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<TITLE>6/22 DamNation: Dispatches from the Water Underground (Th)</TITLE>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2>CLEO WOELFLE-ERSKINE AND OSKAR COLE, OF THE GREYWATER GUERRILLAS,<BR>
PRESENT THE BOSTON DEBUT OF<BR>
<BR>
*DAM NATION: DISPATCHES FROM THE WATER UNDERGROUND*<BR>
<BR>
AT THE LUCY PARSONS CENTER. THE EVENT FEATURES READINGS, A PHOTOGRAPHIC<BR>
TOUR OF THE WATER GRID, ECOLOGICAL SANITATION PROJECTS, AND A DISCUSSION OF LOCAL<BR>
WATER ISSUES. THE EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTOR SCOTT KELLOGG WILL ATTEND.<BR>
<BR>
June 22, 7 pm<BR>
<BR>
Lucy Parsons Center<BR>
549 Columbus Ave<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
*"The politics of water—as this brilliant anthology makes clear—are<BR>
the politics of human survival. Read this, and believe me, you'll never flush<BR>
with the same equanimity again."<BR>
<BR>
—Mike Davis, author of *City of Quartz* and *Planet of Slums*<BR>
<BR>
* "A manifesto for the movement. . . .[the Greywater Guerrillas' systems]<BR>
represent a pinnacle of greywater design."<BR>
<BR>
—Gregory Dicom, *New York Times*<BR>
<BR>
* "An accessible and energizing resource for the next generation of<BR>
activists and radical plumbers."<BR>
<BR>
—Art Ludwig, author of *Create an Oasis with Greywater*<BR>
<BR>
* "These committed activists tell us how biotechnics can make the<BR>
water we<BR>
have killed live again. If you love your children and the world that<BR>
sustains as it delights them, listen to these voices, then act."<BR>
<BR>
—Gray Brechin, author of *Farewell, Promised Land: Waking from the<BR>
California Dream*<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Turning on the kitchen tap doesn't mean safe water—or even any water—for<BR>
some millions of people across the United States. Crumbling waterworks,<BR>
privatization, and persistent pollution are taking their toll. As the<BR>
Water Wars loom closer, the nation seems stalled and residents bewildered<BR>
and the complexity and expense of large-scale fixes. The Greywater Guerrillas<BR>
bring a fresh approach to our water dilemmas and present sustainable<BR>
household and municipal solutions.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
*Dam Nation* is a people's history of water—and the water grid; a<BR>
detailed accounting of the fallout from a century of Manifest Destiny's attacks on<BR>
wild rivers. The book traces how—across five continents—beleaguered<BR>
commoners block the neoliberal makeover of the world and endeavor to<BR>
restore balance between humans and watersheds. These strategists and<BR>
innovators blowopen the scarcity myth to show how local democratic<BR>
control coupled with watershed restoration can provide water for everyone.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
The Greywater Guerrillas, founded in 1999 by Cleo Woelfle-Erskine and<BR>
Laura Allen, designed the first small-scale urban greywater systems to<BR>
incorporate greywater diversion, biological sewage treatment via wetlands, wildlife<BR>
habitat creation, and backyard food forests. Their amateur plumbing and<BR>
ecological design collective published the* Guerrilla Greywater Girls'<BR>
Guide to Water*, a DIY introduction to water politics. Their projects have been<BR>
featured in the *New York Times*, the *San Francisco Chronicle*, and<BR>
*Home Power*.<BR>
<BR>
_________________________<BR>
<BR>
The Water Underground 2007 tour features<BR>
<BR>
* An unconventional slideshow in which a water nymph and robber baron<BR>
face off across the poker table in a dramatic confrontation between Dam Nation<BR>
and the Water Underground<BR>
* A discussion of local water struggles and restoration work<BR>
* A showing of Demise of Dam Nation, a compilation of cinematic dam<BR>
failures and catastrophes<BR>
<BR>
From Boliva to South Africa, local single-issue water fights have<BR>
exploded into demands for new water commons. The Water Underground Tour<BR>
2007 presents a water philosophy roadshow and resistance forum that<BR>
will kindle this spirit in North America. A grassroots network of<BR>
strategic and material exchange, which recognizes watersheds as social<BR>
and ecological responsibility units, can decolonialize the concept of<BR>
appropriate technology and demonstrate the potential of an<BR>
international water culture.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
More Info on Dam Nation: Dispatches from the Water Underground<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
The Greywater Guerrillas began in 1999 as an amateur plumbing and<BR>
ecological design collective, founded by Cleo Woelfle-Erskine and Laura<BR>
Allen. Dozens of low-tech water-recycling installations, and years of<BR>
designing and touring, yielded the Guerrilla Greywater Girls' Guide to<BR>
Water, an 80 page DIY zine and introduction to water politics. The<BR>
Guerrillas designed the first small-scale urban greywater systems to<BR>
incorporate greywater diversion, biological sewage treatment via<BR>
wetlands, wildlife habitat creation, and backyard food forests. The Guerrillas<BR>
expanded their vision of radical water activism as they met and talked<BR>
with river restoration, ecological sanitation, anti-privatization, and<BR>
anti-dam movements around the globe. It was time for another book: one<BR>
that synthesized a radical history of water with DIY sustainable<BR>
technologies.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Dam Nation is a people's history of water—and the water grid. Tracing<BR>
the rise of mega-dams and their spread across five continents, the book also<BR>
chronicles the inevitable popular opposition to this philosophy of<BR>
appropriation and control. Blocking the neoliberal makeover of our<BR>
world, beleaguered commoners fight to reclaim the earth's arteries, lakes, and<BR>
seas. Their struggles, strategies, and successes form the backbone of<BR>
Dam Nation. The authors weave together a detailed accounting of the<BR>
fallout from a century of river blockages and diversions with<BR>
mulitlayered analysis of water movements around the world.. Dam Nation blows open the<BR>
scarcity myth to show how democratic management and local control of<BR>
water resources can provide water for everyone and make the rivers we've<BR>
killed live again.<BR>
<BR>
Both radical history of water and DIY guide to sustainable technologies,<BR>
Dam Nation: Dispatches from the Water Underground combines an analysis<BR>
of water's history with the active fight for its future. Bringing together<BR>
hundreds of national and international projects, organizations, and<BR>
strategies, Dam Nation investigates political economy an d environmental<BR>
impact of water consumption. It also gives readers easy, cheap, and<BR>
thought-provoking ways to join the 'water underground' themselves. The<BR>
book illustrates:<BR>
<BR>
* How corrupt water policy led to bloody battles during the<BR>
settlement of the American West<BR>
* How a Michigan town being drained by the Nestle Corporation is<BR>
fighting to block water privatization nationwide<BR>
* How to reuse household water to create lush gardens<BR>
* How to build a composting toilet and a pedal-powered washing<BR>
machine<BR>
* How to cultivate a pond filled with edible plants and<BR>
mosquito-eating fish<BR>
* How residents jump started municipal eco-projects in such diverse<BR>
locales as Tijuana, Mexico City, Zimbabwe and Arcata, California<BR>
* How a 'protest village' in Thailand and a neighborhood association<BR>
in Louisiana both beat back dam and canal expansion with grassroots<BR>
organizing<BR>
* How a coalition of Native American tribes organized cross<BR>
culturally, leading Scottish shareholders to stand up for tribal<BR>
salmon rights<BR>
* And much more<BR>
<BR>
*DAM NATION: DISPATCHES FROM THE WATER UNDERGROUND*<BR>
<BR>
Edited by Cleo Woelfle-Erskine, Laura Allen, and July Oskar Cole;<BR>
illustrated by Annie Danger<BR>
<BR>
Soft Skull Press, New York. 2007<BR>
<BR>
contact: cleo@greywaterguerrillas.com<BR>
<BR>
--<BR>
The Lucy Parsons Center<BR>
549 Columbus Ave. | Boston, MA 02118 | 617-267-6272<BR>
<A HREF="http://lucyparsons.org/">http://lucyparsons.org/</A><BR>
<BR>
"A long period of education must precede any great fundamental change<BR>
in society." - Lucy Parsons<BR>
<BR>
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