This article is part of ourEconomy's 'Public ownership in times of coronavirus' series with TNI.
Despite being a public good, water is often treated as a commodity. While some argue that privatisation of water increases efficiency and improves the quality of water services, the negative effects in terms of loss of accountability, poor performance, and elevated utility costs are well documented. As the corona virus makes its way into poor and vulnerable communities, we are yet again reminded of the devastating impact that these have on people’s lives. When your ability to protect yourself from infectious disease is determined by your access to safe and affordable water, water service provision is not a matter of convenience – it is a matter of life and death. Worldwide, civil society organisations (CSOs) and grassroots movements therefore argue that water management should not be handled by private companies. Instead, water services and policy need to be democratised and placed under public control.
This is not always an easy task, but in Catalonia, years of hard work has paid off. The movement to remunicipalise water supply in the region has grown slowly and steadily over the past decade, thanks to the Aigua és Vida (Water is Life) platforms that many local groups set up since 2011. Local platforms such as Aigua és Vida Girona and Taula de l’Aigua de Terrassa have also emerged. After successful remunicipalisation, the Terrassa Water Observatory was established in 2018 – a dedicated citizen organisation that guides strategic decisions affecting Terressa’s water management. The Observatory has now become a point of reference for other municipalities that wish to build new forms of water governance.
