An environmental group is suing the state of Colorado and Gov. John Hickenlooper -- on behalf of the Colorado River.
You may be familiar with the Colorado River -- whether you've rafted in it, fished in it, or maybe even seen it in its more famous setting -- all the way at the Grand Canyon. But is it a living thing? With rights? And can it sue our state and governor? Calling itself “next friends” of the Colorado River Ecosystem, an environmental group called Deep Green Resistance filed a lawsuit in Denver's Federal District Court on September 25, on behalf of the Colorado River, which it's hoping the judge will recognize as a living person with rights. It's seeking to hold the state of Colorado and Gov. John Hickenlooper responsible for violations against the river and ecosystem’s “right to exist, flourish, regenerate, be restored, and naturally evolve.” [caption id="attachment_24313" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
Image courtesy of Perf Science[/caption]
The first-of-its-kind lawsuit suit was filed by Jason Flores-Williams, a Denver lawyer who made headlines in 2016 when he sued the city of Denver over its sweeping of homeless encampments.
Our system of law has failed to stop the degradation of the natural environment, and consequently, has failed to protect the natural and human communities which depend on it for their survival and livelihood," the lawsuit reads. "Environmental law has failed to protect the natural environment because it accepts the status of nature and ecosystems as property, while merely regulating the rate at which the natural environment is exploited. Its failure can be seen from the worsening of climate change, the continued pollution of ground and surface water, and the decline of every major ecosystem on the continent .... The Colorado River’s continuing existence, let alone its ability to continue to provide sustenance for both human and natural communities, is now at issue."
The lawsuit specifically refers to the Gold King Mine spill which occurred in August 2015, releasing 880,000 pounds of heavy metals and three million gallons of mine wastewater down the Animas and San Juan rivers, which are tributaries of the Colorado River. It also claims that the state of Colorado depends too heavily on water from the river, and that the river's dams are a violation to the rights of the ecosystem.
For the destruction to stop, institutions within the dominant culture must recognize the inherent worth of the natural communities who give us life. If American courts do not recognize the inherent worth of natural communities, the dominant culture will not change, and collapse will only intensify. American courts must recognize the legally enforceable rights of ecosystems and nature for those reasons," the lawsuit states.
The Colorado River, which originates at La Poudre Lake Pass in Colorado, is the seventh largest drainage basin on the continent, traveling through Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, and Mexico, providing water to some 36 million people and irrigation to millions of acres of crops.
[gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="24314,24311"]Should the suit be successful, it could pave the way for other natural entities to "sue" government organizations or corporations over anyone that might infringe upon their resources. But experts say they don't expect the effort to be successful.
“I don’t think it’s laughable,” Reed Benson, chairman of the environmental law program at the University of New Mexico, told The New York Times. “But I think it’s a long shot in more ways than one.”
To read the full text of the lawsuit, click here.