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    Constructing the aquatic environment as a legal subject: legal rights, market participation, and the power of narrative

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    Author
    O'Donnell, Erin
    Date
    2017
    Affiliation
    Melbourne Law School
    Metadata
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    Document Type
    PhD thesis
    Access Status
    Open Access
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/11343/191749
    Description

    © 2017 Dr. Erin O'Donnell

    Abstract
    In 2010, the Victorian government created the Victorian Environmental Water Holder (VEWH) to be ‘the single voice’ for environmental water rights in Victoria. The VEWH is one of many ‘environmental water managers’ (EWMs) operating around the world. EWMs use a variety of legal forms to establish legal personhood to participate in water markets to acquire and manage water for the aquatic environment. The creation and operation of EWMs raises the question: what happens when the environment is constructed in law as a legal person? I use the example of the EWMs in Australia and the USA to develop a new conceptual framework to understand how the environment is constructed in law, and how the multiple constructions can interact in unintended ways. In particular, I find that there is an apparent paradox in the creation and operation of the EWMs: they are a regulatory tool intended to increase the legibility of the environment to law, and increase the rights and powers of the environment in law, but in doing so, they reframe the environment as a mere participant in a market, which can weaken the cultural narratives that support environmental protection.
    Keywords
    environmental law; legal rights; water law; water markets; legal subject; environmental water manager

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