World Wide Water Commons

Hey, all:

Okay, here's one thing to do--elect leaders globally--in every country--who are not stooges of the Corporate Oligarchy.   One of our biggest problems--everywhere--globally--is the all-too-cozy association between politicians and Big Bidness.  As water becomes more scarce, the Corporate Oligarchy wants to control it as they would any commodity.  Preserving water as a right, and subject to the need for some respect for others and discipline in its efficient use, is the alternative.

That's one thing.

David
Messages done with sustainable energy, with Wind and Sun!

.. talking about symbols of the water commons, drinking fountains are it.  The demise of the drinking fountain is surly the symbol of all symbols regarding local water commons.  The word fountain could not be a better word for our purpose to promote the water commons.  It's very local and we all could find out where our local fountains are and what conditions they are in.  I intend to do a survey of my community and then get up at my local community city council meeting and report about what I found.

.... here's the story about one such drinking fountain in San Francisco.

S.F.: Drinking fountain goes dry

Jonathan Curiel

Monday, April 28, 2008
WHAT'S NOT WORKING: DAY 1

Drinking fountain with no water: Any time from dawn to dusk, runners can be seen sprinting along JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park, especially the scenic stretch between the Conservatory of Flowers and the de Young Museum. Runner Jeannie Webby tells ChronicleWatch that this stretch has a nagging problem: A broken drinking fountain that would provide her and others much-needed relief from their sweaty workouts. The fountain is next to the paved area where, on weekends, in-line skaters and rollerskaters perform dances and other orchestrated maneuvers. Webby says the fountain, which has been out of service for several months, is the only one she knows of in the area. More aggravating: People who try to use the fountain come face-to-face with an old cigarette butt and some old twigs that have lodged next to the spout. That may soon change. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission wants to connect the fountain to the new water main that it installed on nearby Fulton Street in February, but since San Francisco Rec and Park is responsible for the park's plumbing and irrigation, the agency is negotiating with Rec and Park to split the costs, says PUC spokesman Tony Winnicker. The reason the fountain wasn't reconnected in February during the Fulton Street project: SFPUC had no records that the fountain even existed, Winnicker says.



Who's responsible: Yomi Agunbiade, San Francisco parks manager; (415) 831-2700; yomi.agunbiade@sfgov.org



Is something broken in your neighborhood? Call us at (415) 777-7170, or e-mail us at chroniclewatch@sfchronicle.com.