An Aspen activist is hoping to gain support for a paradigm shift in the way people view their local waterway by granting rights to the Roaring Fork River. Environmental psychologist, author and Aspen Times columnist Lindsay Branham is asking local elected officials to consider a resolution protecting the Roaring Fork and its tributaries by recognizing that nature has rights and that it’s the government’s responsibility to care for them. … The Rights of Nature is a small but growing movement that seeks to evolve the legal system’s relationship with nature from one that views rivers as a resource and property for human use, to recognizing that natural entities have intrinsic value and an inherent right to exist. 

Other river news around the West:

• Friends of the River et. al.: News release: Request for release of State Water Board analysis on 2022 Merced River drying event
• KJZZ (Phoenix): Arizona’s Verde River scores a C+ in new ‘report card.’ Here’s why
• The Coronado Times (Calif.): Opinion: The Border Clean Water Security Act — a federal path to solving the Tijuana River sewage crisis
• Times of San Diego: Opinion: San Diego deserves progress on cleaning up Tijuana River — not promises