Green Corps partnered with ACORN, SEIU Local 100 and Public Citizen in 2002 to successfully stop the privatization of the New Orleans water supply.

When concerned citizens in New Orleans wanted to stop the privatization of their local water supply, they came to Green Corps for help.

Access to clean and affordable water is essential to human survival, but the world's largest corporations are seeking to make a profit by privatizing this public resource. In cities across the world, multinational corporations have sought to take over municipal water systems and push management contracts that maximize their profits and remove a city’s ability to control price and water quality. In case after case, privatization has been damaging to the environment and consumers.

In the fall of 2002, residents of New Orleans were on the verge of becoming the next victims of corporate water privatization. Several powerful multinational corporations, including Vivendi and United Water, had placed bids on the city’s water supply.

To protect the local water supply, the Green Corps organizers had to build enough grassroots pressure to convince the New Orleans Water and Sewage Board to reject the corporate bids. Working on behalf of SEIU, ACORN, and Public Citizen, a team of Green Corps organizers built a powerful community coalition including five labor unions and ninety groups ranging from urban neighborhood associations to churches.

They mobilized over 100 citizen volunteers to demonstrate public opposition through car caravans, lawn sign displays and rallies. The coalition convinced the New Orleans Water and Sewage Board to reject all of the bids from multinational corporations, making it possible for residents to continue to have safe and affordable water.