Theses and Dissertations Collection

There are gaps in water resources law, policy and management due to being outdated but also due to rising issues of concern surrounding climate change, water scarcity, and environmental racism. There is potential for these issues to be addressed in an interdisciplinary way that acknowledges and utilizes both Western and Traditional ways of knowing. A personhood policy for rivers can set the groundwork for integrating Traditional ways of knowing, specifically dealing with managing the physical landscape, into Western land and water management; there is an urgent need to accept and utilize Traditional ways of knowing instead of trying to assimilate ‘minoritized’ cultures and societies into a Western framework. Additionally, a personhood policy for rivers would set the groundwork for the social value of rivers, intangible values such as emotional attachment and cultural memory, to be widely acknowledged alongside their economic value, and recognize legal standing for the environment to be seen as a baselevel protection to be built upon.