Rivers, ecological health, and justice: international watercourses and long-term legal reform

Tamanna, Romin

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/97761 Copy

Description

Title

Rivers, ecological health, and justice: international watercourses and long-term legal reform

Author(s)

Tamanna, Romin

Issue Date

2017-04-21

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Freyfogle, Eric T.

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Freyfogle, Eric T.

Committee Member(s)

• Davey, William J.
• Wexler, Lesley
• Bilz, Kenworthey

Department of Study

Law

Discipline

Law

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

J.S.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• International water law
• International rivers
• Social justice
• Bangladesh
• South Asia
• Dams and reservoirs
• Equitable share
• Reasonable water use
• River health
• Vulnerable states
• Drainage basin
• Environmental protection
• International watercourses
• Integrated management

Abstract

This dissertation deals with rivers that cross national boundaries and with the international law that applies to them. It takes a critical look at that law, drawing upon normative standards that value justice among all people, without regard for where they live along rivers or for the negotiating strength of their home States, and that also value the long-term ecological health of rivers as aquatic systems. The dissertation pays particular attention to the most vulnerable States of the world on watercourse-related issues; to States that are located downstream, that have relatively weak negotiating powers in comparison with their upstream neighbors, and that face critical development needs. Bangladesh is used as the paradigm example. The dissertation draws upon current law and recent legal experiences to formulate a new vision for the international law of watercourses, a vision that, if implemented, would recognize and protect rivers as complex ecological wholes while promoting social justice among all people dependent on such rivers. In doing so, it puts forth an ambitious vision for long-term cultural as well as legal reform. The vision is offered less as a proposal for current consideration than as a way of clarifying deficiencies in current law and gaining a better sense of the overall direction in which more modest law reforms should head.

Graduation Semester

2017-05

Type of Resource

text

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/97761

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2017 Romin Tamanna

Owning Collections