Power dynamics in river basin governance (PhD project - Javier Rodríguez Ros)

Background

The Segura River Basin is a historically productive horticultural region where water scarcity has been systematically seen as the limiting factor for agricultural and economic development. This perception has led to the construction of numerous infrastructures to increase water supply, the Tagus-Segura Inter Basin Transfer (TSIBT) being the most representative example. Other infrastructures include drought wells, desalination plants, and even the ‘modernization’ of irrigation systems, are considered a means to save water and make it available for other systems in the basin. These technologies and policies have not stopped the overexploitation of surface and groundwater resources in the basin, and the problems of water deficit and environmental degradation intensified throughout the last decades.

Exceeding water demands in the Segura has driven to river basin closure: a social-ecological process that occurs when river discharges fail to meet human water needs. This phenomenon notably increases the interconnectedness of the water cycle, aquatic ecosystems, and water users. In this context, two dimensions of water challenges are key for achieving a deeper understanding: (1) the hydrological and ecological impacts, their interconnections, and variations; (2) the distribution of power within the water governance system. Both dimensions continuously shape the development of river basins and the patterns of control over water through hydrological planning and infrastructure construction. Water development is therefore the outcome of a complex political process, heavily influenced by the interests of different sectors, which shapes the water regime.

Description

This research addresses the problem of river basin closure and political disputes over water from a Political Ecology perspective that delves into the political nature of water scarcity in southeast Spain. The overall aim of this research is to produce a set of explanations that are socially and practically relevant in the context of increasing water interdependencies and conflicts. This approach draws on an inductive and comprehensive approach that integrates different perspectives to grasp the multifaceted political dimensions and the specific mechanisms that underpin river basin governance from a relational perspective. The thesis is structured in four blocks that explore the articulation and disputes of hydrosocial territories within and beyond the basin, mixing cultural, political, and economic elements of water governance at different scales.

In the first part, the thesis explores the plurality of cultural practices and modes of organization that traditionally performed irrigated agriculture in the region. Spanish and EU water policies provoked a rapid transformation of local hydrosocial spaces in the last four decades, impacting rural communities and hydrological dynamics. In this regard, the lack of sensibility to local forms of organization and to the ecological impacts of such policies call for a re-politicization of community-based irrigation that acknowledges the plurality of ways of being and knowing, often disregarded in these territories.

The second part delves into the re-ordering of hydrosocial territories, shaped by particular networks of actors, technologies, and policies that result in specific territorializations. Through an analysis of everyday politics in three case studies, this chapter aims to unravel the politics of implementation of ‘modernization’ and drought policies, the negotiation and implementation of technologies and the discourses that are mobilized to both enforce and resist initiatives of irrigation transformation.

The third block of the thesis analyzes the politics of scalar territorial reconfiguration, dissecting the formation of coalitions of stakeholders of different sectors at multiple levels to advocate for particular policies. This section examines the transformations in water distribution and allocations that occurred in one of the most important tributaries of the Segura throughout the last two decades, paying special attention to the role of the State and private companies recently incorporated to water governance schemes.

The last part of the research reflects on river basin dynamics based on the empirical findings developed in the previous sections. On the one hand, it discusses water governance loopholes and uncertainties at different levels that emerge from the hydrosocial configurations discussed. On the other hand it performs a critical discourse analysis of the hegemonic forces in river basin governance, discussing the forms of governmentalization in the territories analysed.

Results

• Community-based irrigated agriculture has suffered radical changes that caused social and ecological disruption. The transformation of these realities towards sustainable futures requires political acknowledgement of the plurality of knowledges and ontologies of ‘traditional’ systems;
• The implementation of water policies in the Segura has involved the activation of multiple powers that enforced a rapid reordering of hydrosocial realities. The emergence of numerous resistances in rural areas calls the attention to numerous uncertainties about the socioeconomic benefit of intensive agriculture in rural areas;
• The intrusion of private companies in ‘traditional’ hydrosocial spaces created a scenario of economic growth that intensified water overexploitation and reallocations. The incorporation of this logic in communities and State dynamics jeopardize the sustainability of hydrological bodies and rural communities;
• Water policies throughout the last decades have fostered radical transformations that leave numerous governance gaps and power asymmetries between human and non-human actors within the river basin. The concentration of power in the hands of a reduced number of actors threatens to advance towards scenarios of land and water grabbing in a context of authoritarian water management.