Water is a public right, not a commodity for the privateer sharks by Avani Devi

Every year, on March 22nd, the world acknowledges Water Day, a symbolic moment to remind ourselves of the fundamental truth that water is life. Yet, year after year, that reminder grows dimmer under the shadow of corporate interests, political apathy, and a dangerous shift toward privatization. What should be a universal right is increasingly being treated as a luxury, a tradable asset, a profit-making machine for the select few.

Let’s be clear: water does not belong to corporations. It does not belong to hedge funds. It does not belong to a boardroom of well-dressed executives calculating how much profit can be extracted from human desperation. Water belongs to the people. It belongs to the rivers, the lakes, the glaciers, and the rain that nourishes the earth. It is a public wealth, not a private business. And if we don’t start fighting louder, if we don’t make this message deafening, then the sharks will not stop until they have drained every last drop of profit from our most essential resource.

Water privatization has long been sold as a necessary evolution in resource management, a way to bring efficiency, quality, and improved infrastructure. Yet, time and time again, history has exposed the ugly truth: privatization leads to soaring prices, restricted access, and a prioritization of profits over human needs. From Bolivia’s infamous "Water War" to Michigan’s poisoned pipelines, the pattern is clear, when private corporations take control of water, the people suffer.

And yet, the sharks keep circling. In recent years, private equity firms have begun buying up water rights across the globe, treating reservoirs and aquifers like stocks in a portfolio. These are not companies interested in sustainability or fair access. These are entities that exist for one reason only to extract wealth. And what happens when water is no longer seen as a right but as a commodity? The poor go thirsty. Agriculture suffers. Whole communities collapse. The consequences are not theoretical; they are already happening.

Governments, often in the pockets of these same corporate entities, are either enabling this plundering or looking the other way. In the United States, Nestlé has infamously been permitted to pump millions of gallons of water from public lands for pennies, only to sell it back in plastic bottles at outrageous markups. In Europe, despite public outrage, water privatization remains a persistent threat, with companies lobbying aggressively to turn what should be a common good into a marketable product. And in parts of the developing world, entire water systems have been handed over to private companies with disastrous consequences, leaving millions without affordable access to clean water.

This is not just mismanagement. It is systemic theft. And the only way to fight back is to demand that water remains in public hands, under public control, and managed for the benefit of all rather than the profit of the few.

Water Day must not become another hollow observance, a meaningless date on the calendar filled with generic pledges and empty promises. It must be a battle cry. A declaration that we will not allow the most essential element of life to be hijacked by greed. We must push for stronger regulations, harsher penalties for those who attempt to commodify our water, and an ironclad commitment that water remains a universal right.

This is not just an environmental issue. This is a fight for human dignity, for survival, for justice. If we allow water to slip into the hands of corporate profiteers, we will not get it back. The sharks never return what they take willingly.

So let us be loud. Let us be relentless. Let us make sure that every government, every corporation, and every would-be water profiteer understands one simple truth: Water is not for sale. Not now. Not ever.