a Fresh Water Supply District—a government entity that is
allowed that kind of power. Pickens
accomplished this feat after legislators passed a bill that made
it all the easier to create a water district. Previously, a
district's five elected supervisors needed to be registered
voters living within the boundaries of the district. Now, they
only had to own land in the district; they could live and vote
wherever. The bill was allegedly a "coincidental"
bill put forth by
two legislators from Houston. If you can believe the Pickens
camp, they say that Mesa had nothing
to do with influencing the bills passing. That seems improbable
to many, considering the stakes.
What Pickens did do was to create an eight-acre town and a local government, one
where two of his employees are the only eligible voters. Once he had organized that, he
held an election in which both of his employee voters cast their exclusive votes
to make their tiny municipality into a powerful Fresh-Water Supply District. As
a direct result of this scheming, Pickens is now able to issue tax-free bonds on
his own, giving him the lucrative benefit of borrowing at a tremendous discount.
The only problem now for Picket was that he was far away from any
municipalities that might have a potential need to buy water. So Picket has
proposed a massive pipeline that would be built in a 250-foot-wide corridor, all
the way to Dallas. To get the pipeline, Pickett needed the Texas legislature to
give him a joint energy and water transmission lines right-of-way.
After spending $1.2-billion to help elect Texas legislators in
2006, Pickens was able to get the law changed. He did so with the invaluable
help from former state Senator J.E. Buster Brown, now one of the most
influential and powerful lobbyists in Texas. Brown accomplished this through an
amendment to a major piece of state water legislation. The amendment, added after the
bill had already been reviewed in the Texas House, allowed a water-supply
district to transmit alternative energy and transport water in a single
corridor, or right-of-way.
Brown represents Pickens' company, Mesa Water. He says, "My
job is primarily defensive. I'm watching to make sure there is no legislation
passed that creates obstacles to Pickens doing what he wants to do. I'm supposed
to make sure nothing bad happens."
An Unfair Power
For Pickens, he can now use the power of eminent domain to force
landholders to sell to him, or else he now has the legal right to simply
take their land from them if they refuse his offer,
all allegedly “for the common good” of Texans.
Pickens weaseled for this exclusive power of eminent domain
because he needs it to force his plan upon Texas landowners, all so that he can build
his huge pipeline to Dallas. Many Texans find this to be about as underhanded as
you can get to steal someone's land. In Texas, "them's fightin' words,"
but then again, who can possibly stand up to the billionaire bully Pickens? Through his newfound power of eminent domain, Pickens has seized land
across 11 counties so far.
According to an article in
Business Week, Pickens owns more water than any other person in the country
through his water rights in the Ogallala aquifer.
The Ogallala aquifer runs from Texas to South Dakota.
(Graphics: TruTV)
Pickens has
already sent 1,100 letters out to landowners living on
the 250-mile corridor that he plans to build on. Pickens intends to essentially
steal this land for only $30 million, more than likely less than full market
value.
Pickens isn't content with his local new found Texas power. He
has now gone so far as to
petition congress and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to
expand the power of eminent domain and right-of-way, so that he can operate
across state lines as well.
Pickens has added to the project by now proposing a vast
$12-billion wind farm, to sit on the same land he is taking for his
pipeline. The cost of the water pipeline is estimated at $1.5-billion.
According to Texas State Rep Warren Chisum (R) “The wind is
meant to sweeten the deal. The big money for Pickens is in the water.”
You can literally bank on that. Especially when water becomes
extremely scarce and Pickens jacks the price up on survival.
“All I’m doing is selling surplus water,”
Pickens told Business Week
Considering that water is predicted to be in short supply soon,
Pickens definition of surplus may be a tad bit conservative for the billionaire tycoon.
It should be noted that State Representative Chisum is also a
wealthy Roberts County rancher who owns 12,000 acres next to Pickens and is also
involved in selling off the people's water from the aquifer. In
Roberts County, residents cling to the hope that controls can be
put in place to regulate and control pumping from the Ogallala
aquifer.
In 1998, as entrepreneurs and local water
utilities began buying up water rights, the groundwater
conservation district decided to place restrictions on the rule
of capture that it calls the 50-50 rule. A permit will only
allow the aquifer to be drawn down by a maximum of 50%
Pickens says he will stand by the 50-50 rule.
"I don't have any concerns about depleting the aquifer. All I'm
doing is selling surplus water," he says. "I'm not about to
drain all the water out of Roberts County. I have my ranch
there. But I could sure take it down 50% and not hurt anybody.
And it could make a lot of people a lot of money."
Especially T. Boone Pickens.
Stealing Foreign Water
Not to be outdone by Pickens is another Texas
family who may have taken their cue from their fellow Texan. The
Bush family has purchased nearly 100,000 acres of land in
Paraguay. What's in Paraguay you say? A little town called
Paso de Patria which is near the Triple
Frontier (Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay), but is also very near
Bolivian gas reserves and the Guarani indigenous water region,
within the Triple Border.
The news so far isn't sitting well with county
residents because the land that George W. Bush purchased in 2008
just so happens to sit on one of, if not the largest underground
aquifers in the world, the
Guarani aquifer.
The Bush family appears to be positioning
themselves to takeover one of the world's largest aquifers.
Many are asking why the 43rd president needs a
98,840-acre ranch in Paraguay? Did I mention it is protected by
its own U.S. military base? Mariscal Estigarribia air base,
is run by US soldiers who have been exempted from
war-crimes prosecution by the Paraguayan government. An
interesting arrangement.
Manned in July 2005 with five hundred U.S.
troops, equipped with planes, weapons and ammunition, Paraguay's Mariscal Estigarribia air base is a huge facility with an
airfield that can accommodate B-52 bombers and Galaxy C-5 cargo
planes. The base is actually larger than the international
airport in the capital city of Asuncion. It has a large radar
system, huge hangers, and can comfortably house up to 16,000
troops.
Yeah, well, nice to have a little firepower
present when you're contemplating raiding another country's
water and gas supply.
Reportedly, Jenna Bush paved the way with a
secret diplomatic visit to Paraguayan President Nicanor Duarte
and also U.S. Ambassador James Cason. The meetings were held in
private.
America's ambassador to Paraguay, James Cason
is an interesting person. Bush first stationed Cason in Havana, Cuba
in 2002, but later transferred him to Paraguay in 2007. Cason is a former
"political adviser" to the U.S. Atlantic Command and NATO's
Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic. He has served stints in El
Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Panama, essentially anywhere
the U.S. has conducted its Central American wars over the past
30 years.
Argentina´s undersecretary for Land for Social
Habitat, Luis D'Elia, says the issue brings regional concern
because it directly threatens the local natural resources. Water
and gas are key.
Mr D'Elia is correct. Whether it is in the
United States or a third world foreign nation, no individuals or
multi-national corporations have the right to steal a natural
resource that belongs to the people of the region, especially
when it is a vital and necessary resource for life.
According to a source from the Physical
Planning Department, most of the Chaco region belongs to private
companies now. That can't be a good thing for the locals whose
very existence depends on the availability of their local
drinking water.
A strong argument could be made to support
the notion that we do not go to third world countries to help
them get clean drinking water, but instead to privatize it for the
immoral multi-national corporations, like Perrier, Aquafina or
even Coca Cola.
A Multi-National Effort
A few companies have gone even bolder yet, such
as Perrier, a subsidiary of the multi-national Nestle
corporation. They have invested heavily in Michigan and the
Great Lakes. Locked behind two sets of chain link fence, huge
siphoning pumps are deliberately hidden from view in the forest.
They are pumping the Great Lakes dry and shipping the water
overseas. Much of the Great Lakes water is headed for China,
filled in massive cargo bags which are pulled across the ocean
by a large supertanker. You might think that draining lakes that
hold six quad-zillion gallons of fresh water would be impossible,
but sadly enough, there is already a distinctive drop in the
great lakes, quite noticeable to any who have seen it.
So with fresh water running out, it is
supposed to become more precious than oil. According to the CIA,
future wars will be fought over it.
It is now quite obvious that some ruthless
entrepreneurs are trying to corner the market on this most
precious of natural resources. These people clearly have no
moral conscience if they can justify stealing water that does
not belong to them. Just because you can reach a portion of an
aquifer under your land that stretches across fives states does
not give you the right to drain off everyone else's water.
With a world water shortage on the way, it
would undeniably be more beneficial to mankind if these
ultra-rich water barons would invest instead in coastal based desalinization plants,
rather than stealing the public's drinking water. Not only would
they get the benefit of a vast water supply to exploit for sale,
but there is also the leftover sea salt which could be sold for
profit. Desalination is a proven working technology that is capable
of bringing as much or more water to society than existing
underground aquifers.
Take Action
It's time for the people to rise up and fight
for a natural resource that belongs to all of us. Regional
aquifers traverse vast amounts of land, covering many states, so
for anyone to stake a claim to water that clearly is not
exclusive to their land is nothing more than criminal activity
from immoral individuals.
Tell your neighbors. Tell your friends. If we
don't stand up to the water barons now, we will all pay dearly
for the right to survive when water becomes scarce.
Call your Congressional representatives and
demand that our water be protected under public domain for all
of society, not just the private profit of soulless
multi-national corporations and the morally challenged wealthy
elite.
Aside from the air that we breathe, water is
the most fundamental basic essential ingredient for life on this
planet. It is no one's right to deny any human being or animal
their God-given inalienable right to fresh air and clean water.
Start the fight now before it's too late.
This author has a well dug over 300 feet on my
property, reaching deep down into the
Jordan Aquifer
which stretches from Iowa through Minnesota and Wisconsin. I suppose now that Pickens
has set a legal precedent that transcends beyond multiple state
boundaries, what is to stop me from staking my claim to the
Jordan Aquifer?
Truth be told, the government has already
GPS'd my well years ago, as they have every other private well
in the United States. That's right, the US government is
locating every single privately owned well and is marking them
through GPS coordinates. Some believe that meters will one day be
applied, limiting the amount of water that can be accessed from
your own personal well. If that is the case, will Pickens' well and
those of other water entrepreneurs
be capped as well?
Of course not! They're filthy rich. They can
bribe all the favorable treatment they need or want.
What is clear is that a double-standard is
emerging regarding wells and regional aquifers. If you're rich,
you can suck the water right out from under your neighbors
property, across many states even, but if you're just the
average John Q. Public, you very well might one day be limited
in taking water from your own
private well for your own personal use. This is a criminal
injustice in the making. It's time to organize and put up a
fight for our inalienable water rights.
We have a right to survive. We have a right to
water.
It's time we fight to keep those rights, or
risk losing them completely.
See also:
Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura: Great Lakes
Blue Gold
(Water Documentary)
Source Reading:
There Will Be Water
T. Boone
Pickens wants your water
Our Drinkable Water
Supply Is Vanishing
Blue Gold: T.
Boone
Pickens Hoarding
Water Rights
T. Boone Pickens Taps Water & Wind For Land Grab
Duncan: Boone Pickens' plans to sell water aren't good for West Texas
Mesa Water
(Pickens Water Company)
CP News Wire: Bush's
Paraguay Land Grab
Herr Bush's Paraguayan Liquid Gold
US offers Paraguay financial support for water projects
(2008)
Paraguay in a spin about Bush's alleged 100,000 acre hideaway
Pres. Bush buys 100,000acre ranch in Paraguay
Bush
Reported To Have Purchased 99,000 Acres In Paraguay
Graphics:
Tru TV
"conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura
Return to
NewsFocus.org
|