Water: A Common Treasury
Water: A Common Treasury
In this chapter we argue that, because of its unique physical qualities and its importance to life and the environment, water is what Gerard Winstanley in 1649 would have characterised as a common treasury – a resource to be used in common by all. We examine the notion of water as a common treasury, and the implications that this characterisation of water has for property rights in water. We argue that a property rights system centred on neoliberal conceptions of absolute private ownership, allowing private dominion over water and its commodification, is inappropriate for water and subverts its role as a common treasury. To enable water to function effectively as a common treasury, we argue, a more appropriate property model is one that emphasises and facilitates collaboration and cooperation rather than competition – in other words, a property rights system which acknowledges and promotes communal property in its many forms.
Keywords: water, common treasury, property rights, commodification, communal property, collaboration and cooperation
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