Legal Rights for Water Bodies

Both international and U.S. governments have granted legal rights to natural water bodies. In Quebec, the Magpie River, a sacred site and vital natural resource for the Innu First Nation, was granted legal personhood in 2021 by the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit and the Minganie Regional County Municipality, and in 2019, the Yurok Tribe granted personhood to the Klamath River in northern California.

In 2024, voters in Everett, Washington, granted legal rights to part of the Snohomish River watershed, and the Brazilian city of Lin­hares granted legal rights to the waves at the mouth of the Doce River. Tribes and governments in Bolivia, Mexico, and Ecuador have also exercised this form of protection of their wetlands and other waters; the Supreme Court of Colombia granted legal rights to the Amazon River ecosystem in 2018.

Challenges remain, however, in implementing this protective strategy without broader international recognition and interstate agreements. Planners should continue to monitor and be aware of these efforts, especially given their potential role in protecting vital natural resources.