Nederland, Colorado, passed a water rights resolution in 2021.
And this isn't a right to use the water sort of resolution, it's an "our water is alive" resolution. Here's a snippet:
The Rights of Nature/or the Creek and Watershed: The Creek and its encompassing Watershed, and the living and other things existing naturally therein, exist and function as an integrated and interdependent system of natural communities and are therefore understood, respected, and recognized in this Resolution as a living entity, possessing fundamental and inalienable rights.
The resolution was the brain child of Gary Wockner, the executive director and founder of Save the World's Rivers and a rights of nature advocate (who, it should be noted, doesn't live in Nederland).
Just this January, the town appointed legal guardians to speak on behalf of the water in support of the resolution.
But just a few short months later, the town is moving to repeal the water's inalienable rights.
The reason?
People depend on water to survive.
Wockner and Save the World's Rivers are using the resolution to oppose construction of a dam and reservoir that would provide Nederland with an upstream water source.
Nederland's mayor, Billy Giblin, said,
In passing its Rights of Nature and related Guardian appointment resolutions, the Town was convinced by proponents that it was making an important public statement of its commitment to these principles, and in doing so, was setting up a structure for the Town to receive input to consider environmental impacts in its decision-making process. However, there is now concern that the Town's Rights of Nature Resolution may be being used in ways that the Town did not understand or anticipate at the time of adoption, and in ways that could jeopardize the Town's water security.
In other words, they were all for virtue signaling until it meant they might have a harder time accessing drinking water.
Not only that, but according to Colorado law, water rights (the right to use water in this case) are conditional. Every six years, water right owners must file a diligence report to show that they are using the water for the benefit of human beings. Otherwise, the water rights will be transferred to new owners.
So, the town could lose ownership of its water rights if they're not taking steps to use the water to benefit its citizens.
I'm guessing Save the Rivers doesn't care about any of that though.
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