A federal suit filed against the state of Colorado seeks to establish ‘personhood’ status for the mighty watercourse. Mari Margil, an attorney working on the case, explains what that would mean.

This article by Matt Weiser originally appeared on News Deeply October 25, 2017.

Should a river have legal rights of its own? Should it be able to thrive, and even evolve naturally, without human interference?

Those are the deep questions asked in a precedent-setting federal lawsuit filed in September in which the Colorado River, as an ecosystem, seeks federal legal rights to exist and to flourish. It is the first action of its kind in the United States. MORE…