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Water Rights & Justice

Artwork: “ᑭᓯᐸᑲᒪᐠ (Kisipakamak)” by Malcolm Disbrowe: “this photo was taken on Reindeer Lake in Kisipakamak (Brochet/Barren Lands First Nation), northern Manitoba. Kisipakamak means “where the water ends” in Cree, a name that reflects the relationship between the land, water, and people living there.”.

Water: Rights and Relationships

By Kiersten Sanderson

With contributions from Angela Ciceron, Sarah Deckert, Adele Perry, and Pauline Tennent

Access to safe, accessible, affordable, and reliable clean water that can be used for drinking, cleaning, and all other daily usage, as well as access to sanitation, is a basic human right.i Recognizing the fundamental importance of water as necessary for the survival of humans and all living beings on earth, and its essential nature for the enjoyment of all other human rights, in 2010, the United Nations General Assembly finally adopted a resolution to recognize the right to water. As such, states are legally bound to respect and fulfill this right.ii

While recognizing the right to water can be heralded as a move in the right direction, inequities in access to water persist and in some cases are intensifying, and often, the communities most impacted by water injustice are denied the opportunity to participate in decision making on issues of water management and governance.

Conventional approaches to water rights and considerations of water in the everyday lives of many in the west are often rooted in the idea that water is a resource to be bought and sold;iii to be invested in and withheld from those who cannot afford it.iv Despite its commodification, there is no substitute for water, and billions of people across the world continue to live without safe access to drinking water.v From First Nations communities in Canada to Palestine, and to Paraguay, a denial of the right to clean drinking water is felt around the world, often by those already marginalized from other structures of oppression. 

The CHRR has a longstanding history of working in the area of water and justice, through the CREATE H2O project, and the work of its staff, research affiliates and partners. The Just Waters project continues this important work.

Water Sample from Lake Winnipeg on Dakota Tipi First Nation. Image: Carlie Kane for Lake Winnipeg Indigenous Collective.
Water Sample from Lake Winnipeg on Dakota Tipi First Nation. Image: Carlie Kane for Lake Winnipeg Indigenous Collective.
Wild rice at Little Whiteshell. Image: Helen Fallding.
Wild rice at Little Whiteshell. Image: Helen Fallding.

How to Cite: Sanderson, Kiersten (2025). Water: Rights and Relationships. Centre for Human Rights Research. https://chrr.info/research-theme/research-themes/water-rights-justice/

Water (In)Justice

To understand the human right to water, is to understand the historic and ongoing issues relating to a lack of access to water, decision-making, and water governance. The concept of water justice addresses the situational and relational injustices that humans face relating to accessibility, affordability, cleanliness and more. Issues relating to water justice can be complex, overlapping and intersecting with other forms of injustice or discrimination. Across Canada, and certainly in Manitoba, Indigenous peoples also face repeated flooding, sometimes directly related to hydro electric development.vi

Reading the stories of those who have both experienced water injustice and resisted it will offer a dynamic picture of these intersecting injustices.  Please follow the links in the sidebar to learn more. 

A map of the area that will be affected if the plan goes ahead. Photo courtesy: Shirley Thompson. 

An example of water injustice is that of Shoal Lake 40 and the Winnipeg Aqueduct. From 1915-1919, the City of Winnipeg constructed an aqueduct to allow for citizens living in Winnipeg to receive reliable and clean water, piped directly into homes. This led to the displacement of the members of Shoal Lake 40 from their original village to a plot of land that became a human-made island. These actions led to boil water advisories for over 25 years and a lack of safe, reliable transportation across the lake to connect themselves to the rest of the province.

For more information, visit these websites:

Shoal Lake 40

Water and the Infrastructure of Colonialism

For an analysis of the Winnipeg Aqueduct as an example of settler colonialism, check out Adele Perry’s book, Aqueduct: Colonialism, Resources, and the Histories We Remember.

In 2011, the Government of Manitoba opened the Portage Diversion which directed the floodwaters of the Assiniboine River into Lake Manitoba and away from Winnipeg and communities east of Portage la Prairie. This action led to a horrific flood faced by Lake St. Martin First Nations resulting in displacement. Community members were relocated to places such as Winnipeg, The Pas, and Thompson for 8 years, and then permanently relocated to unfavourable land not of their choosing. 

For more information:

The Lake St. Martin Story: A Summary

Flooding Hope: The Lake St. Martin First Nation Story

Shoal Lake 40 fought for over 20 years to build a road that would connect their community back to the province and no longer would people have to risk their lives traveling across the lake.

Watch the documentary “Freedom Road” or check out this article from APTN for more information.

Community members of Lake St. Martin worked relentlessly to have the unjust flooding of their community addressed. A successful class action lawsuit resulted from years of fighting both the provincial and federal governments in court, alongside direct actions by members of Lake St. Martin such as rallies, marches, and a documentary to raise awareness.

Water Access and Governance

Settler colonialism has dispossessed Indigenous Peoples of their lands and right to governance, and this dispossession includes water. The impacts of settler colonialism on Indigenous peoples are pervasive and entrenched in settler societies such as Canada and the USA, including water infrastructure and access. Water contamination and lack of access to clean water is caused in part by restrictions on Indigenous governance and rights.  

The community of Standing Rock went without reliable access to water for about half a century, only for the United States Government to choose to fast track the development of the Dakota Access Pipeline through Standing Rock. The pipeline was rerouted due to concerns that spills would affect the drinking water for the city of Bismarck, yet the government held little concern for Standing Rock and their own risk of contaminated water.  

It is not only a disregard of the potential contamination of Standing Rock’s drinking water but a disregard of Indigenous sovereignty, as the US government and court system simply did not accept any efforts of the Standing Rock reservation to govern what happens within the reservation. The Sioux, like the Anishinaabe and other Indigenous communities, believe that water is sacred, and that water sustains not only human beings and their communities, but also the broader more-than-human ecosystem. This disrespect of Indigenous sovereignty and historic treaties are an example of how settler colonialism impacts Indigenous peoples and their access to water. 

Standing with Standing Rock

Paraguay: Lack of drinking water in the country that holds the world’s largest freshwater reserve

Indigenous Communities Protest Trudeau

Atlantic First Nations Water Authority

The Atlantic First Nations Water Authority is an act of resistance to colonial governance, by transferring responsibility for water and wastewater to a First Nations organization.

Water and Liveability

Issues of water (in)justice intersect with, and influence factors such as physical health, mental health, housing, and food security, all intersect and influence one another.vii  Therefore, efforts to provide access to clean water must also address other systemic inequities that cause poverty, lack of access to quality education, and poor health and well-being. 

To learn more about how lack of access to water and sanitation impacts daily life, follow the links in the sidebar.

Wild rice. Image: Helen Fallding.

Make it Safe: Canada’s Obligation to End the First Nations Water Crisis

While it was published in 2016, this report by Human Rights Watch is sadly still relevant. Read Section II, Impact of Poor Water and Sanitation Condition, for a comprehensive look at just how much lack of access to clean water can impact daily life, parenting, health, economic realities, and more.

To learn more about the impacts of water insecurity on mental health, read this article by Dr. Jeffrey Ansloos.

Water and Gender

Globally, water issues disproportionately impact women and girls, as they are often burdened with providing water for their families, along with other water-intensive household activities such as cooking, cleaning, or taking care of ill, elderly, or young household members. It’s estimated that globally, 200 million hours is spent everyday on traveling to collect water. Recent studies have shown that the health and well-being of women and girls is impacted by period poverty and worsening water issues, such as poor water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities, flash floods, and scarce water supply that contributes to economic stress. During times of financial hardship, women and girls may be led to forgo purchasing menstrual products, turning to homemade alternatives that can cause serious or even fatal health hazards.

This disproportionate impacts has not hindered the role of women in grass-roots environmental organizations and efforts to tackle water insecurity. Women have and continue to mobilize at the local, national, and international levels and represent most of the membership in grassroots organizations.viii Studies have shown that when incorporating women and girls into water policies and implementation of water projects, their involvement can increase the effectiveness of the water projects by up to seven times.ix The involvement of women allows for communities to make better use of water services that are sustained for longer. There are groups and grassroots organizations across the globe that work to promote and support women in roles around water justice.    

Water and Menstrual Justice_Feb 2025Download

“1.8 billion people still do not have drinking water on-premises, and in two out of three households, women are primarily responsible for water collection.”  

These responsibilities:

  • Take time away from school and work 
  • Make girls and women vulnerable to attack while fetching water 
  • Lack of access to water and sanitation facilities makes it more difficulty for women and girls to manage menstruation and pregnancy 

For more information, see the UN Water website.

There are many examples of extraordinary acts of resistance to water injustice by women. Check out the following links for just some of them:

Women in Pakistan-occupied Gilgit Baltistan’s Satpara Chowk protest lack of water and electricity 

Women and children in Attawapiskat First Nation protest long-term water issues 

Mother Earth Water Walk

The Brave Women of Kruščica 

Climate Change and Water

Water and climate change have a close and complex relationship. There are many ways to explore this relationship, through climate change’s impact on the rising sea levels; a rise in severe droughts, floods, wildfires and hurricanes; and an impact on agriculture and livelihoods. Climate change exacerbates pre-existing inequalities and injustices, therefore those who already face water vulnerability are prone to climate vulnerability.

Drought

Floods

Gitxsan Rez-ilience: Understanding climate resilience as Naadahahlhakwhlinhl (interconnectedness) 

Decolonizing Canada’s Climate Policy 

Water as Relation

Water is critical to the health and survival of all life on earth. Despite widespread acknowledgement of the importance of water, unsustainable water use and colonial governance frameworks continue to drive issues of water quality, quantity and flows.  Such issues are further exacerbated by climate change. 

It is essential to reframe the current approach of water as a resource to one that is rooted in water as relation, to focus on the relationship between water and all living beings.x Respecting and incorporating Indigenous knowledge systems means understanding our own relationships with and responsibilities to water, beyond survival or ownership. 

i The human right to water and sanitation, UNGA, 64th Sess, UN DOC A/RES/64/292 (2010) GA Res 64/292

ii “The Human Right to Water: Critiques and Condition of Possibility” Farhana Sultana and Alex Loftus. WIREs Water 2015, 2:97–105. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1067.

iii Elizabeth Marino, “Adaptation privilege and voluntary buyouts: Perspectives on ethnocentrism in sea level rise relocation and retreat policies in the US” (2018) 49:1 Global Envtl Change from Kelsey Leonard, “WAMPUM Adaptation framework: eastern coastal Tribal Nations and sea level rise impacts on water security, Climate and Development” (2021) 13:9, Climate & Development 842

iv Margreet Zwarteveen & Rutgerd Boelens, “Defining, Researching and Struggling for Water Justice: Some Conceptual Building Blocks for Research and Action.” (2014) 39:2  Water International 143 doi:10.1080/02508060.2014.891168.

v United Nations Water  “Human rights to water and sanitation: Facts”https://www.unwater.org/water-facts/human-rights-water-and-sanitation.

vi Craft, Aimée, and Jill Blakley. In Our Backyard: Keeyask and the Legacy of Hydroelectric Development. 1st ed., University of Manitoba Press, 2022.

vii Farhana Sultana, “Water justice: why it matters and how to achieve it” (2018) 43:4 Water Intl 483

viii Farhana Sultana (2018): Water justice: why it matters and how to achieve it, Water International, DOI: 10.1080/02508060.2018.1458272

ix UN Women (2023). From commodity to common good: A feminist agenda to tackle the world’s water crisis.

x Deloitte. (2017, January 23). Thirsty for change: The untapped potential of women in urban water management.

Affiliate Researchers

  • colin_bonnycastle
    Prof.

    Colin Bonnycastle

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  • Aimée Craft

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  • bruno_de_oliveira_jayme
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    Bruno de Oliveira Jayme

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  • annette_desmarais
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    Annette Aurélie Desmarais

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  • brenda_elias
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    Brenda Elias

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  • bruce_erickson
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    Bruce Erickson

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  • annemieke_farenhorst
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    Annemieke Farenhorst

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  • linda_larcombe
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    Linda Larcombe

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  • melanie_ogorman
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    Melanie O’Gorman

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  • Dr.

    Jonathan Peyton

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  • shirley_thompson
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    Shirley Thompson

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    Jocelyn Thorpe

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  • nicole_wilson
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    Nicole Wilson

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  • qiuyan_yuan
    Dr.

    Quiyan Yuan

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