(University of Oregon, 2010-06) Bassi, Michelle Platt
Climate change is disrupting the underpinnings of effective water management by
profoundly impacting hydrological patterns. Political entities mandated with freshwater
management must respond to society's water needs as availability fluctuates and, in
doing so, will encounter difficult ethical dilemmas because existing water laws are ill-equipped
to resolve such problems.
This thesis takes Chile's water laws as representative of the challenges in
addressing ethical disparities arising from freshwater management in a changing climate
and proposes that "water ethics" can effectively be used to manage freshwater resources.
I examine the 1981 Water Code with a critical eye towards ethical shortcomings and also
examine distributive impacts upon indigent farmers and indigenous communities. I
conclude that Chile's existing water laws are inequitable because they deny legitimacy to
diverse socio-cultural norms regarding water use. Principles of modern water laws must incorporate diverse cultural water laws using a legally pluralistic and ethical approach
to management.
