Please join us as we begin “Winning the Texas Water Wars Against Corporate Privatization.”

The Lone Star Water Congress will focus on promoting public water policy that ensures the sustainability of safe water supplies for the benefit of all people and natural ecosystems against the domination of water resources by powerful private interests. Thus, the Lone Star water Congress adds an important—yet often ignored—dimension to the ongoing struggle to protect both ground and surface water for the future needs of Texans.

Trinity University campus map is here.

Speakers include:

• Ruth Caplan, Chair of Sierra Club’s National Corporate Accountability Committee and Water Privatization Task Force
• Victoria Kaplan, National Organizer for Water for All Campaign, Food & Water Watch
• Sheril Smith, Lone Star Sierra Club Water Resources Chair
• John Donahue, Professor, Trinity University
• Antonia Juhasz, Visiting Scholar Washington DC Institute for Policy Studies
• Eric Opiela, rancher and water law specialist
• Ann Mesrobian, Chair, Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District
• Jay J. Johnson-Castro, President, Texas Water Alliance
• Annalisa Peace, Executive Director, Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance
• Lesley Ramsey, Director, Texas Fair Trade Coalition
• Jack Clough, author of "Property: Illusions of Ownership"
• Neil Hargreaves, global geophysicist

Lone Star Water Congress Conference Schedule

• 7:00 p.m.   Welcome – John Donahue, Professor, Trinity University; Dave Wells, Alamo Sierra Club
• 7:20 p.m.   “Water is a Miracle,”  Maria Berriozobal
• 7:30 p.m.  Privatization in the Middle East, Antonia Juhasz
• 8:00 p.m.  Experiences from the UK – Water Privatization, Private Profit & Labor, Neil Hargreaves, global geophysicist
• 8:30 p.m    Reception hosted by Trinity University 

• 8:30 a.m.     Registration
• 9:00 a.m.     Welcome and announcements 
• 9:15 - 10:00 a.m.   Water Privatization Overview
• John Donahue Professor, Trinity University
• Ruth Caplan, Chair, Sierra Club Corporate Accountability Committee and Chair, Water Privatization Task Force
• Vikki Kaplan, National Organizer, Food & Water Watch
• 10:00-11:00 a.m. Texas Mapping Exercise. Where water privatization, marketing, bottling, and other areas of concern are found on the map of Texas, Annalisa Peace, GEAA
• 11:15-12:30 p.m.  Water Rules & Rights, Winners and Losers
• A Look at Rule of Capture and Property Rights, Eric Opiela, attorney, Texas rancher
• Does the Public Trust Trump the Rule of Capture, Jack Clough, former Asst. Attorney General of New Mexico, now living in Colorado, author
• Speaking for Our Local Groundwater Resources, Ann Mesrobian, President, Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District
• 12:30 p.m.  Lunch break – pick up your box lunch
• 1:15 p.m.     Texas Water Hustlers – Jay J. Johnson-Castro, President, Texas Water Alliance
• 2:00 p.m.     Rights-based Organizing Around the U.S. – Ruth Caplan, Sierra Club
• 3:00 p.m.     Plenary to Introduce Workshops
• Pumping for Profit:  Strategies Around Bottled Water and Bulk Water Sales
• Water/Sewer Systems: Strategies to Protect Essential Public Services
• Water out of Trade Agreements
• Right to Water for People and Nature—Local/global organizing
• Changing Texas Water Law on Right to Capture
• 4:45 p.m.     Report back–major concerns/ideas about legislative recommendations
• 5:15 p.m.     Adjourn for dinner
• 6:30 p.m.     Meet for dinner in San Antonio

• 9:00 a.m.     Setting Priorities for the Coming Year
• 10:00 a.m.   Breakout groups
• 11:00 a.m.   Next Steps – how we go forward in Texas.  Breakout groups report back to larger group
• 12:00 p.m.   Adjourn
• 1:30 p.m.     Tour of Government Canyon State Natural Area (26 miles from Trinity University). Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.