TFTT Report
Water Activist Groups and the Tangled Web They Weave
Opponents of private water claim to empower change and often masquerade as independent of special interests. Yet their actions speak louder than words.
The truth is these activist groups receive millions in funding from anonymous donors and maintain close relationships with international activist groups. They organize together behind the scenes to push their radical, ideological agenda. And, after decades of this misleading behavior, it is time to expose their web of deception.
Washington, DC- based Food & Water Watch is at the very center of this tangled web. For years, they have received anonymous donations funneled through massive foundations. In fact, in 2011 and 2012, 90% of the group’s funding – a total of $20.8 million – came from 11 anonymous donations. This leads to important questions: Who is really setting Food & Water Watch’s agenda and do they truly have the local communities’ best interest in mind? With this anonymous money, Food & Water Watch spends millions every year on its extreme agenda, including fighting private water companies’ efforts to help communities with their infrastructure challenges.
Closely tied to Food & Water Watch are Corporate Accountability International, Friends of Locally Owned Water (FLOW) groups, Clean Water for North Carolina, Water Justice, and In the Public Interest. While claiming to be independent of each other, these groups frequently team up on research reports, advocacy material and protest activities. What appears as grassroots opposition to private water is often a closely orchestrated operation run out of Washington, DC. These groups want the public to think that there are many voices against water privatization, but the truth is they are a small group of ideologues without credible data to back up their claims.
When communities are deciding whether to engage private companies to make the necessary investments in their water systems, what they need are facts, not a tangled web of deception.
Sources:
- About Food & Water Watch,” Food and Water Watch, Accessed 2/13/15
- Food & Water Watch IRS 990, 2011; Food & Water Watch IRS 990, 2012
- “Building Grassroots Pressure: How To Collect Petition Signatures,” Food & Water Watch, Accessed 2/13/15.
- “About Food & Water Watch,” Food and Water Watch, Accessed 2/13/15
- Food & Water Watch IRS 990, 2012