The following is a guest post by Constance Johnson, a Legal Research Analyst in the Law Library’s Global Legal Research Center.
Last month I was lucky enough to attend the annual international affairs conference on Star Island, off the coast of New Hampshire. I heard several very interesting speakers on the issue of water as a right and a resource (see the conference website for information on the full program). All life on earth depends on water, and humans use it directly, to drink and for washing, and indirectly, through its use in agriculture and industry. Among the many issues related to water we discussed was the question of whether there is an international human right to adequate, safe, affordable water to maintain the dignity of life.
While the United Nations General Assembly