LOS ANGELES, CA - On November 6, Los Angeles will become the first major City in the United States to earn the designation of Blue Community. The Blue Community initiative in Los Angeles, led by Councilmember Paul Krekorian, commits the City to.1) Recognize water and sanitation as human rights.2) Promote publicly financed, owned and operated safe water and wastewater services.3) Bans or phases out the sale of bottled water in municipal facilities and at municipal events.
In conjunction with the announcement, the City is sponsoring a symposium on the future of water in Los Angeles, including accessibility and sustainability. The event will take place Wednesday, November 6, at 1 p.m. in the Tom Bradley Tower Room, located on the 26th Floor of Los Angeles City Hall, 200 N. Spring St., Los Angeles, 90012. Speakers include Mayor Eric Garcetti, Krekorian, and Richard Harasick, senior assistant general manager of the water system for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. At the event the mayor and councilmember will announce an initiative regarding one of the key pledges of the Blue Community in Los Angeles.
A ceremony noting the designation of Los Angeles as a Blue Community will take place on November 6th at 10 a.m. in LA City Council Chambers.
This designation recognizes the groundbreaking efforts Los Angeles has undertaken in the areas of water rights, water quality, access, and conservation, while also committing ourselves to meeting the future water needs of all Angelenos said Krekorian, who authored three resolutions that specifically address these issues and will be presented for a Council vote prior to November 6th.
Los Angeles has emerged as a world leader on a range of issues relating to water rights said Maude Barlow, founder of the Blue Communities Project and former Senior Advisor on Water to the 63rd President of the United Nations General Assembly. I congratulate Councilmember Krekorian and his colleagues for their leadership on one of the most pressing challenges facing the human race, now and in the future.
We applaud Los Angeles for its commitment to protect tap water for all Angelenos for generations to come, said Terry Tamminen co-founder of the R20 Regions for Climate Action, which introduced the Blue Community concept to Councilmember Krekorians office. May Los Angeles inspire communities throughout the United States to take the pledge as well.
Los Angeles joins Paris, Berlin, Montreal, Munich, Zurich and 50 other communities from around the globe in becoming a Blue Community. This means 20 million people are now protected by the Blue Community pledge at a time of looming water shortages worldwide. The U.N. anticipates a 40 percent shortfall in water provisions by 2050 if leaders do not radically shift the management of water to prioritize the human right to drinking water and sanitation.