As climate change intensifies floods, landslides, and extreme weather events,

conventional civil engineering approaches are increasingly revealed as environmentally

unsustainable and socially disruptive. Large-scale river infrastructure such as dams is

often celebrated for renewable energy production, yet these projects fundamentally alter

hydrological systems, damage ecosystems, and displace Indigenous communities. The

prevailing human-centered model of development prioritizes technical efficiency and

economic gain while marginalizing ecological balance and Indigenous knowledge

systems.

This research investigates the environmental and social consequences of dam

construction alongside the growing movement to recognize the legal rights of rivers. By

braiding Indigenous ecological worldviews with modern engineering practice, the

project seeks to challenge the assumption that infrastructure must dominate or reshape

natural systems. Through qualitative and quantitative analysis including literature

reviews, environmental data, and case studies of dam projects and river personhood

laws, this study will identify patterns connecting climate vulnerability, ecological

degradation, and engineering design choices. Sources will include scholarly archives,

interdisciplinary research, and expert insight across engineering, environmental studies,

and law.

The goal is to propose a climate-responsive framework for civil engineering that works

with natural geological and hydrological processes rather than against them, while also

abiding to the river rights. This research is personally significant because I have

witnessed how flooding and landslides, intensified by human construction practices,

devastate communities. By integrating Indigenous perspectives into infrastructure

design, this project aims to contribute to policy, educational, and engineering shifts that

promote resilient, adaptive, and socially just development in a changing climate.