Building Alliances for Water Justice: Case Studies from California

What is water (in)justice? How have frontline communities come together to reveal inequities in water access and flows, advance meaningful reform, and build and sustain alliances? How do we center equity and repair in the face of drought and climate change? How do we learn to be good allies for water equity? This class will provide a nuanced examination of water injustice and justice by examining historical foundations, inequities in governance and distribution, and pathways toward restoration, repair, and water rights reform for justice. We will anchor our learning in three California-based modules where Indigenous and frontline communities have built powerful alliances for water equity and reform: 1) access to safe drinking water as a human right, 2) protecting in-stream flows and tribal beneficial uses of water in the face of large-scale water exports and diversions, and 3) dam removal for ecological and cultural restoration. Each module will include issue framing and readings from a multidisciplinary instructor team working from an allied perspective, a panel conversation with frontline community leaders for Indigenous rights and environmental justice, and student-led readings and discussions. By grounding our learning in dialogue with frontline community leaders who are reshaping the legal, political, and eco-cultural landscapes for water justice in California, we seek to question dominant frameworks of "community vulnerability," learn from the lived experience of individuals and organizations building meaningful alliances for justice, and begin to anticipate a wide array of legal, policy, organizing, and institution building strategies for reform.