Mt Shasta Water Rights: WHO DECIDES? - The Community ...

Introduction of the Mt. Shasta CommunityRights ProjectCitizens realizedthat unless wecame together toassert our rights togovern ourselvesand our resourcesin the place thatwe live, our dayswould be squanderedfighting onecorporate assaultafter the other.In October 2008, citizens learned of Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E) intent to begina cloud seeding project in Mount Shasta’s southeastern watershed through anannouncement in the Mount Shasta Herald. When asked about the project, localand county officials knew nothing. Citizens inquiring about the situation learnedthat officials were unaware of PG&E’s plans because the State of California allowsprivate corporations to modify weather using toxic chemicals without regulation,monitoring or permits.Further investigation revealed that despite the significant risks of crippling snowloads, floods, drought in outlying regions, wildfire, toxic contamination of theenvironment, road closures, etc., cloud seeding is included as a water managementtool in California’s State Water Plan. In the most objective review to date, theNational Academy of Sciences underscores the lack of evidence confirming thesafety and efficacy of cloud seeding and declines to endorse it as a viable tool forwater management.PG&E’s announcement came on the heels of the six-year effort to protect MountShasta’s southern watershed and community from exploitation by Nestle. Manyconsidered this a wakeup call. Citizens realized that unless we came together toassert our rights to govern ourselves and our resources in the place that we live,our days would be squandered fighting one corporate assault after the other. Inorder to live our lives and contribute to our community in more productive ways,we began seeking systemic solutions for transparent, participatory, accountablenatural resource decision-making through cooperative resource management andlocal self-governance.Fortunately, we discovered two organizations that specialize in this very solution.Global Exchange (GX) and the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund(CELDF) have recognized the failures of corporate-controlled government andaccepted the urgent task of restoring the integrity of American government byfacilitating individuals and communities in asserting their rights to secure healthyMt. Shasta Water Rights: Who Decides? 7