Racine Dominican Statement on Water

Fresh, safe drinking water is fast becoming the world's most treasured and scarce resource.  Its value is rooted in the sustainability of life on the planet.  It is the common heritage of all creation, a sacred gift.

Racine Dominicans believe that access to enough safe, clean, and affordable water for personal and domestic use is a basic human right.  And further, we believe that water should be held in the public domain as a common good for all.

Therefore, the following statement was passed unanimously by the Racine Dominicans gathered in their annual Assembly, June 22, 2007.

We commit to the following:
* educating ourselves and others about the reality and consequences of actions that threaten the water supply, including study of the Great Lakes Compact;
* promoting what preserves and conserves water supply;
* engaging in campaigns to overturn policies of privatization of water, especially in poor areas;
* working on issues and campaigns to reverse the effects of global warming.

 A further statement endorsing Wisconsin's legislative initiative to promote measures that enforce the stewardship goals of the Great Lakes Compact in Wisconsin is now being drafted.  The Great Lakes Compact, created through collective legislative action of the member states in the Great Lakes Basin, requires that each state designate how it will "promote the orderly, integrated, and comprehensive development, use and conservation of the water resources of the Great Lakes Basin."