by Amanda Malachesky
November 20, 2002

In this time when fresh water the world over is being taxed, when rivers are being altered by dams, pavement, aqueducts, and irrigation systems, a crisis of water rights looms on the horizon right in our own backyard. A private corporation, Alaska Water Exports, is seeking the rights to export water from the Albion and Gualala Rivers in Mendocino County.

Pressure on municipal water systems has prompted some creative new solutions An application by Ric Davidge, CEO of Alaska Water Exports to the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) for a water permit has generated significant interest along the North Coast. Davidge’s company, a multinational water transport corporation that is already transporting water from Norway to Saudi Arabia, and from Alaska to Japan, has submitted a proposal to the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to collect river water in 900 foot by 100 foot by 25 foot plastic “bladder bags” from the mouths of the Gualala and Albion Rivers in Mendocino County. Water would be collected by laying a 6 foot diameter inlet pipe above the saltwater intrusion level in the rivers and piping the water into the bladder bags. Since freshwater is less dense than saltwater, the bags float when full, and are slated for transport via tugboat for sale to San Diego.

Though harvesting water from the Mattole is not currently part of Davidge’s plan, he has visited the Mattole to assess its potential for a similar project. If the project on the Gualala and Albion Rivers is approved, it may serve a precedent for other projects on similar coastal rivers.

In an effort to thwart the bladder bag proposal, Sonoma County Assemblymember Patricia Wiggins drafted AB 858, which Governor Gray Davis signed into state law September 27, 2002. The bill requires a comprehensive study by the California Department of Fish and Game before an application for water export can be granted by the SWRCB. However, this bill does not stop the application process that Davidge has begun. Kathryn Gaffney of the Water Rights Division of the SWRCB said, “The bill requires a study to be completed before a permit can be issued. Such a study might take five years.” Regarding how the new bill will affect the process, she said, “It can certainly hold up the process, but it doesn’t stop it.” Ursula Jones of Friends of the Gualala River in Gualala, CA commented that, “The bill is not binding. The Water Board is requested to consider the results of the study, but they are not mandated to do so.”

The public comment process requires citizens and groups to comment specifically on what potential environmental impacts of the project might be. Greg Bryant of the National Marine Fisheries Service comments, “Depending on how Davidge collects the water and when, potential impacts might include an increase of saltwater intrusion and lowering of the water table, and therefore an impact on riparian vegetation, an important habitat parameter for fish.” He also said that “it will be difficult for them to place the intake pipe above the saltwater intrusion level since that varies depending on the season, tides, and channel configuration.” Gary “Fish” Peterson of the Mattole Salmon Group said, “Estuaries are very sensitive ecosystems. Any sort of disturbance can be extremely harmful.” Any or all of these potential impacts could have a negative effect on salmonids and other organisms.

When local becomes global

This new approach to water transportation and sale, if approved, promises to redefine the way we think about water use. Such a project is sure to create controversy and conflict elsewhere as it already has on the Albion and Gualala Rivers. Though transferring water for public uses within the state is legal, this project will further complicate efforts to settle existing water disputes, such as those water appropriation projects in the Klamath and Eel Rivers. Both ecological and political influences can determine which parties have priority over water rights. However, the consequences of such an unprecedented transfer are potentially much larger than we might imagine.

The seemingly local issue of one or two rivers giving a water right to a corporation could quickly become global. Once the water right is given to Davidge, it may not be revoked. Trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), contain provisions that can potentially hamper the power of local governmental agencies or communities to protect local water supplies and rivers. Such provisions may require the state to economically compensate a corporation for lost opportunity if an existing law “unfairly inhibits trade.” An example of this was when the European Union decided they didn’t want to buy American beef due to the presence of the growth hormone rGBH, and American beef growers took their case to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO determined that the measure was an unfair barrier to trade and required compensation from the EU for lost opportunity if they were to continue enforcing the boycott. In the same vein, if local human and ecological needs conflict with water permits held by corporations, or if river flows are lower than average and the permitee is given less water, the permit holders could take their case to the WTO.

The outcome of the Davidge proposal could have major impacts on the way water is viewed and distributed along the whole Pacific Coast, ensnaring Californians in a bitter battle about rights, responsibilities, and ownership, and we may discover that our rivers are not really our own any more. To request a copy of Ric Davidge’s proposal to the SWRCB for comment, please contact Amanda Malachesky at the Petrolia office at (707) 629-3514, or Kathryn Gaffney at the State Water Resources Control Board at (916) 341-5360 or visit the website www.waterrights.ca.gov/gual_alb/Notices&Info.htm.

Further Reading: Barlow, Maude and Tony Clarke. Blue Gold: The Fight to Stop the Corporate Theft of the World’s Water. The New Press, New York, 2002.

Barlow, Maude. The Free Trade Area of the Americas: The Threat to Social Programs, Environmental Sustainability and Social Justice. International Forum on Globalization, Volume I, 2001.

Friends of the Gualala website: www.gualalariver.org/default.html



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Table of Contents for Mattole Restoration Newsletter, Issue 19 - Winter/Spring 2002-03