Who is Responsible for Water Settlements? An Ethical Approach

We have read many different sources and perspectives regarding water settlements and the implications of such settlements on Native populations, particularly regarding the experience of the Tohono O'odham people. I am currently taking my capstone course in poverty studies, which involves a study of ethical arguments and frameworks regarding poverty issues. Reflecting on our class readings and discussions, I have wondered about the ethics of water settlements and have found myself considering the ethical question of water settlements in the light of the social responsibility framework presented by Iris Marion Young. 

Iris Marion Young seeks to address the issue of how to allocate responsibility in various instances of structural social injustices. She argues that all agents and actors directly or indirectly involved in the process or structure connected to the social injustice bear responsibility because they are somehow participating in the system of injustice. She calls this political responsibility. Thus, any agent or actor who is directly or indirectly affected by, or is a party to, the water settlement, bears a degree of social responsibility for reducing the social injustice that some of the Indian populations experience. This does not mean that these agent or actors are inherently liable, but that they have a moral obligation to not exacerbate the system of injustice. 

Using Young's argument, it seems that there are many political and profit-driven actors/agents, who are sometimes parties to the water settlements, are likely acting unjustly and need to reform their actions regarding water settlements. We all have a moral obligation to reduce social injustice in the processes or systems to which we are connected.