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SYNOPSIS
Water is quickly becoming the liquid gold of the
21st century. While corporations urge local governments to privatize municipal
water, communities around the world are organizing to ensure affordable
access to this life sustaining resource. Water Warriors, is the story
of one community's determination to fight the seemingly inevitable path
of privatization. The film will capture up close the passionate and determined
players in this dramatic conflict: seasoned community organizers, local
workers, corporate managers pleading for efficiency; and local government
officials, torn between state directives and citizens needs.
Highland Park, U.S.A. was once the center of a thriving car industry and the birthplace of Henry Ford's assembly line. Today the city is on the verge of financial and physical collapse and as a result is under a state take over. A team of corporate emergency managers have been appointed to get the city out of its financial crisis and to do this they have raised water rates, attached unpaid bills to property taxes, and are looking to privatize the community's remaining valuable resource - the water plant.
These measures have resulted in an unprecedented number of water shut offs and residents are at risk of losing their homes and their voice in what happens to this public resource. For the residents of Highland Park the threat of water privatization is simply the last straw, and an impetus to fight back.
Water Warriors presents a community in crisis but also the powerful enactment of participatory democracy by workers, citizens, and city council representatives invested in local solutions. This community portrait is an unnerving indication of what's in store for small towns throughout the United States.
