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Norway: Protection Plan for Watercourses and Master Plan for Hydropower Development

Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Between 1973 and 1993, Norway adopted four plans to protect high-value rivers from hydropower development.

New Zealand: The Power of a Lawsuit

The Whanganui River in New Zealand.
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
New Zealand's Whanganui River won personhood status in 2017, after more than 160 years of lawsuits.

New Zealand: National Water Conservation Orders

The Ahuriri River in New Zealand.
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
In 1981, New Zealand recognized 16 rivers and lakes as “Outstanding” and protected them in perpetuity.

Costa Rica: Plebiscites & Wetlands

Protecting the Pacuare River.
Monday, March 26, 2018
Costa Rican voters passed a resolution to protect the wild Pacuare River; a few years later, the government instituted a revolutionary wetlands policy.

Colombia: The Atrato River Legal Decision

Dusk on the Rio Atrato
Monday, March 26, 2018
Colombia's Constitutional Court recognizes the Atrato River's rights to “protection, conservation, maintenance and restoration,” thanks to an inspiring – and successful – lawsuit.

Canada: Canadian Heritage Rivers System

Monday, March 26, 2018
A voluntary system of river protection that has been used to protect not only Canadian but also transboundary rivers.

Argentina: Entre Rios

The reservoir formed by Salto Grande Dam on the Uruguay River in Argentina. Photo courtesy of Tano4595 via Wikimedia Commons.
Monday, March 26, 2018
When the Salto Grande Dam on Argentina's Uruguay River flooded out the city of Federación, locals knew they needed to take action to protect themselves and their rivers. And they did.

United States: The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act

Monday, March 26, 2018
The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was a groundbreaking piece of legislation that helped halt the wholesale destruction of wild rivers in the American West.

Excerpt From "Replenish: The Virtuous Cycle of Water and Prosperity" by Sandra Postel

Wednesday, January 3, 2018
From Replenish: The Virtuous Cycle of Water and Prosperity By Sandra Postel Island Press 2017 www.islandpress.org/book/replenish  Excerpted from "Water Everywhere and Nowhere," Chapter 1 of Replenish As I wound my way up Poudre Canyon in northern Colorado, the river flowed toward the plains below, glistening in the midday sun. It ran easy and low, as it normally does as the autumn approaches, with the snowmelt long gone. I was struck by the canyon’s beauty, but also by the blackened soils and charred tree trunks that marred the steep mountains all around. They were legacies, I realized, of

Why Thai communities are defending their rights to the Mekong River in court

Friday, June 9, 2017
Originally published in The Nation Opinion Yesterday, representatives of the Chiang Khong Conservation Group and communities living along the Mekong River in Thailand filed a lawsuit in the Administrative Court over the proposed Pak Beng Dam upstream in Laos. This is the second lawsuit filed in Thailand over a dam being developed on the Mekong mainstream in Laos. The first, which remains before the Supreme Administrative Court, challenges Thailand’s plan to purchase Xayaburi Dam hydropower without having informed and consulted with Thai communities along the Mekong who will suffer serious n

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