Been working on getting Hidro Intag recognised as a "donate-able" organization, I won't go into details but it has been a little struggle to find sources of financial support for the Ecuadorian project. Without any base or office in the US and therefore no EIN number, proving that its activities are legit and non-profit haven't been easy (no one wants to give their money to some dodgy office in the middle of nowhere). I will speak about it more in a different blog. However, this is on a different topic.
Water is the base of life but we are starting to run out of the drinkable stuff. Many (pessimist and "Realists") already talk of future water wars, well better be ready than sorry I suppose, but hopefully we (optimists) will get together and sort things out. Many countries have already resorted to expensive alternatives such as recycling and desalination, some just refuse these and are drink their own piss (Australia), and others well simply can't afford it, even worst often have their own drinkable water depleted or polluted by those who can. In Ecuador this is a daily problem, you probably heard of the Chevron court case which made some noise internationally, well they turned an entire region into an oil pit, nothing grows there anymore and people are dying due to nasty illnesses and kids are being borne looking pretty funky (more on it here).
In Intag (where I am writing from) mining from Canada, Japan and other extractive state are the ones wanting to do the same to this last remnant of the most incredible natural wilderness one is to see. The locals have been good at fighting the threats so far and even dared stand against armed mercenaries sent by a Canadian company (more here). However the local population are only fighting back as they were told of the horrific consequences their neighbours had endured from entire communities being broken, rivers turned lifeless, and entire region turned inhabitable (more about mining in Intag here). The local newspaper always hold at least three articles on the subject and the amount of organisation and NGO's concerned about the region is impressive. The hills of Intag hold two richness, on one hand an amazing natural diversity and an ecosystem, and on the other hand abundant resources in gold, copper and marble. One is priceless however the other has a serious price tag.
There is a more furtive issue which has already affected more than 80% of the world (don't cite me), agro-pollution. At my family's home the fresh water springs which are abundant in the region, provided villages and towns with drinkable water, but today through nature's water cycle and the world's best insecticides and herbicides money can buy, having a glass of this gift from nature would be like having a shot of white spirit. It is quiet ludicrous the amount of subsidies given to French farmers, which come from tax payers who are now forced to drink bottled or recycled water. How does that make any sense? (Does it need to?). I wonder if eating farmed chicken which was given recycled water than eating game meat which has unconsciously been poisoning itself.
Don't know if you have seen the world according to Montesanto. It explains how through dependence techniques of infiltration, the company Montesanto has created a world Monopole over food production (doc available to watch for free here). In Intag, where the company probably hasn't got a grip on (yet), I am seeing the arrival of the first hand held spray, they are 10l jericans carried like a backpack which contain herbicide, and spray with the help of a manual hose. The environmental impact is definitely not as great as the industrial machinery used in Europe, but I know the population here and they would turn the greatest offer down if they were aware risks it would hold to their family's or communities' health and future. However, unconsciously and in the best spirit there they go spraying the lovely chemicals they bought on the market with their savings on what will be their children's future meal and the meal of any organism in the way.
I often had to take precautions drinking water while travelling, and often ended up being the victim of nasty diarrhea, and when I got here I bought myself a big 5 litre bottle of water, a coke and an ice tea. Got to my cabaña which has been my home here and had a sip of water, little did I know before closing the lid and seeing the label that I was drink Coca-Cola water and even more my ice-tea was also a product of the company. Great, I'm in the middle of nowhere working for the environment and being kept alive by the Coca-Cola Company. A week ago realising this, I decided to endure the possible hours of toilet time by drinking tap water, like my shower's water, it comes from a small stream up-hill. Haven't had any trouble so far, the water tends to contain a bit of soil but taste fine, Pedro (a local) might be running up stream to piss every time I have a wash, for the fun of it, well I doubt it.
If the project I am working for manage to us the incredible maize of rivers in Intag to produce 100Mw of electricity with minimal environmental impact the energy would offer on one hand a serious financial value to the area which would in a way offset the value of the resources it holds and on the other hand give the region a protected status. In other words since the region will start producing money, destroying the environment and the livelihoods of thousands for a load of gold won't be worth it (as if it had ever been).
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