This civil society declaration was written on behalf of many countries in response to the fact that governments around the world have failed to protect their water legacies.

It proposes to create a World Water Parliament to administer the Earth's fresh waters as a trust to protect the Earth's water supply as a commons for the preservation and well-being of our species and all our fellow creatures. This would ensure that all people have access, individually and collectively to water in quantity and quality sufficient to meet basic social and economic needs while at the same time maintaining the health of ecosystems worldwide.