The Color of Local Government: Observations of a Brown Buffalo on Racial Impact Statements in the Movement for Water Justice

Authors

• Tom I. Romero II, University of Nevada, Las Vegas -- William S. Boyd School of Law

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2022

Abstract

This Article advocates for the adoption of racial impact statements ("RIS") in local government decision making, particularly among water utilities. Situated in the larger history of water and climate injustice in Colorado and the arid American West, this Article examines ways that racially minoritized communities engage and contest legal and political water regimes. The Article then explores how water utilities could use RISs in the acquisition, treatment, and delivery of drinking water. If made a part of the everyday work of water utilities, RISs provide a useful tool to center the history and lived experiences of racially minoritized communities battling the many water inequities threatening their homes, schools, and places of work and worship.

Publication Citation

25 CUNY L. Rev. 241 (2022).

Recommended Citation

Romero, Tom I. II, "The Color of Local Government: Observations of a Brown Buffalo on Racial Impact Statements in the Movement for Water Justice" (2022). Scholarly Works. 1527.
https://scholars.law.unlv.edu/facpub/1527