A Privatized River Runs Through It--Missoula fights to control its drinking water

http://inthesetimes.com/article/17924/a-privatized-river-runs-through-it

Missoula, Montana, the scenic mountain town that inspired A River Runs Through It, is fighting for control of the aquifer beneath it. Citing eminent domain, Missoula sued last year to take over the local water utility, Mountain Water Company, from its corporate owner, the Carlyle Group, a global investment firm with $194 billion in assets.

Standing against this multi-billiondollar firm is the town of Missoula, with a population of 70,000 and an annual budget of about $116 million. If a district judge does not agree with Missoula’s argument that it is the best manager of own its drinking water, then Carlyle can go ahead with a planned sale of Mountain Water to another multinational, the Canadianbased Algonquin Power and Utilities Corp. Arguments in the case have concluded, and a decision is expected any day.

If the judge rules in favor of Missoula, the win could be a game changer for communities around the country and even the world, says Hermina Harold, a Missoula-based activist who has organized grassroots rallies in favor of the city exercising eminent domain. “Privatization is a frightening global trend that has been constricting people’s access to water at an increasing pace,” she says. “If we can set a legal precedent that helps other communities win control of their water, it will make the City’s efforts even more worth it, in my opinion.”

Harold cites several reasons that publicly owned water would serve the public interest. For one, Missoula citizens pay some of the highest rates in the state for water. “The rates don’t need to provide millions for a parent company and investors,” she says. Additionally, the city’s expert witness testified, Mountain Water’s infrastructure is in need of repair, with some estimates of leakage rates as high as 50 percent—an indication of how private ownership has failed to invest in the utility,