Water As a Human Right

The United Nations recently declared access to clean drinking water and sanitation a basic human right. The measure, while non-binding, could pave the way for greater governmental control over water, most likely in the form of subsidized water projects, below cost rate structures, and political allocation of water rights. As Bruce Pardy (PERC Julian Simon Fellow) notes in today’s Financial Post, putting our most precious resource under political control may only exacerbate the problem.