Right to Water

Access to clean, safe drinking water is one of the most fundamental necessities of life. It is therefore a basic human right. Yet too often this basic right is impinged upon or even denied by those in power for their economic advantage. Quite often, those most severely affected are the poor and peoples of color.

The Human Right to Water is one of the major programs of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC).

Water Justice is also a a major program for the Unitarian Universalist (UU) Legislative Ministry of California (UULM-CA).

Take Legislative Action

Urge your Representative to fully fund and implement the Water for the Poor Act. Insist that funding from the United States support water access for low-income communities.

The Appalachian Communities Health Emergency (ACHE) Act would put a moratorium on mountaintop-removal coal mining, which poisons nearby streams

The Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act would repeal the Halliburton Loophole that exempts gas drillers from the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, and other laws that protect our water.

Resources

Worship Materials

• UUSC Resources for Reflection on the Right to Water
  For Justice Sunday 2012: Justice is the Human Right to Water
   
• Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Water Ceremony/Communion Services
  Many UU congregations have an annual tradition of celebrating a Water Ceremony/Communion.

Books & Films

• When the Rivers Run Dry: Water—The Defining Crisis of the Twenty-First Century, by Fred Pearce
   
• Blue Covenant: The Water Crisis and the Fight for the Right to Water, by Maude Barlow
   
• Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It, by Elizabeth Royte
   
• Thirst: Fighting the Corporate Theft of Our Water
  Groundbreaking documentary by Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman
   
• Flow: For Love of Water
  Award-winning documentary by Irena Salina and Steven Starr, about the privatization of water infrastructure, putting profits over people and the environment.