Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Water Political Ecology'
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KINYAGU, NEEMA. "Political Ecology : Local Community on Water Justice." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för organisation och entreprenörskap (OE), 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-85884.
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Tourism is often promoted as growing industries that make an important economic contribution especially to marginalized communities in rural areas. But taking a Political Ecology approach, what sort of contribution does tourism really make? Why are its benefits spread unevenly? And have communities necessarily need to give up access and use rights to certain natural resources? This study provides an insight on understanding the different dimensions of justice on water access by local community from a tourism perspective. In understanding the issues of justice on water, environmental justice has been a central focus of this research. Justice issuesrelated to water access is still a complex phenomenal due to the truth that, it is embedded to historical and socio-cultural context and linked to integrity of ecosystem. However, justice issues can be viewed differently from different people in relation to different perspective. Therefore, Schlosberg framework of justice is adopted in this research to understand and explore water issues in three realms of justice i.e distributive, recognition and participation. Qualitative research method was employed in data collection and findings were presented based on three realms of Schlosberg's theory. However, researcher concluded that, there are mixed feelings and perceptions on understanding the sense of justice to local people in water access. Lastly, due to the fact that, the researches related to justice in tourism studies are still very limited , further research need to be done in investigating the access rights local people have on accessing their natural resources for instance water.
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Budds, Jessica R. "Political ecology of water privatisation in Latin America : water rights markets in Chile." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2006. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.425427.
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Loftus, A. J. "A Political Ecology of Water Struggles in Durban, South Africa." Thesis, Royal Holloway, University of London, 2006. http://digirep.rhul.ac.uk/items/83d8dfba-f70b-7131-1068-e38de07290fa/1/.
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This thesis looks at the relationshp between water and social power. It attempts to answer two questions: who controls the distribution of water in the South African city of Durban? And how might this distribution be transformed in positive democratic ways? In attempting to answer these questions, the thesis provides insights into post-apartheid South African society and the possibilities for democratic social change. The framework of analysis builds upon work conducted in urban political ecology. In particular, I argue that urban environments, indeed all environments, should be understood as created ecosystems. Recognising this, I suggest that Durban's waterscape should be seen as produced through capitalist social relations. The waterscape thereby becomes a particular accumulation strategy through which profits may be generated. for Durban's communities, one of the most direct effects of this capitalist accumulation strategy is that access to water is dependent upon the exchange of money. Whilst this situation has been amerliorated somewhat through the development of a free basic water policy, the policy itself has necessitated a much tighter regulation of domestic supplies and, in effect, a more severe commodification of each household's water supply. In turn, this has resulted in water infrastructure acquiring power over the lives of most residents. This, I argue, is a result of the social relations that come to be invested within that infrastructure. The possibilities for change that are suggested lie within the struggle for feminist standpoint and the connection of these situated knowledges of the waterscpe with a broader historical and geographical understanding of the terrain of civil society. from such an understanding of civil society, a dialectical critique of hegemony is opened up. Overall, the thesis moves from an analysis of the power relations camprising the waterscape to the development of a critique from which, it is hoped, the possibilities for political change might emerge.
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Torres-Abreu, Alejandro. "The political ecology of demand : managing water stress in Puerto Rico." Thesis, Lancaster University, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.538613.
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Mehta, Lyla. "Contexts of scarcity : the political ecology of water in Kutch, India." Thesis, University of Sussex, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.263870.
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Merlinsky, María Gabriela. "Political ecology of water and territorialization of social struggle. Lomas de Zamora Water Forum’s experience." Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 2017. http://repositorio.pucp.edu.pe/index/handle/123456789/79707.
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En este artículo desarrollamos un análisis de las acciones colectivas por el acceso al agua y el saneamiento en la metrópolis de Buenos Aires. Nos interesa dar cuenta de la construcción social y política de la cuestión hídrica. Para ello, analizamos la emergencia de conflictos y reclamos por justicia ambiental, donde se elaboran nuevos conocimientos acerca del ciclo hidrosocial. La investigación se basó en un estudio de caso que analiza la experiencia del «Foro Hídrico de Lomas de Zamora», una organización que desarrolla acciones en la cuenca baja del Matanza-Riachuelo. El trabajo busca explicar la resonancia política de estas acciones en términos de la territorialización de los conflictos y la producción de conocimiento contraexperto. Nos proponemos mostrar la resonancia que tiene esta experiencia en la organización colectiva y en la construcción de nuevos lenguajes de derechos.s.This article we develops an analysis of collective action for water access and sanitation in the Buenos Aires metropolis. It intends to give an account of the social and political construction of water issue. To this end, it analyzes the emergence of conflicts and claims for environmental justice that create new knowledge about the hydrosocial cycle. The research was based on a case study that examines the experience of the «Foro Hídrico de Lomas de Zamora» (Lomas de Zamora Water Forum), an organization developing actions in the lower basin of the Matanza-Riachuelo river. The results of the study show the political resonance of these actions in terms of the territorialization of conflicts and the production of counter-expertise knowledge. We aim to show the resonance that this experience has in collective organization and the construction of new languages of rights.
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Bakker, Karen. "Privatizing the environment : the political ecology of water in England and Wales." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.287792.
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Wolosin, Robert Tyrell. "El milagro de Almería, España a political ecology of landscape change and greenhouse agriculture /." CONNECT TO THIS TITLE ONLINE, 2008. http://etd.lib.umt.edu/theses/available/etd-05202008-114939/.
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Nash, Fiona Jane. "Measuring fairness? : the political ecology of compulsory water metering in South East England." Thesis, King's College London (University of London), 2014. http://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/measuring-fairness(29e333e5-424d-4062-936b-e4296ffc225e).html.
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Taking inspiration from Foucauldian work on governmentality and historical materialist approaches, this thesis examines the political ecology of compulsory water metering in the South East of England. Here, three main contributions are offered. First, a genealogy of water metering (1840 to 2009) is developed in order to demonstrate the multiple ways that the meter has been used to help negotiate different understandings of the waterscape. Secondly, contemporary compulsory metering programmes are positioned as a socio-technical fix where water companies have attempted to, at least partially, resolve a tension between water stress and household water demand and, at the same time, secure the continuation of the broadly neoliberal waterscape. Finally, the thesis examines the unanticipated outcomes of compulsory metering; it focuses on how affordability has been reframed as an important and immediate governance problem that requires private water companies to take on new roles, sometimes reluctantly, as water welfare providers.
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Khan, Maliha. "The political ecology of irrigation in upper Sindh people, water and land degradation /." Diss., Online access via UMI:, 2007.
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Kooy, Michelle Élan. "Relations of power, networks of water : governing urban waters, spaces, and populations in (post)colonial Jakarta." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/867.
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This thesis documents the genealogy of the development of Jakarta’s urban water supply infrastructure from 1873 (the inception of the first colonial water supply network) to the present. Using an analytical framework of governmentality, supplemented by insights from postcolonial studies and political ecology, the thesis explains the highly unequal patterns of water access in Jakarta as the product of (post)colonial governmentalities, whose relations of power are expressed not only through discursive categories and socio-economic relations, but also through material infrastructures and urban spaces.
The thesis presents material from the colonial archives, Jakarta’s municipal archives, and the publications of international development agencies and engineering consultancy firms. This is combined with primary data derived from interviews, questionnaires, and participant observation of the implementation of current pro-poor water supply projects in Jakarta. This data is used to document how water supply is implicated in the discursive and material production of the city and its citizens, and to challenge conventional developmentalist and academic analyses of water supply access.
Specifically, a conceptual triad of water, space, and populations – produced through, but also productive of government rationalities – is used to explain two apparent paradoxes: (1) the fragmentation of access in Jakarta despite a century of concerted attempts to develop a centralized system; and (2) the preferences of lower-income households for non-networked water supply, despite its higher cost per unit volume. This analysis hinges on an elucidation of the relationships between urban governance and urban infrastructure, which documents the interrelated process of differentiation of types of water supply, water use practices, populations, and urban spaces from the colonial period to the present. This, in turn, is used to explain the barriers being encountered in current pro-poor water supply development projects in Jakarta.
The thesis thus makes a contribution to current academic debates over the ‘colonial present’. The contribution is both theoretical – in the emphasis placed upon the materiality of governmentality – and empirical. Finally, the thesis also makes a contribution to the urban and development studies literatures through its reinterpretation of the urban ‘water crisis’.
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Toteng, Elisha Nelson. "A stakeholder approach to understanding the political ecology of urban water resource management in Gaborone, Botswana." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.274004.
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Maharjan, Kiran. "Political Ecology of Water Governance in South Asia: A Case Study of the Koshi River Communities." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/19749.
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Nepalese communities around the Koshi River, a transboundary river between Nepal and India, are facing unprecedented water-related problems. They face scarcity of water in dry seasons and recurrent flood disasters during monsoons. One of the main reasons behind these problems is the governance of the river via the Koshi River Agreement (1954, revised in 1966) between Nepal and India. This thesis analyses the political ecology of water governance in South Asia. Specifically, it examines how the Koshi River Governance contributes to environmental injustice for the riverine communities. It uses an actor-oriented political ecology framework, integrating the concepts of governance, theory of access and environmental justice, to understand various dimensions of injustice. Using the mixed methods research, it explores how multi-scalar power relationships and access-regulation of resources produce environmental injustice. The thesis argues that environmental injustice for transboundary riverine communities is produced by socio-natural complexes, where multi-scalar power relationships play a critical role. It demonstrates that the hydro-hegemony, not only at the international scale but also the internal hydro-hegemony at the national scale, influence governance of resources to a large extent. Results show that the governance provided the powerful with even more power for regulating the access of the communities to resources, creating uneven environmental injustice and coping capabilities. Highlighting the need for enhancing environmental justice, this thesis proposes an alternative governance framework by considering various roles, rules and relationships among actors with differential powers across multiple scales and places. The thesis has produced the evidence-based local knowledge and advanced the evidence, narratives, insights and the discourse on political ecology.
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Ali, Ayesha. "Water Politics in a Water-Scarce Landscape : Examining the Groundwater Debate in California’s Central Valley." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för arkeologi och antik historia, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-414194.
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The history of California is in many ways a story about water, and the outsized effect that droughts, floods, and seasonal precipitation rates have had on the political and economic development of the state over the past 170 years. This thesis uses discourse analysis of historical and ongoing negotiations that have been presented in federal and state reports, narratives, case laws and legislation to explore how the discourse around water politics has been shaped in the state. From this, an antiessentialist environmental history develops around the relationship between overdrafted groundwater basins in the Central Valley and the agriculture industry located there. Finally, this thesis explores what the future of a waterscape built during the capitalization of modern society may look like as we move towards a new regime of nature.
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Green, Brian E. "Sharing Water: A Human Ecological Analysis of the Causes of Conflict and Cooperation Between Nations Over Freshwater Resources." Connect to this title online, 2002. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=osu1039201377.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2002.Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xiii, 159 p. Includes abstract and vita. Advisor: Kazimierz M. Slomczynski, Dept. of Sociology. Includes bibliographical references (p. 151-159).
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Empinotti, Vanessa Lucena. "Re-framing participation: The political ecology of water management in the lower Sao Francisco River Basin--Brazil." Connect to online resource, 2007. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3284453.
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Rodineliussen, Rasmus. "Divers Engaging Policy—Practices of Making Water." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Socialantropologiska institutionen, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-147293.
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In this thesis I discuss how divers in Rio de Janeiro and Arraial do Cabo, Brazil, are part of a process of making water (Barnes 2014). This I do by examining the relationship between the policies of the non-governmental organization Project Aware and these divers. These policies under question concerns the growing issue of marine debris, asking divers to directly act towards a solution by removing debris, and inform about the issue. I employ the concepts habitus and the entrepreneurial self as heuristic think-tools in order to illuminate the structuring aspect of this relationship, how it affects the way policies are negotiated, embodied, and practiced in regard to society and the environment (e.g. Bourdieu 1990; Rose 1998; Gershon 2016). My argument is based on observations, interviews, and media analysis. I show how my interlocutors are engaged in making water, in hands on actions of removing debris, and in discourse making where the issue is forwarded, emphasized, and discussed. Further I illustrate the impact that local power structures hold on practices of agents (Barnes 2014; Karlsson 2015).
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Malm, Jennie. "Local Political Ecology and the Effect of Globalisation : A study of Industrial Water Pollution in Tirupur, South India." Thesis, Linköping University, Department of Thematic Studies, 2004. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-2691.
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Globalization and international competition put pressure on local communities to adjust to international standards of price and quality in production. Tirupur in India produces clothes for exports to the first world market. Because of the process of dyeing and bleaching of fabrics the river Noyyal that flows through the town and the surrounding ground water have become polluted. At the local level actors, like the state, business, NGOs and grassroots take action in different ways depending on their interests. The aim with this thesis is both to analyze the situation at the local level from the views and actions of different actors and how the local situation is influenced by globalization. Qualitative interviews have been made with representatives from these actors in Tirupur and its surroundings. This material has then been analyzed from the theory of Third World political ecology and globalization. The conclusions drawn from this study are that the situation in Tirupur cannot exclusively be explained at just one level. Local, national and global politics affect Tirupur. A politicized environment characterizes the local situation where actions against the pollution are not taken for the benefit of the powerful. People also lack empowerment to take action because of dependency on the industry. At the national level centralization is a problem in India because it results in difficulties for the civil society and people to reach elected representatives and influence from the local community. Another problem is the policy maker’s lack of understanding of the local situation. At last globalization limits the way to handle the pollution because of the global competition and the retreat of the state. But it also gives possibilities for the civil society to grow stronger internationally, perhaps with the possibility to create a change.
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Scarrow, Ryan Matthew. "Hothouse Flowers: Water, the West, and a New Approach to Urban Ecology." The Ohio State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1471483922.
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Perry, Denielle. "The Uneven Geography of River Conservation In The U.S.: Insights From The Application Of The Wild And Scenic Rivers Act." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/22700.
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Rivers are vital for sustaining biodiversity and human development, yet globally only a small fraction of rivers enjoy protection and those with protections are often impaired or modified. Rapid rates of freshwater species’ extinctions indicate current conservation practices are failing. Despite over fifty years of scientific evidence justifying river conservation, it remains that less attention is focused on protecting ecosystems than on developing water resources for economic growth. This disparity is indicative of the ‘nature as resource’ versus ‘conservation of nature’ paradigm. Today, this paradigm is complicated by new attentions centering both on water resource development projects and conservation policy as climate change adaptation strategies. Policies protecting rivers are recommended for contending with more intense storms and flooding, increasing resilience for species, forests, and agricultural areas, and fostering some types of water security. Creating, implementing, and managing climate adaptation policies will require a strong state presence in water resource governance. We know, however, the aforementioned paradigm hinders conservation policymaking. Therefore, understanding how conservation policy has already been rationalized, implemented, and managed is critical to advancing climate adaptation policymaking. Yet, little empirical research has been conducted on federal river conservation policy creation or application across the U.S.
To that end, this dissertation, presented in three discrete original research articles, examines the United States National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Specifically, this study investigates the socio-ecological drivers behind the creation of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (WSRA hereinafter) and the spatial dimensions of the policy’s application and management over time. This study is grounded empirically in extensive archival materials, interviews with federal land management agency personnel, conservation advocates, and technical experts, as well as spatial and temporal analysis of a geodatabase. Together, these methods were employed to answer the following research questions which guide this study:
(1) What factors influence the temporal and spatial distribution of river segments protected under the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act?
(2) What does the history of management in designated segments suggest about emerging trends and patterns in river conservation?
(3) How are competing environmental values and ideologies understood and reconciled in the context of river conservation?
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Usher, Mark Peter. "Government of water, circulation and the city : transforming Singapore from tropical 'backwater' to global 'hydrohub'." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2015. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/government-of-water-circulation-and-the-city-transforming-singapore-from-tropical-backwater-to-global-hydrohub(85ab4081-be00-4d17-a6ae-401ca854ab26).html.
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This thesis will revisit Michel Foucault's original arguments on the ‘urban problem’ and the concomitant question of circulation, which I contend has been disassociated from more general renderings of his concept of governmentality. Throughout the 1970s, and particularly during his lectures at the Collège de France, Foucault would regularly return to the problem of urban circulation; how it has been conceived, calculated and distributed. Foucault would ponder the ways that material infrastructures have canalised people and resources, and naturalised their complex coexistence, in the interests of urban economic restructuring and state aggrandisement. Here, the ‘question of water’ was not only incidental to Foucault’s analytics of government but absolutely integral. Indeed, according to Foucault, whether flowing through rivers, canals, pipes, pumps, sewers or fountains, or stagnating in swamps, marshes and ditches, water has required the especial attention of town planners attempting to optimise the contentious process of urbanisation. Using Singapore as a case study, I will consider how the circulation of water has been administered under the three technologies of power identified by Foucault, with the greater emphasis put on discipline and security. The overarching argument will be that the modern state was consolidated and subsequently decentralised through the material configuration of drainage infrastructure, reservoirs and distribution systems, where governmental programmes have been co-produced with the technological networks of water circulation. Although disciplinary techniques had initially been found effective in terms of pollution control and flood alleviation, counterproductive consequences of concrete modernism quickly emerged requiring a greater uptake of security mechanisms, where government would be increasingly exercised through practices of exposure rather than enclosure. Mosquitoes were now thriving in the subterranean network of drains, valuable land was being wastefully converted into dormant storm canals, whilst people had become socially and emotionally disconnected from water. Released and revalorised, water now serves as a mobile technology of government which can penetrate and pervade the urban form and the everyday life of its inhabitants, centrifugally unleashing the potency of water flows and human desire whilst facilitating Singapore’s transformation into a global city. With its methodological nominalism and commitment to concrete practices, I argue that once reoriented around the urban problem, Foucault’s analytics can advance environmental politics debates by demonstrating that government is a mundanely material process orchestrated through the everyday infrastructure of water management. In so doing, I also shift the emphasis from the urbanisation of nature to the naturalisation of the urban, of circulation and the art of government itself.
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McCulloch, Christine. "Dam decisions and pipe dreams : the political ecology of reservoir schemes (Teesdale, Farndale and Kielder Water) in North East England." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2004. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.413109.
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Williams, Joseph. "Tapping the oceans : the political ecology of seawater desalination and the water-energy nexus in Southern California and Baja California." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2017. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/tapping-the-oceans-the-political-ecology-of-seawater-desalination-and-the-waterenergy-nexus-in-southern-california-and-baja-california(58750cb5-0c7c-4cfb-a3bd-8bef8ce21984).html.
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Notions of connectivity and relationality increasingly pervade theories, discourses and practices of environmental governance. Recently, the concept of the 'resource nexus' has emerged as an important new framework that emphasises the interconnections, tensions and synergies between sectors that have traditionally been managed separately. Part of a broader trend towards integrated environmental governance, nexus thinking rests on the premise that the challenges facing water, energy, food and other resources are inexorably connected and contingent. Although presenting itself as a radically new framework, the nexus discourse in current form is techno-managerial in character, profoundly de-politicising, and reinforces neoliberal approaches to environmental governance. At the same time, the 'material turn' in social science research has re-engaged ideas of social, political and material relationality to understand the complexity and heterogeneity of the socio-natural condition in the twenty-first century. Although theoretically and ontologically diverse, the fields of political ecology, assemblage thinking and infrastructure studies all critically interrogate the politics of relationality. Mobilising an urban political ecology framework, and drawing on notions of emergence and distributed agency from assemblage thinking, this research examines the politics of the water-energy nexus through a critical analysis of the extraordinary emergence of seawater desalination as a significant new urban water supply for Southern California, USA, and Baja California, Mexico. Research was conducted in the San Diego-Tijuana metropolitan region, where a large desalting facility has recently been completed to supply San Diego with purified ocean water, and a larger 'binational' facility is planned in Mexico to supply both sides of the border. The research makes three broad contributions. First, to understand desalination as emerging from the historical coproduction and urbanisation of water and energy in the American West. Second, to examine the transitioning environmental politics concomitant with calls for greater understanding of interrelationality. And third, to interrogate the efficacy of technology in reconfiguring the co-constitution of water, energy and society.
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Meehan, Katharine. "Greywater and the grid: Explaining informal water use in Tijuana." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/194038.
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Cities in the global South are confronting unprecedented challenges to urban sustainability and equitable development, particularly in the realm of water provision. Nearly 1.5 billion people worldwide suffer from a lack of safe access to drinking water and sanitation -an increasing proportion of whom reside in cities. Meanwhile, in the gaps of the grid, a diversity of water harvesting and reuse techniques, infrastructures, and institutional arrangements has emerged to provision poor households. Despite the burgeoning presence of the informal water sector, little is known about its institutional character, environmental impact, or relationship with state provision and private supply. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data collected during nearly 13 months of fieldwork in Tijuana, Mexico, this dissertation queries how informal water use is managed, whether informal water use constitutes an alternative economy and sustainable environmental practice, and to what degree informal water use redefines urban space and alternative development possibilities. Findings reveal that: 1) despite historical efforts in Mexico to federalize and centralize the control of water resources, state action opens 'gaps' in the hydrosocial cycle, and informal institutions manage these 'extralegal' spaces; 2) informal water use is widespread across socioeconomic levels in Tijuana, predominantly managed by household-based institutions, and conserves a surprising degree of municipal water; and 3) the spatiality of contemporary water infrastructures and economies is highly diverse-ranging from bottled water markets to non-capitalist, self-provisioning greywater reuse-and is in fact constitutive of 'splintered urbanism' and alternative modes of development.
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Silber-Coats, Noah Robert. "Private Hydropower and the Politics of Nature in Mexico's Sierra Madre Oriental." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/595608.
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This thesis concerns a boom in hydropower development in the central Mexican state of Veracruz. There has been a recent resurgence in hydropower globally, re-framed as clean energy and financed by private investors. Along with this, there has been a surge of interest in small hydropower, which is presented as more sustainable than large dams. Focusing on one river basin, the Bobos-Nautla where numerous small/private hydropower projects are currently being contested, I seek to understand how the trajectory of this process is shaped by (re)configurations of actors and institutions at multiple scales, and how this leads to particular places being constructed as sites of development. My theoretical approach draws on environmental governance, political ecology and Science, Technology and Society (STS), to build a framework for answering these questions. In order to contextualize the conflicts that are at the center of this research, I first consider the historical background of dam conflicts, both internationally and with a focus on Mexico. In the latter part, I trace the history of the electric industry in Mexico, its connections with water governance and the way that authority over rivers has been redefined through this process. Turning to the Bobos-Nautla river basin, I begin by following the history of hydropower development in these rivers, showing the numerous parallels between conflicts in the early 20th century and the current moment. I then follow the politics of environmental regulation surrounding the currently contested projects, arguing that defining what counts as protecting nature is a key terrain of struggle. In the final chapter, I look at the contested impacts of development on river flows and springs that supply water to rural communities, contrasting a narrative of untapped abundance espoused by project proponents with a narrative of scarcity and depletion advanced by opponents. Ultimately, I argue that these projects are planned in a way that systematically ignores their potential impacts and sidelines the communities most directly affected by them. But I end on a hopeful note, arguing that the shift to small/private hydropower provides opportunities for a different approach, even if currently the one being followed favors an extractive model of development.
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Walker, Gareth. "An uncooperative community : revisiting water privatisation and commoditisation in England and Wales." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2014. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:97e3c382-5475-4926-903f-0df327ebf720.
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Since its inception in 1989, the private water sector of England and Wales has been enlisted as a centrepiece in debates concerning the merits of privatisation. Advocates point to increased environmental performance and increased investment. Critics note a significant retraction of the early free market aspirations and increasingly prescriptive regulation. However, market mechanisms and liberalisation are once again being emphasised in policy, reigniting the debate surrounding the commoditisation of water. This thesis engages directly and critically with Karen Bakker's 'Uncooperative Commodity' approach to the 'reregulation' of the industry, arguing its tenants must be adapted to accommodate these recent developments. While Bakker's earlier accounts of the reregulation of the water industry placed a great emphasis on the geography and biophysical properties of water, later work by both her and her contemporaries have developed more refined and socialised models of how water and society interact to produce temporary regularities in the material world. This thesis argues that an appropriate means of developing Bakker's original thesis would be a greater focus on socio-historical context when exploring the materiality of water, and hence the degree to which water may be transformed into a private commodity. Bob Jessop's Strategic Relational Approach (Jessop 2008) is deployed as a means of describing and relating: (1) the degree to which research can identify underlying mechanisms which govern the outcomes of attempts to commoditise water under capitalist modes of production, (2) the role of the state and politics in flanking or supporting the commoditisation of water and (3) the role of existing discursive-institutional structures in introducing path-dependencies and uneven power geometries which in turn effect the outcomes of collective action towards the commoditisation of water. The thesis documents historical developments in English and Welsh resource planning, regulation, and policy from 1945 to 2012 in order to explain the current structure of the industry, its response to water scarcity, and the origins of the current reform programme. It then focuses on the conflicts and tensions between actors in the industry generated by the current reform programme and their role in affecting the degree of success of the programme itself.
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Ingmansson, Ida. "Women and Water Governance in Peri-Urban settlements : A case study from the community Caltongo in Mexico City." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Kulturgeografiska institutionen, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-157990.
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Water insecurity is one of the biggest socio-environmental challenges of our time. As water gets scarce, already disempowered groups become further marginalized. Throughout the last decades “good” water governance has been presented by global institutions and organizations as a key concept to render water management more effective, sustainable and democratic. However, general theories of “good” governance have been criticized for being gender-blind and for failing to recognize how governance is adopted at a local level, leading to different outcomes for people based on their social identity. The aim of this thesis is to identify water governance arrangements in Caltongo, a peri-urban community in Mexico City, and analyze what outcomes these arrangements have for women. The thesis builds on a feminist political ecology framework that cuts through both theory and method. Empirical data is collected through semi-structured interviews with women and community leaders in Caltongo. The analysis builds on a model that uses three concepts to define governance: resources, mechanisms and outcomes. The results of this analysis show that the strategies that women in Caltongo draw from to access water are based around political involvement, cash payment for water services and social networks. The outcomes are different for different women depending on their ability to use these strategies.
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Cairns, Maryann R. "Environment, Rights, and Waste in Bolivia: Addressing Water and Sanitation Processes for Improved Infrastructure." Scholar Commons, 2014. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/5197.
Full textAbstract:
Water and sanitation (WatSan) development projects impact both natural systems and societal structures where they are placed. A complex process of development, including inter-governmental policies, aid agencies, personal relationships, and community politics enhance and constrain the efficacy of these projects. This study presents the many ways in which the WatSan development process has unintended and unexpected returns for certain community groups. Using a political ecology framework, I look at power structures, perceived and projected environmental impacts, multiple stakeholders, and individual discourses to critique how the right to water and sanitation is implemented in a specific community context. This project advances anthropological thought by showing a praxis-based study that links theory, on-the-ground, ethnographic experience, policy recommendations, and theoretical injections which relate to a variety of audiences, both within and outside of the academy.
The project is conducted in two main field locations--La Paz and Sapecho, Bolivia. I employ a mixed-method approach, including interviews with development professionals and community members, a survey of water and sanitation users, focus groups with particularly impacted groups (e.g. water committees, students, and women), and various mapping techniques (GPS mapping, community-led) to address the space and place within which this project was realized. I give specific focus to sewage collection and wastewater treatment, two elements of the WatSan system that are distinctive in this rural developing-country context.
WatSan development is not just infrastructure placement. It is a full process, a relationship. It comprises individual conversations, days of work, salaries, payment schedules, labor, expertise, and ongoing management practices. Individual perceptions of infrastructure efficacy, personal benefit, and best practices (both culturally and technologically) impact the long-term effectiveness of a project. Major tensions arise post-implementation: between community and aid agency, conservation and use, labor and upkeep, and sanitation and potable water. There are multiple influences and positions subsumed in this process.
The study's political ecology approach, combined with foci on human rights, critical development, and water and culture, provides critical insights into the relationship between social and resource-based (water infrastructure) change. It looks at the ways in which the benefits and risks of a WatSan system are stratified, gendered, and power-laden. It further looks at the potential positive and negative outcomes of the system--all with an enviro-social focus. I look at how social and ecological relationships are tethered together (mutually constituted), how they are influenced by several levels of governance and policy. The experience of Sapecho shows how changes to WatSan environments can provide new water and sanitation access but in some cases, further engrain and exacerbate social inequalities. Provision of fresh water, sewage collection, and wastewater treatment infrastructure is not value-free--but it is necessary. This work tries to answer one small part of the question of how the right to water and sanitation can be best implemented in real-world situations.
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Buechler, Stephanie. "Gendered vulnerabilities and grassroots adaptation initiatives in home gardens and small orchards in Northwest Mexico." Springer, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/622829.
Full textAbstract:
With the retreat of the state under neoliberalism, the lack of (or negligible) government and non-governmental support reasserts grassroots initiatives as a global-change strategy. A feminist political ecology approach and the concept of adverse inclusion were used to facilitate an analysis of social differences shaping local-level adaptive responses. Adaptive responses of small farmers in the border village of San Ignacio, Sonora, Mexico, who are increasingly vulnerable to climate change, water scarcity, and changing labor markets were studied. Gender differences in production sites translate into diverse vulnerabilities and adaptive strategies. Local capacities and initiatives should be a focus of research and policy to avoid viewing women and men as passive in the face of global change. The dynamic strategies of San Ignacio women and men in home gardens and small orchards hold lessons for other regions particularly related to adaptation to climate change via agrobiodiversity, water resource management, and diversified agricultural livelihoods.
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Popartan, Lucia Alexandra. "The socio-cognitive dimension of water: the case of politicisation of water in Barcelona." Doctoral thesis, Universitat de Girona, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/671135.
Full textAbstract:
The thesis studies the discursive construction of cognitive frames in the
water sector in order to understand the dynamics of politicisation and
depoliticisation in the water conflict in Barcelona between 2011 and 2020.
The focus is placed on a particular type of politicisation at work in our
case study: the populist politicisation. Using Critical Discourse Analysis as
a method, the thesis will address the following research questions: (1) To
what extent is the politicisation of water in Barcelona a populist one and to
what extent does it challenge the water paradigm in the city? (2) How do
private actors react to the politicisation of water in the city and why does
it matter? (3) Is Circular Economy a de-politicised area in the interaction
between the actors in conflict? At theoretical level, the work articulates a
novel conceptual framework which critically combines the literatures on
populism, politicisation, and construction of discursive coalitions to
analyse the water conflict in Barcelona. At empirical level, this conceptual
framework is used to correct the one-sidedness of existing studies on
politicisation of water or “remunicipalisation” which focus mainly on the
public actors and disregard to a great extent the reaction of private actorsAquesta tesi doctoral estudia la construcció discursiva de marcs cognitius en el sector de l’aigua per tal de comprendre la dinàmica de politització i despolitització de l’aigua a la ciutat de Barcelona entre el 2011 i el 2020. L’estudi de cas se centra en un tipus particular de politització: la política populista. Utilitzant el mètode denominat anàlisi crítica del discurs, la tesi aborda les següents preguntes d’investigació: (1) ¿En quina mesura el discurs de l’aigua a Barcelona en aquest període és populista i quins son els seus efectes polítics? (2) Com reaccionen els actors privats davant el canvi de política de l’aigua a la ciutat i quina importància té aquesta reacció? (3) És l’economia circular un àmbit despolititzat en la interacció entre els actors en conflicte? A nivell teòric, la tesi articula un marc conceptual original que combina la literatura sobre populisme, politització i ecologia política per analitzar el conflicte de l’aigua a Barcelona. A nivell empíric, aquest marc teòric serveix per corregir la unilateralitat dels estudis existents sobre la política de l’aigua o la remunicipalització, centrats de manera preponderant en els actors públics, i que per tant no tenen en compte el discurs i les estratègies de legitimació dels actors privats
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West, Madeline. "Community Water and Sanitation Alternatives in Peri-Urban Cochabamba: Progressive Politics or Neoliberal Utopia?" Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/31600.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis is about the tensions faced by communitarian water service providers in peri-urban Cochabamba, Bolivia, in their continued dependence on private water vending businesses, despite efforts to socialize service delivery. Based on fieldwork conducted in Cochabamba from May-July, 2013, this thesis argues that due in part to a lack of government intervention and regulation, many communitarian water associations in Cochabamba are being held captive by private water vendors who exploit the city’s unequal distribution of water resources for profit. It makes this argument by exploring two main points: that communitarian water associations leverage progressive forms of organization to improve service delivery, but are hindered by barriers which lie outside their control; and that small-scale water businesses are able to exploit the failures of the formal state/public and informal communitarian systems by positioning themselves as a necessary operation, in a way which limits the state’s ability to regulate their activities.
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House-Peters, Lily A., and Lily A. House-Peters. "Desert Forests and Riparian Flows: Tracing Social-Ecological Transformations in the Transboundary San Pedro River." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/621288.
Full textAbstract:
This dissertation aims to advance understanding of the social and ecological dynamics that transform riparian forests and the human and non-human communities that depend on riparian resources. The four articles that comprise this dissertation examine the causes and consequences of social-ecological transformations in the riparian zone of the transboundary San Pedro River watershed, located in the Sonoran Desert borderlands of southern Arizona, USA and northern Sonora, Mexico. The research utilizes an interdisciplinary, mixed methods approach that combines interviews with key informants (including natural resource managers, ranchers, local residents, and political figures), archival research and historical document review, spatial analysis and synthesis of binational datasets, and land use classification and change detection at the watershed scale using methods from remote sensing and geographical information systems.This research is motivated by two objectives. First, I aim to examine how shifts in social and ecological systems have transformed riparian spaces in the transboundary San Pedro River watershed. Second, I intend to assess the consequences of these riparian transformations for the human and ecological communities who depend on riparian resources for survival. Based on these two overarching objectives, there are three interrelated research questions that drive the research and analysis presented in the four chapters of this dissertation: 1) How are social-ecological processes at the watershed scale affecting access to water resources in the riparian zone?; 2) How are shifting relations of access to water and riparian-zone resources influencing and differentiating levels of exposure to hazards over space and across time?; and 3) Following a disturbance event, how are capacity to respond and recover from disturbance and expectations of accountability shifting over space and across time? The findings of this research suggest three broad results. First, social processes of accumulation of land and water resources by the state and industry are creating uneven spatial and temporal experiences of water security and insecurity by shifting the amount, timing, and quality of water resources available and who can physically access the riparian zone to derive benefits from riparian resources. Specifically, the three social processes of resource accumulation that I examine are privatization, expropriation, and conservation. Second, transformations in social-ecological system (SES) dynamics and access to riparian resources differentially impact the production of water insecurity (water quality and water quantity) both between and within communities and economic sectors that depend on riparian resources. Third, the ability for local communities and small-scale agricultural producers to cope with increasing water insecurity and respond to disturbance events is decreasing due to three interrelated causes. The first is limited access of local communities to the wealth and adaptive assets produced from natural resource extraction in the region. The second is the shift at the state and community level toward increasing individuation of responsibility for ensuring livelihood security. And the third is a culture of evasion of accountability to remediate ecological degradation within the transnational mining industry.
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Davis, Ryan C. "Fireproofing the Lawn: Reclaimed Water and Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers in Tampa Bay." Scholar Commons, 2009. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/1608.
Full textAbstract:
Reclaimed water has increased in popularity as a means to recycle water and thus decrease the amount of wasteful water use. This process is widely used in Tampa Bay for watering of lawns. This increase in popularity and use has raised questions as to what contaminants are in the reclaimed water.
The purpose of this study was to analyze reclaimed water for contaminants believed to be detrimental to health and conduct interviews to ascertain perceptions of risk in the local population. As water reuse grows in popularity further research will need to be conducted to address potential human health concerns.
This research shows that there are potential health concerns related to reclaimed water when we use dioxin as a surrogate compound. Additionally, the research shows that local governments aren't doing enough to communicate information to local communities. Any policy that moves forward in regards to supplementing drinking water with reclaimed water must incorporate local communities in the decision making process. Decisions made in the absence of information can be misguiding and the first feedback of these decisions is felt by local communities. With their input in the beginning, throughout the decision making process, and during the evaluation period, new information will be generated. The incorporation of the community in the decision making process will make the reclaimed for drinking water initiative, more successful.
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Schulz, Paul Christopher. "The value base of water governance in the Upper Paraguay River basin, Mato Grosso, Brazil." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/29548.
Full textAbstract:
Values have been identified as important factors that guide decision-making and influence preferences in water governance. Comparing the values reflected in water governance decisions with the values held by stakeholders and the general public may inform the debate on the political legitimacy of water governance. The research presented in this PhD thesis draws on multiple research traditions on values, ranging from ecological economics and political ecology to social and environmental psychology, to investigate the value base of water governance in the Upper Paraguay River Basin, in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. It first introduces a novel conceptual framework that integrates these various research traditions and suggests that water governance is closely related to the fundamental values, governance-related values, and assigned values of stakeholders and actors in water governance more generally. These different types of values vary in their level of abstractness, as well as in their ‘locus’, i.e. where the valuing person locates them, and are hypothesised to be closely interrelated in a hierarchical structure, with fundamental values being the most abstract type of values. Water governance, in turn, is defined as the synthesis of water policy (the ‘content’ of decisionmaking), water politics (the ‘power play’ between actors) and water polity (the institutional framework). The thesis then proceeds to apply this novel conceptual framework in a case study on stakeholders’ values in the Upper Paraguay River Basin, and investigates the relationship of their values with their preferences regarding the construction of the Paraguay-Paraná Waterway through the Pantanal wetland, in the south of Mato Grosso. This water infrastructure project has a long history of conflict attached to it, as it might impact the hydrology and ecology of the Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical freshwater wetland and UNESCO biosphere reserve, while at the same time benefitting Mato Grosso’s rapidly growing agribusiness sector by lowering the cost of soybean exports. Based on 24 semi-structured interviews with relevant stakeholders, it was found that supporters and opponents possess different, clashing ‘value landscapes’ (i.e. groups of related values), which may explain the protracted nature of the conflict around the construction of the waterway, while at the same time highlighting political legitimacy deficits of the project. This research was followed up by a quantitative study with members of the general public (n=1067), which sought to measure and test the assumption that we can empirically identify such clashing value landscapes, and their relationship with preferences for or against the Paraguay-Paraná Waterway. Using structural equation modelling (SEM), statistically significant links between people’s values and their preferences in water governance could indeed be found, as well as between different types of values, which formed two contrasting value landscapes. This suggests that water governance conflicts may in part be explained by the presence of different value landscapes among involved actors, which may include even the most abstract level of fundamental values. The research presented in this thesis thus contributes to interdisciplinary debates on the role of values for water governance from multiple conceptual, as well as methodological perspectives. Additionally, through its application to a concrete case study, it highlights the policy relevance of such research, as addressing conflicts in water governance and examining alternative policy options may require a more explicit consideration of the values of the actors involved.
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Tchuwa, Isaac. "Hydro-social permutations of water commodification in Blantyre City, Malawi." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2015. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/hydrosocial-permutations-of-water-commodification-in-blantyre-city-malawi(fe5a5bc5-666f-477c-89da-cf25711e76fd).html.
Full textAbstract:
Despite years of investment in urban water infrastructure, and the state-a supposedly benign public entity-being the major actor in governing water, many poor residents in global south cities such as Blantyre experience unprecedented water-related problems. The neoliberal narrative unequivocally advocates privatising water; it frames the water problem as symptomatic of the unravelling of non-economic means of distributing this basic necessity of life while revering the free market as a panacea to this long-standing challenge. This thesis draws from the production/urbanisation of nature/space literature to contribute towards framing an alternative and more just political ecological water narrative. Through a radical critique of capitalist urbanisation, it argues that the contemporary urban water condition is the outcome and symptomatic of the unjust historical geographical legacies of modernist/capitalist means of producing water. It problematises the neo-liberal "tragedy of the commons" discourse that attributes these problems to the non-commodity nature of water. Through a case study of Blantyre City, the thesis frames this critique through two claims (1) that there is no such a thing as non-commodified produced water in contemporary Blantyre; (2) that the commodification of water is nothing new, it is a histo-geographical process deeply rooted in logics and contradictions of capitalist production of nature and space. It traces a critical moment in the capitalist remaking of hydro-social relations to colonial modernisation. British colonisation (late 1850s-early 1960s) inserted money and modern techniques at the heart of human-water interactions thereby significantly transforming traditional modes of accessing water. During this period, water began to change from being a common good to an economic resource that could privately be enclosed and harnessed as a means to economic/private ends through modern techniques. Institutions created to mediate this emergent modernist water architecture were dominated by vested private settler interests, depended heavily on external financing and revenue generated from exchanging water through money. British colonisations then sow first seeds in inserting monetary exchange, class and social power as mediators of the human-water interchange thereby entrenching social inequalities in Blantyre's waterscape. The post-colonial political transition in 1964 did little to radically reconfigure these colonial logics and their contradictions; in fact, albeit in qualitatively different ways, these dynamics intensified. The thesis establishes that these historical geographical dynamics continue to reproduce conditions through which underprivileged residents are alienated from water, and this basic need is commodified in contemporary Blantyre. In locating alienation and commodification within the wider historical geographical context of capitalist urbanisation, this thesis aims to critically engage with debates on neo-liberalisation of water. It takes issue with a particular ahistorical manner commodification of water is read and the failure of these debates to engage critically with the historical/colonial genesis of the present urban water condition in global south cities. The thesis hopes to contribute to academic and practical projects concerned with generating alternative understandings and finding just solutions to persistent water problems in the global south.
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Adjei, Cornelius Owusu. "Citizen Action, Power Relations and Wetland Management in the Tampa Bay Urban Socio-ecosystem." Scholar Commons, 2012. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/3942.
Full textAbstract:
Wetlands are vital ecosystems that provide ecological, economic and social benefits to societies. In the Tampa Bay region in West Central Florida, a growing population has put immense pressure on wetlands. The situation has not gone unnoticed in the public domain with concerns raised about the need to formulate policies that would protect them. However, it has been difficult to ascertain the level of citizen involvement in the decision making process.
This study aimed at investigating whether the perceptions and concerns of citizens drove them to influence local water policy. Questionnaires were used to collect data from residents living in close proximity to well fields situated in wetlands in Northwestern Hillsborough County.
Results of the research showed that residents demonstrated a high degree of knowledge about water resources in the Tampa Bay region. Residents expressed concerns about groundwater pumping and development, and attributed them to changes in their environment. However, there was little engagement from residents with decision makers to address these concerns. This study therefore recommends that improved participatory mechanisms be created by local water agencies to incorporate valuable inputs from the public.
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Auvet, Brice. "Façons de gouverner et façons de faire l'eau en Crau." Thesis, Paris, Institut agronomique, vétérinaire et forestier de France, 2019. http://www.theses.fr/2019IAVF0002/document.
Full textAbstract:
Cette thèse analyse les organisations et les relations sociales qui façonnent les usages de l'eau dans la plaine de la Crau. L'approche inductive et multi-échelle explore les interactions entre acteurs humains et non-humains qui participent au gouvernement et aux pratiques de l'eau. Le travail de terrain s'est focalisé sur les dynamiques de modernisation de l’eau en Crau sur les deux derniers siècles et notamment sur celles de gestion intégrée de l’eau. Un travail d’archives historiques et contemporaines permet de situer les continuités et les discontinuités des formes de gouvernement de l'eau. Une enquête par entretiens et l’observation de réunions professionnelles ou publiques nourrit la réflexion sur les jeux d'acteurs actuels. Les généalogies, le fonctionnement des dispositifs de gouvernement ainsi que les arrangements, contournements ou oppositions qu'ils suscitent, sont analysés dans une perspective constructiviste et historique. Il s’agit ainsi d’une contribution à une political ecology du « premier monde », croisant une approche latourienne avec une étude des manières de gouverner foucaldienne.L’eau en Crau est un objet multifacette sujet à une pluralité d’appropriations. L'irrigation gravitaire de 12 000 hectares de prairies de foin de Crau repose sur un réseau de canaux dérivant l'eau de la Durance depuis 1554, alimenté depuis 1972 par l’aménagement hydro-électrique. L’arrosage établit ainsi une frontière entre la Crau sèche des Coussouls et la Crau humide « productive ». La nappe de Crau est rechargée à plus de 70% par les infiltrations dues à ces pratiques d’arrosage. Depuis les années 1970, le développement industriel, l'agriculture intensive et l'urbanisation ont conduit à une exploitation croissante de cette nappe. Elle approvisionne actuellement 270 000 habitants et est considérée comme vulnérable, notamment du fait de son alimentation dépendante de la production de foin. La nappe fait ainsi l'objet de dispositifs de gestion destinés à protéger la ressource par une démarche territoriale.L’étude de l’articulation des savoirs techno-scientifiques spécifiques avec les manières de gouverner l’eau dans le temps long met en lumière un réseau hétérogène d'êtres et d'objets qui ont interagit pour moderniser l’eau. La « modernité » s'entend ici comme un idéal émancipateur fondé sur une augmentation de l'objectivité, de l'efficacité, de la rentabilité et de la formalisation (Latour, 2004). Cette recherche analyse comment les différentes manières de moderniser l’eau transforment la matérialité même de l'eau. L’étude des constructions matérielles, symboliques ou encore normatives qui sous-tendent et territorialisent les dispositifs de modernisation du gouvernement de l’eau est associée à celle des arrangements, des adaptations et des résistances qu'ils produisent en retour. C'est dans cette tension entre les façons de gouverner et les façons de faire que se situe le cœur et l'apport empirique de la thèse.Trois vagues de modernisation de l’eau sont identifiées à partir du cas de la Crau. A la suite de la Révolution Française, la première vague vise à conquérir et «mettre en valeur» la Crau. L’Etat impose ainsi progressivement un règlement des eaux et soutient la mise en culture des Coussouls par des acteurs privés. Dans les années 1950, la deuxième vague est mise en œuvre pour reconstruire la France. Elle porte un discours d’abondance hydraulique. Depuis les années 1990, une troisième vague met l’accent sur la rareté de l’eau et la vulnérabilité de ses usages et appelle à leur gestion intégrée. La vivisection du dispositif de gestion de la nappe de Crau permet d’explorer son fonctionnement dans son versant formel comme ses pratiques informelles. Les discours de crise de l’eau se révèlent partie intégrante de la gestion. Ils sont déployés pour mobiliser des acteurs historiques et des usagers, les enrôlant dans une nouvelle gouvernementalité avec laquelle ils doivent composerThis thesis analyzes the institutions and the social relations which shape water use in the Crau plain. The inductive and multi-scale approach explores the interactions between human and non-human actors that contribute to water governmance and practices. The fieldwork focused on the dynamics of modernization in water over the last two centuries and particularly on moves toward integrated water management. Archival work drawing on historical and contemporary sources makes it possible to identify the continuities and discontinuities in manners to govern water. Interviews and the observation of meetings, both professional and public, provide insights into the actual interplay among actors. The genealogy and functioning of governing apparatuses, as well as the ways in which they are adapted, circumvented or opposed in turn, are analyzed using a constructivist and historical perspective. This work thus contributes to a political ecology of the first world by bringing together a Latourian approach with a Foucauldian study of governing manners.Water in the Crau is a multifaceted object appropriated in a number of different ways. the gravity-fed irrigation of 12 000 ha of grassland producing hay in the Crau relies on a canal network that has derived water from the Durance since 1554, and has been supplied since 1972 by the hydroelectric infrastructure. This has resulted in a frontier between the dry Crau (Coussouls) and the “productive” wet Crau. These irrigation practices account for 70% of the volume of the groundwater table. Since the 1970s, industrial development, intensive agriculture and urban expansion have led to an increasing exploitation of groundwater. This water sustains 270 000 inhabitants and is considered vulnerable, particularly as it is artificially sustained by hay production. The groundwater is subject to management apparatuses that aim to protect the resource through a territorial approach.The long term study of the articulation of specific techno-scientific knowledge and manners to govern water highlight the heterogeneous network of actors and objects that interact to modernize water. “Modernity” is understood as an emancipatory ideal based on increased objectivity, efficacy, profitability and formalism (Latour, 2004). This research analyzes how the different manners to modernize water transform the materiality of water itself. The study of material, symbolic or normative constructions underpinning and territorializing the modernization apparatuses of water governance is complemented by the study of arrangements, adaptations and resistance that they generate in turn. The heart of this study, and its empirical contribution, lie in this tension between governing manners and everyday practices.Three waves of modernization of water have been identified from the grounded perspective of the Crau. Following the French Revolution, the first wave aimed to conquer and to improve the Crau. The state progressively imposed water regulation and supported the cultivation of Coussouls by private actors. In the 1950s, the second wave, implemented as part of a project to reconstruct France, emphasized hydraulic abundance. Since the 1990s, a third wave has highlighted the scarcity of water and the vulnerability o users, and called for integrated management. The vivisection of apparatuses of groundwater management considers its functioning in both its formal aspect and informal practices. Discourses of water crises reveal themselves as an integral part of water management. They are deployed to mobilize historical actors and users, by integrating them in a new governmentality within which they have to work
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Huckett, Steven P. "A Comparative Study to Identify Factors Affecting Adoption of Soil and Water Conservation Practices Among Smallhold Farmers in the Njoro River Watershed of Kenya." DigitalCommons@USU, 2010. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/656.
Full textAbstract:
Natural resource conservation is important for human well-being, especially in fragile environments of developing countries. This study occurred in 2006 among 6,500 smallhold farmers residing along a 25-km segment of a heavily utilized river. Research objectives were to determine use and adoption constraints for 14 soil and water conservation practices (SWCPs). Farms were reportedly contributing to a decline in river water quality via soil erosion. Recent occupation of the upper watershed by immigrants magnified concerns that resource degradation could escalate. A multi-method approach incorporating quantitative surveys, qualitative interviews, and participant observation was used to interpret constraining factors within the biophysical and historical context of the watershed. Adoption rates for SWCPs were expected to be low (less than 20 percent). Increased formal education, income, access to information, and security of land tenure and soil characteristics, were expected to positively influence adoption. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and use of classification and regression trees. Results indicated that all sampled farms had adopted at least two SWCPs, with an average of six per farm. Favored practices were those that were easier to implement and more effective for resource protection and food production. Years in residence (tenure security) and income emerged as primary explanatory variables for adoption of SWCPs, while soil quality and formal education were secondary. Only 27 percent of surveyed farmers held title deeds, but the others perceived that land occupation conferred "ownership" and hence implemented SWCPs. A follow-up visit in 2009, after the region had endured a year of highly publicized ethnic conflict, immigration and farm expansion continued with SWCPs being adopted. Njoro communities mostly remained intact and appeared resilient. While small farms likely contribute to watershed-scale problems and declines in quality and quantity of water in the River Njoro, farmers have made remarkable strides--largely on their own--to conserve natural resources. Future research should examine how a general lack of infrastructure off-farm and study-site context contributes to reduced watershed-resource quality. Further protection of soil and water is best served by a more aggressive policy and extension education framework that links food security, household well-being, and natural resource management.
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Riachi, Roland. "Institutions et régulation d'une ressource naturelle dans une société fragmentée : Théorie et applications à une gestion durable de l'eau au Liban." Phd thesis, Université de Grenoble, 2013. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00979509.
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Cette thèse analyse les fondements et l'évolution de l'économie et de la gestion de l'eau au Liban dans ses cadres juridiques, institutionnels et politiques. L'étude s'appuie sur une méthodologie mixte, à la fois qualitative, à travers des études de terrains et celle de la littérature existante, et quantitative, en utilisant des outils d'analyse économétrique. Nous avons pris comme grille de lecture les liens entre les modes de production et d'usage de l'eau, la nature de la propriété foncière et sa structure dans une démarche d'économie politique. L'étude se compose de cinq chapitres. Notre premier chapitre, élaboré à partir d'une lecture critique de la littérature économique qui traite de la valeur de la ressource et de sa rareté, remet en cause la notion de crise de l'eau. Il propose une critique des paradigmes globalisés, notamment la gestion par bassin et la bonne gouvernance, qui sont à la base de la notion de Gestion Intégrée des Ressources en Eau (GIRE) d'inspiration libérale. En dépassant ces théories à l'aide d'une approche historico-matérialiste, ce chapitre construit notre grille de lecture d'un "paysage de l'eau" en mobilisant la théorie de Wittfogel des sociétés hydrauliques et la théorie des "moments" développée par David Harvey. Le deuxième chapitre suit chronologiquement et sur un temps long l'évolution juridico-institutionnelle de la gestion de la ressource depuis l'Empire ottoman et le mandat français sur le Liban jusqu'à la construction nationale entre l'indépendance et la guerre civile libanaise. Notre analyse reconstitue les fondements historiques de la relation du pouvoir aux régimes fonciers durant ces périodes. Nous développons en particulier les éléments qui sont à la source de la formulation de la vision de la mission hydraulique libanaise afin de présenter une interprétation de la relation de l'Etat à l'eau et le discours dominant de la gestion de la ressource. Le troisième chapitre expose les caractéristiques socio-spatiales du service d'eau potable et d'assainissement dans la phase de reconstruction. Il analyse la nature de la fragmentation institutionnelle des autorités publiques ainsi que la politique de l'eau engendrée par l'ajustement structurel et par les paradigmes néolibéraux, notamment, l'adoption des principes de la GIRE par le gouvernement libanais et la préparation du terrain pour des contrats de Partenariat Public-Privé. Le quatrième chapitre propose un modèle formalisé d'économie publique qui nous informe par ses résultats économétriques sur les critères d'allocation des projets de l'eau durant les deux dernières décennies. Les résultats économétriques de ce modèle vont confirmer notre hypothèse de base en montrant que seule la distance politique apparaît comme facteur décisionnel dans l'allocation des fonds aux régions, sans prise en compte de leurs caractéristiques socio-économiques et environnementales. Le cinquième chapitre étudie la question de l'irrigation et sa place dans les politiques agricoles du pays. Dans le fil de notre analyse sur la relation du pouvoir à l'eau, nous revenons sur les privilèges des grands propriétaires terriens dans l'accès aux subventions pour une production intensive en eau à destination des pays du Golfe. Ce chapitre pose la relation de l'eau au système alimentaire du pays en exposant le commerce et l'empreinte en eau virtuelle du pays. Finalement, nous utilisons un modèle de gravité commercial pour analyser la place de l'eau dans le processus de libéralisation du marché agro-alimentaire du pays. En conclusion, notre lecture de l'évolution du processus socio-naturel du paysage de l'eau confirme que les modes de production, d'usage et d'appropriation de la ressource hydrique au Liban sont le produit d'une relation étroite entre la propriété foncière et le pouvoir, héritée de l'histoire politique du pays et maintenue par son système confessionnel.
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Stone, Harry James. "THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH: ANALYZING THE “TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOAD” PROCESS IN THE UPPER MILL CREEK (CINCINNATI)." Oxford, Ohio : Miami University, 2004. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=miami1082567599.
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Will, Rachel Gauer. "A CRITICAL META-ANALYSIS OF COMMUNITY WATER MANAGEMENT OUTCOMES IN PERU: IDENTIFYING CAUSES OF SCARCITY AND THE EFFECTS OF ADAPTATION." Kent State University / OhioLINK, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1416857884.
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Siman, Kelly. "Social-Ecological Risk and Vulnerability to Erosion and Flooding Along the Ohio Lake Erie Shoreline." University of Akron / OhioLINK, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1597092923090799.
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Gonzalez, besteiro Ana Maria. "L'eau qui fait conflit, le conflit qui fait ressource. Recherche qualitative autour des discours sur l'eau dans des espaces protégés de l'Alto-Guadiana (Espagne) et de l'Usumacinta (Mexique)." Thesis, Lyon, 2020. https://scd-resnum.univ-lyon3.fr/in/theses/2020_in_gonzalez_besteiro_a.pdf.
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Face à la présence de conflits endémiques liés à l’eau, souvent sous-jacents mais qui perdurent des années et semblent devenus constitutifs de certains territoires, il paraît nécessaire de s’interroger sur le regard porté sur ces conflits par ceux-là mêmes qui en sont les témoins et acteurs. Le recul du temps met en évidence les incohérences entre les discours alarmistes sur les problèmes, les promesses de solutions et la relative inefficacité des mesures prises. Ceci suggère que le conflit, au-delà des tensions permanentes ou sporadiques qu’il impose au territoire, a une productivité qui pourrait justifier sa pérennisation.Cette thèse revisite un conflit vieux de 40 ans dans le bassin du Alto-Guadiana (Espagne) à partir d’une posture constructiviste réflexive et néo-matérialiste s’appuyant sur les méthodes de la political ecology qui sont discutées dans la thèse. Son objectif est double : trouver un terrain d’entente méthodologique face aux réticences de la science quantitative vis à vis des méthodes qualitatives ; en démontrer l’utilité et l’efficacité en établissant des connexions inédites qui échappent habituellement au regard conscient des acteurs territoriaux, y compris ceux de la communauté techno-scientifique de l’eau, qui participe au même titre que les autres acteurs à la dynamique de la situation conflictuelle.Le fonctionnement du conflit au sein des espaces naturels protégés de ce bassin espagnol et ceux, en écho, de l’Usumacinta au Mexique a été ainsi décrypté à l’aide des techniques qualitatives et inductives issues de la Méthode de la Théorie Enracinée à partir d’un corpus constitué d’entretiens semi-directifs et d’observations directes. Les protocoles de recueil et d’assemblage de données et les opérations et mécanismes d’extraction de sens effectués sont décrits pas à pas pour garantir la transparence de la démarche dans un exercice de crédibilité scientifique à l’instar des pratiques des sciences naturelles.La fonction du conflit est discutée en quatre parties. La première explicite les éléments théoriques qui font de l’eau un objet de conflit environnemental en s’interrogeant sur le rôle de la production des données sur l’eau et les représentations sociales dans la recherche de solutions. La deuxième est consacrée aux méthodes de recueil des données de terrain et d’analyse des discours territorialisés sur le conflit lié à l’eau. La troisième partie, situe le contexte géo-social et politique des deux territoires à l’étude et souligne la différence des regards entre espaces vécus et espaces protégés. Enfin, la dernière partie détaille les résultats de l’analyse des données ancrées dans le matériau empirique collecté. Elle met en évidence les mécanismes par lesquels le conflit devient une ressource et l’intérêt de sa pérennisation pour les acteurs du territoire.Le décalage entre ce qui se dit et ce qui se vit, les différences de qualification du conflit entre la communauté de la connaissance de l’eau et les autres acteurs du territoire traduisent des réalités d’un autre ordre, rivalités des pouvoirs territoriaux ou clivages sociaux. Ces éléments mettent aussi en évidence les mécanismes de la transformation du conflit en ressource, par la dynamique positive de l’échec des solutions proposées et par les avantages que la perpétuation du conflit procure à l’ensemble de la société concernée, ce qui permet d’élaborer un modèle théorique ancré conflit-ressource.Dans cette perspective, le rôle de ce travail de recherche n’est certainement pas d’accompagner des solutions pré-établies ou de proposer des solutions nouvelles, mais plutôt de permettre aux acteurs concernés par la situation conflictuelle de se regarder dans un miroir, celui de leurs propres discours et représentations, pour changer de trajectoire si tel est leur choix et de prendre en toute connaissance de cause les décisions qui leur appartiennentTo cope with endemic water conflicts, which are often underlying but persist for years and seem to have become constitutive of certain territories, it appears that thought should be given to the way these conflicts are perceived by their own witnesses and actors. Hindsight evidences the inconsistencies between alarmist discourses on the problems, the promises to solve them, and the relative inefficiency of applied measures. This suggests that conflicts might have benefits that could explain their perpetuation, without regard to any permanent or occasional tensions that they eventually impose on the territory.This thesis reviews a 40-year-old conflict in the Alto-Guadiana river catchment (central-south Spain) from the point of view of reflexive and neo-materialist constructivism, and it is based on the political ecology methods that are discussed in the thesis. Its aim is twofold: i) to reach a middle ground on methodological issues to cope with reluctance of quantitative sciences against qualitative techniques, and ii) to demonstrate its usefulness and effectiveness by establishing new connections that usually escape the conscious gaze of territorial actors, including those of the techno-scientific water community, which participate on the same basis as other actors in the conflict situation dynamics.The functioning of the conflict within the protected natural areas of this Spanish river catchment and its replicate of Usumacinta in Mexico has thus been discovered using Grounded Theory qualitative and inductive techniques, by means of semi-structured interviews and direct observations. Both protocols for data collection and assembly and tools to extract meaning from transcriptions are described step by step, in order to ensure transparency and scientific reliability of the process, in the manner of natural sciences.The function of the conflict is discussed in four parts. The first one deals with the role of water data production and social representations in the search for solutions, in order to reveal the theoretical elements that make water an object of environmental conflict. The second part is devoted to the method of collecting field data and analyzing territorialized discourses on the water-related conflict. Thirdly, geosocial and political contexts of study areas are defined, and differences in perception between natural reserves and inhabited areas are underlined. The last part details the results of Grounded Theory analysis from collected empirical data. It highlights the mechanisms that drive the conflict to become a resource and the interest of territorial actors on its perpetuation.The gap between what is said and what is happening, i.e. the differences in conflict qualification between water knowledge community and other territorial actors, reflects realities of distinct nature, namely rivalries among territorial powers or social cleavage. These elements also highlight the mechanisms of conflict transformation into a resource, through the positive dynamics of the failure of proposed solutions and the benefits that conflict perpetuation brings to the whole society, which allows the development of an anchored conflict-resource Grounded Theory model.From this perspective, the purpose of this research work is certainly not to support pre-established solutions or to propose new ones, but rather to enable the actors concerned by the situation to look at themselves in a mirror, i.e. that of their own speeches and representations, in order to change their trajectory, if that is their choice, and to take knowingly the decisions that correspond to them
Ante la existencia de conflictos endémicos en torno al agua, a menudo latentes, que se mantienen durante años y parecen formar parte constitutiva de ciertos territorios, en esta tesis nos hemos preguntado sobre cómo son percibidos por sus actores y testigos, Este ejercicio retrospectivo ha puesto en evidencia las incoherencias entre los discursos alarmistas sobre la gravedad de los problemas, las promesas de solución y la relativa ineficacia de las medidas correctoras. Todo ello sugiere que el conflicto genera una rentabilidad que justifica su mantenimiento, más allá de las tensiones permanentes o esporádicas que suponen para el territorio.Esta tesis estudia un conflicto que se prolonga 40 años en la cuenca del Alto-Guadiana (España), a partir de una postura teórica constructivista reflexiva y neo-materialista que se apoya en métodos de la political ecology en discusión en este trabajo. Su objetivo es doble: por un lado, encontrar un marco de entendimiento metodológico, frente a las reticencias de las ciencias cuantitativas con los métodos cualitativos. Por otro lado, demostrar la utilidad y eficacia de las ciencias sociales para el estudio de los conflictos ambientales, por su gran capacidad para establecer conexiones inéditas que escapan a la mirada consciente de los actores territoriales, incluidos aquellos de la comunidad tecno-científica del agua que participan, como el resto de actores, en la dinámica del conflicto.Se ha intentado descifrar el funcionamiento del conflicto en espacios naturales protegidos del Alto-Guadiana con la relectura que a proporcionado la cuenca del Usumacinta (México), con el empleo de técnicas cualitativas e inductivas del Método de la Teoría Fundamentada, a partir de un corpus constituido por entrevistas semi-estructuradas y observaciones directas. Se han descrito paso a paso, los protocolos de compilación y ensamblaje de datos y las operaciones y mecanismos de extracción de sentido a partir de los discursos, con el fin de garantizar la transparencia del proceso, en un ejercicio de credibilidad científica tal y como se practica en ciencias naturales.La función del conflicto del agua en este territorio se discute en cuatro partes. La primera explicita los elementos teóricos que hacen del agua un objeto de conflicto ambiental, cuestionando el papel de la producción de datos sobre el agua y las representaciones sociales en la identificación de problemas. La segunda parte se dedica a los métodos de toma de datos de campo y al análisis de los discursos territorializados. La tercera parte, sitúa el contexto geopolítico y social de los territorios de estudio y subraya las miradas divergentes entre espacios vividos y espacios protegidos. Para terminar, la última parte detalla los resultados del análisis de los datos basados en el material empírico colectado y pone en evidencia los mecanismos por los que el conflicto pasa a ser un recurso, así como el interés de su mantenimiento para los actores del territorio.El desfase de la distancia entre lo que se dice y lo que se vive, y las diferencias de calificación del conflicto entre la comunidad del conocimiento del agua y los otros actores del territorio responden a realidades de otro orden: rivalidades de poderes territoriales o fracturas sociales. Estos elementos también ponen en evidencia los mecanismos de la transformación del conflicto en recurso, a través de una dinámica positiva del fracaso de las soluciones propuestas y gracias a las ventajas que el mantenimiento del conflicto procura al conjunto de la sociedad implicada. Todo ello nos ha permitido elaborar un modelo teórico de conflicto-recurso
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Perez-Ramos, María Isabel. "A QUEST FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SOVEREIGNTY : Chicana/o Literary Experiences of Water (Mis)Management and Environmental Degradation in the US Southwest." Doctoral thesis, KTH, Historiska studier av teknik, vetenskap och miljö, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-206580.
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The U.S. Southwest is a semi-arid region affected by numerous environmental problems. Chicana/o communities have been directly affected by such problems, especially ever since the region was annexed from Mexico by the United States in the mid-nineteenth century. From this moment onwards they lost their environmental sovereignty, mostly through their dispossession of the natural resources. This environmental humanities dissertation focuses on the ethics, politics, and practices around water (management), for water is a key natural resource and a central element of Chicana/o cultural identity. It explores the ways in which Chicana/o culture is interconnected with environmental practices and sites in subaltern literary works about the Chicana/o experience. It investigates how the hegemonic Anglo-American environmental, political, and economic practices have challenged and undermined Chicana/o culture, identity, and wellbeing, and how this has been addressed in fiction; and it questions whether establishing such a connection adds any useful insights to the larger discussion on the global socio-environmental crisis. This dissertation also analyzes the writer activist character of the subaltern narratives of the corpus, with attention to the relevance of rhetoric in subverting and constructing environmental discourses and ethics. By examining regional and border narratives, as well as fiction and non-fiction narratives about the socio-environmental struggles of other ethnic minorities in the Southwest and in other parts of the world, this dissertation puts literature about the Chicana/o experience in a regional, national, and transnational context. It moreover explores the pivotal role of literature in reclaiming environmental sovereignty, in asserting cultural identities, and in countering the environmental crisis by imagining alternative managerial practices and socio-environmental relations, as much as in challenging cultural hegemonies.QC 20170508
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Kaati, Patrik. "Small-Scale Farmers Land Use and Socioeconomic Situation in the Mount Elgon District in Northwestern Kenya : A Minor Field Study - Combined Field Mapping and Interview." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Geografi, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-10161.
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This Minor Field Study was carried out during November and December in 2011 in the Mount Elgon District in Western Kenya. The objective was to examine nine small-scale farming household´s land use and socioeconomic situation when they have joined a non-governmental organization (NGO) project, which specifically targets small-scale farming households to improve land use system and socioeconomic situation by the extension of soil and water conservation measures. The survey has worked along three integral examinations methods which are mapping and processing data using GIS, semi structured interviews and literature studies. This study has adopted a theoretical approach referred to as political ecology, in which landesque capital is a central concept. The result shows that all farmers, except one, have issues with land degradation. However, the extent of the problem and also implemented sustainable soil and water conservation measures were diverse among the farmers. The main causes of this can both be linked to how the farmers themselves utilized their farmland and how impacts from the climate change have modified the terms of the farmers working conditions. These factors have consequently resulted in impacts on the informants’ socioeconomic conditions. Furthermore it was also registered that social and economic elements, in some cases, were the causes of how the farmers manage their farmland. The farmer who had no significant problem with soil erosion had invested in trees and opportunities to irrigate the farmland. In addition, it was also recorded that certain farmers had invested in particular soil and water conservation measures without any significant result. This was probably due to the time span these land measures cover before they start to generate revenue. The outcome of this study has traced how global, national and local elements exist in a context when it comes to the conditions of the farmers´ land use and their socioeconomic situation. The farmers atMt.Elgon are thereby a component of a wider context when they are both contributory to their socioeconomic situation, mainly due to their land management, and also exposed to core-periphery relationships on which the farmers themselves have no influence.
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Fustec, Klervi. "Processus multi-échelles, enjeux environnementaux et construction étatique : le cas de l'autorité palestinienne, des politiques de gestion de l'eau et du changement climatique." Thesis, Montpellier 3, 2014. http://www.theses.fr/2014MON30068/document.
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Cette thèse analyse les relations de pouvoir qui se jouent autour des enjeux environnementaux (gestion de l'eau et changement climatique) dans le processus de construction étatique de l'Autorité palestinienne, entité gouvernementale sous régime d'aide et marquée par l'occupation israélienne. Elle mobilise la sociologie de l'action publique, la political ecology et les science and technology studies afin d'étudier les processus multi-échelles de co-construction de l'ordre social et de l'environnement à travers les savoirs, la définition des problèmes et les politiques adoptées pour y répondre. Cette recherche analyse les liens entre l'aide internationale, le développement, l'environnement et la volonté de consolidation du pouvoir de l'Autorité palestinienne. Elle se penche sur la circulation et l'hybridation des savoirs et des solutions d'action publique. En dehors de l'action des décideurs nationaux et internationaux, d'autres acteurs (ONG, organisations humanitaires) interviennent et mobilisent d'autres représentations des problèmes environnementaux et des solutions à apporter en interactions avec leurs représentations du territoire et du conflit. Cette thèse se fonde sur une série d'entretiens et de discussions informelles, la littérature grise sur le sujet et de nombreuses observations participantesThis thesis analyses the power relations involved in environmental issues (water management and climate change) and the process of state building of the Palestinian Authority, an entity dependent on international aid and under israeli occupation. This thesis mobilises sociology of public action, political ecology and science and technology studies in order to examine the multi-level processes of co-construction of social order and environment through knowledges, problems definition and public policies adopted to tackle them. This research analyses the interactions between international aid, development and environment and the objective of empowerment of the Palestinian Authority. It focuses on the circulation and hybridisation of knowledge and public policy solutions. Beyond national and international decision makers, other actors such as NGOs or humanitarian organisations participate and mobilise other representations of environmental problems and solutions in relation with their representations of the territory and the conflict. This thesis is based on a series of interviews, informal discussions, grey literature dealing with the subject and observational work
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Molony, Lara. "Water security amongst impoverished households in the Sundays River Valley Municipality : community experiences and perspectives." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018932.
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Water security is influenced by the complex interplay between ecological, socio-political, governance and water management systems. Achieving water security is essential for ensuring sustainable development, and challenges with water security are closely linked to the overall experience of poverty that many countries throughout the world, including South Africa, confront. These problems can broadly be understood through three main factors: water availability, access and usage; water governance and management underpin these factors. Water insecurity can often be seen in townships within South Africa, where water service delivery and water access is precarious. This study provides a lens into the water security experiences of two poor township communities in the Sundays River Valley Municipality (SRVM) namely Nomathamsanqa in Addo and Aquapark in Kirkwood. The research assessed water security patterns amongst RDP, township and informal settlement households serviced by the SRVM and found that communities face severe water security problems. Specifically, it was found that all township households encounter frequent water shortages, cuts in municipal water supply and water quality concerns. Issues around the payment for water and dissatisfaction with water service delivery also emerged. The purpose of this research was to allow for community experiences and perspectives to be expressed in an academic space that has previously been dominated by water management and policy makers. The study concludes that these communities within the SRVM experience significant challenges in securing safe water and these are largely due to social water scarcity issues and the difficulties the municipality faces concerning water service delivery.
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Tashev, Azamat. "Understanding Ecosystem Services through Organizational Analysis: Application to the Truckee-Carson River System." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1515072255449453.
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Piser, Gabriel A. "Appalachian Anthropocene: Conflict and Subject Formation in a Sacrifice Zone." The Ohio State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1469120301.
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Brain, Tega Carly. "The politics and poetics of coexistence : experiments at the intersection of art and environmental engineering." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2012. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/61027/1/Tega_Brain_Thesis.pdf.
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This research project explores how interdisciplinary art practices can provide ways for questioning and envisaging alternative modes of coexistence between humans and the non-humans who together, make up the environment. As a practiceled project, it combines a body of creative work (50%) and this exegesis (50%). My interdisciplinary artistic practice appropriates methods and processes from science and engineering and merges them into artistic contexts for critical and poetic ends.
By blending pseudo-scientific experimentation with creative strategies like visual fiction, humour, absurd public performance and scripted audience participation, my work engages with a range of debates around ecology. This exegesis details the interplay between critical theory relating to these debates, the work of other creative practitioners and my own evolving artistic practice. Through utilising methods and processes drawn from my prior career in water engineering, I present an interdisciplinary synthesis that seeks to promote improved understandings of the causes and consequences of our ecological actions and inactions.