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Water Contestations: Socio-Technical Entanglements, Politics and Social Mobilisation

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A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water Resources Management, Policy and Governance".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2024) | Viewed by 18531

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jaime Hoogesteger

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Guest Editor

Groundwater Governance & Equity Water Resources Management Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
Interests: water governance; water users associations; groundwater

Prof. Dr. Rutgerd Boelens

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Guest Editor

Water Resources Management Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
Interests: political ecology; water rights and justice; integrated water management; legal pluralism; cultural politics; governmentality; social mobilization; Latin America; Spain
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Dr. Gert Jan Veldwisch

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Guest Editor

Water Resources Management Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
Interests: irrigation; farmer-led irrigation development; drip irrigation; solar irrigation; social construction of technology; science and technology studies; water grabbing; water justice

Dr. Jeroen Vos

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Guest Editor

Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
Interests: water governance; collective water management; irrigation; irrigation management;

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Water is intrinsically contested and therefore political, meaning that it is part and parcel of arrangements of power and authority in human–water–technology associations and the activities and conflicts that take place within these socio-material arrangements. Based on this notion, this Special Issue will advance our understanding of water contestations and how they unfold through intricate socio-technical, socio-material and symbolic relations. All the papers in this Issue seek to study how socio-political processes and/or cultural–symbolic dimensions connect with physical–material expressions in everyday contestation over water. These contestations often involve disputes over water’s material distribution, its socio-normative and cultural organization, its political and technological control, its ontological definition, and over the worldviews that explain and legitimize the ways in which water and waterworlds are to be known and ordered.

The collection of papers will engage with a variety of current debates and theories on the politics of water, including issues that range from water as a human right, the politics of water’s nature, hydrosocial territorialization and the politics of knowledge to social movements and struggles for water commoning.

We are looking for both rich empirical case studies and theoretical contributions, as well as literature reviews, relating to the outlined topic. The Special Issue will aim to bring together perspectives and cases from across the world, contributing to the ‘political ecology of water’ as a field of engaged research and societal action.

Dr. Jaime Hoogesteger
Prof. Dr. Rutgerd Boelens
Dr. Gert Jan Veldwisch
Dr. Jeroen Vos
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

water commons
water collectives and co-governance

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Published Papers (11 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 12484 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessment of Future Water Security under Climate Change: Practical Water Allocation Scenarios in a Drought-Prone Watershed in South Korea

by Wonjin Kim, Sijung Choi, Seongkyu Kang and Soyoung Woo

Water 2024, 16(20), 2933; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16202933 - 15 Oct 2024

Viewed by 755

Abstract

Seomijn River Basin has numerous hydraulic structures designed to satisfy water demands and mitigate future droughts. However, the increasing water demand and export to neighboring areas cause water deficits and conflicts between water users. Therefore, practical strategies to mitigate the potential damage from climate change are essential. In this study, we aimed to propose practical strategies under climate change by examining the future water security of the Seomjin River Basin under five different water allocation scenarios referenced from the practical policies of various countries. Future climate models determined based on extreme precipitation indices of the ETCCDI were used to investigate their impact on water security, which was evaluated using unmet demand; demand coverage; reliability, resilience, and vulnerability; and aggregation index metrics. We found that prioritizing domestic and industrial water use is the optimal water security strategy, and unconditional allocation of instream flow can cause a significant water deficit for other water uses. However, prioritizing all water uses equally also proved effective under some conditions. Thus, our study highlights the importance of adaptive management and suggests that the optimal water allocation strategy lies in its flexibility in response to varying circumstances. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Contestations: Socio-Technical Entanglements, Politics and Social Mobilisation)

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17 pages, 2132 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Going with the Flow: How Local Water User Associations Have Shaped Water Resource Management in Chile

by Elisa Blanco and Guillermo Donoso

Water 2024, 16(16), 2329; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16162329 - 19 Aug 2024

Viewed by 962

Abstract

Effective and sustainable water resource management requires flexibility and adaptation to local contexts. Our study analyzes the emergence and evolution of local water self-governing associations, reviewing how their struggles and conflicts, both with the public sector and among locals themselves, have been pivotal to achieving agreements and actions towards sustainable water management. Using an adapted version of the Combined Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) and social–ecological system (SES) framework, also known as CIS, we conducted a comparative analysis of two distinct Chilean cases. This research highlights the critical role of historical factors alongside institutional support, political landscapes, and financial realities in shaping current water management practices. The findings suggest that when the actors are aligned and actions are taken to support local water user management, more efficient, sustainable, and less conflict-ridden water resource management occurs. Furthermore, this study reveals how the experiences, struggles, and successes of these local user associations have shaped national policies, particularly regarding the development of monitoring mechanisms and the promotion of public–private cooperation in water governance. These efforts have not only fostered more resilient water management systems but have also demonstrated the power of grassroots organizations in shaping broader sustainable policies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Contestations: Socio-Technical Entanglements, Politics and Social Mobilisation)

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26 pages, 4621 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Recasting Klamath Dam Removal as Eco-Cultural Revitalization and Restorative Justice through Karuk Tribal Leadership

by Sibyl Diver, John R. Oberholzer Dent, Daniel Sarna-Wojcicki, Ron Reed and Cole Dill-De Sa

Water 2024, 16(16), 2295; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16162295 - 14 Aug 2024

Viewed by 1649

Abstract

Moving from an era of dam building to dam removal brings additional perspectives to indigenous water governance and hydrosocial relations in the Klamath River Basin (US). This collaborative research initiative with the Karuk Tribe builds greater understanding of the sociocultural impacts of Klamath dam removal and river restoration through Karuk knowledge. Addressing a knowledge gap around the social dimensions of dam removal, we held focus groups and interviews with Karuk cultural practitioners, tribal leaders, and tribal youth in the six-month period leading up to demolition. Extending beyond a focus on infrastructure removal or single-species restoration, we consider how Indigenous environmental relations and cosmologies are embedded in dam removal and river restoration. Specifically, Karuk knowledge shifts the significance of dam removal by elucidating deeply interconnected ecological, cultural, and ceremonial relations that are co-constituted with the Klamath watershed, thereby recasting dam removal as a holistic eco-cultural revitalization initiative. This reconfigures dam removal goals to include improving community health and well-being, enhancing spiritual elements of river restoration, responding to colonial legacies, and engaging tribal youth. In the Klamath case, restorative justice becomes possible through Karuk participation in river restoration to facilitate the revitalization of reciprocal relations held between Karuk people and the Klamath River—including Karuk eco-cultural and ceremonial practices for restoring balance in the world. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Contestations: Socio-Technical Entanglements, Politics and Social Mobilisation)

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17 pages, 561 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Locally Led Opportunities for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Climate Change and Gender Equality Partnerships in the Blue Pacific

by Melita Grant and Juliet Willetts

Water 2024, 16(6), 872; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16060872 - 18 Mar 2024

Viewed by 1604

Abstract

Partnerships between water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and rights-holder organisations (RHOs) have become more common, important and impactful in the international development sector, and they have been driven by aligned agendas, mutual benefits and the pursuit of locally owned and inclusive development agendas. There are opportunities to broaden partnerships and coalitions to include climate change advocacy, adaptation and mitigation organisations given the increased focus on the links between WASH, resilience and climate change action. This article takes a first step in addressing the question: How can the experience of WASH, gender equality and climate organisation partnerships and coalitions in the Blue Pacific inform the WASH sector in its growing support of and investment in diverse partnerships in support of localism? We conducted a systematic scoping review to identify the literature on gender equality, WASH and climate change-related partnerships and coalitions in the Blue Pacific. Three key themes emerged from the systematic scoping review based on 23 studies published from 1996 to 2024. Firstly, partnerships and coalitions are part of a critical localism agenda, though care needs to be taken by potential partners and donors to understand and manage power dynamics between actors and organisations working within and across sectors. Secondly, a range of benefits and success factors have been documented on partnerships and coalitions in the Blue Pacific, including support for emerging leadership, leveraging policy outcomes, facilitating learning and the sharing of frameworks and tools between partners. Thirdly, like all parts of the community and governance ecosystem, gender dynamics and social norms inform and influence partnerships and coalitions. At the same time, partnerships are important for informing and driving gender equality and inclusion at the local and regional levels including within the WASH sector. This article is useful for local actors, donors and civil society organisations wishing to pursue the mutually beneficial goals of WASH, gender equality, climate change action and localisation in the Blue Pacific. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Contestations: Socio-Technical Entanglements, Politics and Social Mobilisation)

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15 pages, 2620 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Unveiling Pathways to Enhance Social Learning Processes in Water Struggles

by Daniele Tubino de Souza

Water 2024, 16(5), 629; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16050629 - 20 Feb 2024

Viewed by 1098

Abstract

To advance actionable knowledge production in the context of water struggles, this article identifies ways to strengthen transformative learning processes within riverine social movements. The complex challenges associated with water struggles point to an increasing need to explore ways in which these processes can be shaped and to promote changes in the worldviews that inform how water and riverine environments are perceived and structured. This study draws on the grassroots movement for the social-ecological regeneration of the Taquara Stream in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Research on this case has shown that the actions conducted by this movement fostered learning processes through the creation of innovative forms of involvement that brought together multiple actors. A panel of experts conducted an in-depth analysis of the learning practices observed in this case. This article discusses five aspects of the learning process, which have been identified by the experts, that are essential to expanding the transformative potential of water-related social movements: (1) building relationships of trust between actors, (2) building links with and between key actors in the process, (3) creating dialogue spaces that promote the co-creation of actionable knowledge, (4) engaging actors spontaneously, proactively, and co-responsibly in the process, and (5) bringing participatory research into local processes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Contestations: Socio-Technical Entanglements, Politics and Social Mobilisation)

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21 pages, 1247 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fabricating Irrigators: Contested Hydrosocial Territories and Subject-Making in Spain’s Tagus–Segura Interbasin Transfer Arena

by Nicholas Bourguignon, Sergio Villamayor-Tomás and Rutgerd Boelens

Water 2024, 16(2), 192; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16020192 - 5 Jan 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1697

Abstract

This article explores how irrigation farmer (regante) subjectivities are constructed in direct conjunction with the production of modernist–capitalist hydrosocial territories across the Tagus and Segura river basins in central and south-east Spain. We explore the complexities and contradictions of how, at various scales of governance, authorities establish and seek to realize ideal regante subjects across time and space. We mobilize a hydrosocial territory approach, combined with feminist political ecology and hegemony literature, to explore how such ideal subjects are built through Spanish and regional legislation and policies from 1866 to 2023. Through interviews with regantes in six irrigation communities, we identify different ideal and actual regante subjects in territories interconnected by the Tagus–Segura Aqueduct. We analyze how policy shifts lead to multiple and contradictory roles and responsibilities for regante subjects, which are linked to plot modernization, agricultural professionalization, and farmer rejuvenation. These sharpen divisions between smallholders and emerging large capitalist actors. Counterhegemonic territorial proposals resist these pressures by embodying alternative values and imaginaries. We conclude that through such counterhegemonic struggles, subject construction is enriched, identifying real-life existing and future alternatives for more just hydrosocial territories. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Contestations: Socio-Technical Entanglements, Politics and Social Mobilisation)

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16 pages, 1617 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Understanding Anti-Dam Resistance Politics: A Historical and Territorial Study of Two Megadams in Coastal Ecuador

by Juan Pablo Hidalgo-Bastidas

Water 2023, 15(23), 4132; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15234132 - 29 Nov 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1462

Abstract

Megadams are controversial ventures. Despite their contentious benefits, the negative impacts on local communities are enormous. This has prompted substantial disapproval and resistance, particularly from the communities that endure the most of its adverse effects. While many megadams have been constructed in the face of opposition, others have been halted or altered as a result of the fierce protests of affected people and their allies. A better understanding of the latter is key to promoting equitable and just water governance throughout the implementation of hydraulic infrastructure. Based on ethnographic and historical research carried out between 2014 and 2017, the article shows the power relations, social actors and historical-contextual factors that have influenced the development of the Daule-Peripa and Baba megadams on the Ecuadorian coast. From a political ecology and subaltern studies perspective, this article describes and analyses the social, territorial, and historical interconnectedness of the local communities of Patricia Pilar and Daule-Peripa dam in coastal Ecuador that successfully stopped the construction of a dam and had a great influence on its final hydraulic design. I argue that, given the adequate socio-political conditions and a systematic process of knowledge and experience exchange among affected communities, anti-dam struggles can emerge with significant capacity to influence in their favour the megadam implementation processes and other hydraulic infrastructures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Contestations: Socio-Technical Entanglements, Politics and Social Mobilisation)

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19 pages, 2900 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Utopian River Planning and Hydrosocial Territory Transformations in Colombia and Spain

by Bibiana Duarte-Abadía

Water 2023, 15(14), 2545; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15142545 - 11 Jul 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1874

Abstract

This paper examines how utopian river planning has arisen in Colombia and Spain since the late nineteenth century. Specifically, the paper contributes to understanding how particular ideologies of modernism and development present in territorial planning connect both countries. Taking Thomas More’s classic work ‘Utopia’ as the analytical reference, I analyze how utopian tendencies have traveled through time and space to shape territorial planning and water governance. In both countries, this was evident in the late nineteenth century through the political project to strengthen the nation state. For Spain, I describe the regenerationist movement and the hydraulic utopia led by the Spanish intellectual Joaquín Costa, who forged the dream of a water nationhood. By contrast, in Colombia, several political intellectuals looked at Europe and North America as a source of inspiration to achieve progress by controlling rivers. Through the method of disjunctive comparison, I show how the same utopian notions are expressed in similar ways in distinct contexts: violently governing the flows of rivers, standardizing minds and ordering territories towards capital growth. This paper contributes to grasping the notions and roots of the discourses that have colonized the political water agendas in both countries. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Contestations: Socio-Technical Entanglements, Politics and Social Mobilisation)

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22 pages, 3265 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of Social Networks of Water-Use-Related Information in the Rio Mayo Irrigation District (038) in Northern Mexico: Ethnicity, Land Tenure and Land Use

by Ixtoc Marlo Rivera-Nuñez, Diana Luque Agraz, Arthur D. Murphy and Eric C. Jones

Water 2023, 15(12), 2288; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15122288 - 19 Jun 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1719

Abstract

(1) Background: In Mexico, 76% of water consumed is used for crop irrigation, and close to half of this is used in 86 irrigation districts for agroindustry throughout the nation. The present study combines a political ecology approach with social networks analysis to identify how water-use-related information networks are structured according to the ethnicity (indigenous and non-indigenous) of the users of the Rio Mayo Irrigation District 038 (RMID) and how these networks are influenced by users’ type of land tenure and land use. (2) Methods: The study involved three stages: identification of social actors that influence water management (SAIWM); application of 118 structured interviews with users of RMID; and ethnographic fieldwork. (3) Results: Thirty SAIWM were identified. Only 11.8% of RMID users interviewed were indigenous farmers and only 5% were indigenous holders of collective landholdings. The information network metrics indicate that indigenous users have less access to information than non-indigenous users. (4) Conclusions: Ethnicity as well as land tenure and land use influence the structure of information networks and determine whether RMID users work as land-holding farmers or as hired labor. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Contestations: Socio-Technical Entanglements, Politics and Social Mobilisation)

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16 pages, 1334 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Shifting Waters: The Challenges of Transitioning from Freshwater to Treated Wastewater Irrigation in the Northern Jordan Valley

by Mohamed Hassan Tawfik, Hadeel Al-Zawaidah, Jaime Hoogesteger, Maha Al-Zu’bi, Petra Hellegers, Javier Mateo-Sagasta and Amgad Elmahdi

Water 2023, 15(7), 1315; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15071315 - 27 Mar 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3602

Abstract

Jordan’s water scarcity prompted a national plan whereby treated wastewater is utilized to amend agricultural irrigation water so as to reallocate freshwater to urban/domestic uses. The policy, however, has engendered farmers’ resistance in the Northern Jordan Valley (NJV), causing a stalemate in putting new infrastructure into operation. This research investigated the socio-economic causes of farmer resistance and contestation, and examined the government’s institutional approach to overcome the challenges. We found that the perceived risks of wastewater reuse such as salinization and restrictions from international markets figure prominently in the farmers resistance. As yet, farmers have managed to avoid the shift to treated wastewater use by using the political agency of elite farmers who control the Water Users Associations. These same farmers have adopted informal water access practices to overcome freshwater shortages. At the same time, small producers who don’t have possibilities to access extra water and with less political clout seem more willing to irrigate with treated wastewater. We conclude that understanding the heterogeneous context in which the envisioned wastewater users operate is key to predicting and solving conflicts that arise in treated wastewater reuse projects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Contestations: Socio-Technical Entanglements, Politics and Social Mobilisation)

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Review

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18 pages, 736 KiB

Open AccessReview

Hegemony and Colonialization in the Water Management Sector: Issues and Lessons for IWRM

by Neil Grigg

Water 2024, 16(18), 2624; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16182624 - 16 Sep 2024

Viewed by 721

Abstract

Water resources management and the broad concept of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) attract varied perspectives about their effectiveness and equity as they address diverse needs across sectors and contextual situations. Managers in the water sector generally support their current governance models, while anti-poverty advocates seek more equity in the distribution of resources. Another group of stakeholders claims a lack of inclusivity in decision-making, leading to inequitable outcomes due to hegemony and colonialization of the water management domain by sector experts, officials, and other actors. IWRM focuses on reforms in water governance to achieve greater participation and sharing of power by all sectors of society in decision-making. It can facilitate the involvement of all groups of stakeholders, including those who may in some cases need to engage in social action to address water issues. This paper reviews the claims about the validity of IWRM and analyzes them according to management scenarios where water is a connector among sector issues. The scenarios show that participation in utility and local government decisions is the main pathway for urban water, wastewater, and stormwater management, while the same pathway is more difficult to organize in dispersed situations for domestic supply and irrigation in rural areas, some cases of aquifer management, and management of sprawling flood risk zones. The body of knowledge about participation in water resources management is robust, but organizational and financial capacities among existing entities pose barriers. Water resources management and IWRM do involve hegemony, and the field of practice has been colonialized, but the existential issues and complexity of the decisions and systems involved challenge society to manage successfully while assuring equity and participation through governance reform. The debates over hegemony and colonialization in water management provide an opportunity to continue improving the norms of practice and water resources education. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Contestations: Socio-Technical Entanglements, Politics and Social Mobilisation)

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