Who Owns The Water?

​The Overpass Light Brigade protesting Assembly Bill 554, which would open Wisconsin Water to privatization.

Water is a necessity for life and, in Wisconsin, we are lucky enough to be next to one of the greatest sources of fresh water on the planet.  Aside from paying for facilities and filtration, if you are on city water, the water in our state has always been free, but this is not something we should take for granted.

Two new Bills,  Assembly Bill 554 and Senate Bill 432, have been rapidly making their way through our State Legislature.  The Assembly Bill has already passed, and the passing of the Senate Bill could lead to the privatization of our water.  If you've been paying attention to the news lately, you may have seen how well that worked out for the citizens of Flint, Michigan.

The Midwest Environmental Advocates, a nonprofit environmental law center that works for healthy water, air, land and government, says, "This legislative proposal takes away the rights of a community to be fully informed about the sale of their public drinking water supply to a profit-making corporation until it is practically too late to be heard."

Keeping water clean, safe and public is something that we can all get behind, and we need to get behind this.  Thankfully, the Milwaukee Riverkeeper has made it very easy to let your officials know that you don't want this Bill.  Click here to go to their site and make your voice heard!