The ostrich politics of groundwater development and neoliberal regulation in Mexico

In this article I present the politics that spurred groundwater development in Central and Northern Mexico between 1930 and 1990, and analyse the working/effects of the neoliberal groundwater policies that were implemented in the country since the 1990s. I first present, based on an analysis of the Comarca Lagunera and the state of Guanajuato, the socio-economic, political and institutional dynamics that shaped groundwater development between 1930 and 1990, with a special focus on how with state support large commercial farmers and small ejidatarios developed groundwater irrigation. My analysis shows how the actors involved in groundwater development, just like ostriches, stuck their head in the sand, oblivious to aquifer overdraft and its environmental consequences. Then I present how – since the 1990s – neoliberal groundwater regulation policies have worked out on the ground opening the doors to regulatory capture and groundwater accumulation through capital, oblivious to sustained aquifer overdraft, a shrinking peasant ejido sector, increased rural outmigration and the health threat of toxic concentration of Fluoride and Arsenic in many groundwater dependent areas. This analysis raises serious doubts about the capacity of – often (inter)nationally lauded – neoliberally inspired groundwater policies to contribute to socio-environmental sustainability and equity

Irrigation management transfer in sub-Saharan Africa: an analysis of policy implementation across scales

This article explores how irrigation management transfer policies were implemented in Mali, Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. In Mali and Mozambique, where the irrigation bureaucracy controlled one large irrigation system, state agencies retained control over irrigation management despite reduced state funding. In Malawi and Zimbabwe, where the state irrigation systems and the irrigation bureaucracy were smaller, users have taken over irrigation management, but are having trouble sustaining irrigated agriculture. We show how irrigation management transfer policies were shaped by the interplay between international donors, macro-economic dynamics, national politics and the interactions with (and the nature of) irrigation infrastructure, bureaucracies and organized users.</p

River Commoning and the State: A Cross‐Country Analysis of River Defense Collectives

Grassroots initiatives that aim to defend, protect, or restore rivers and riverine environments have proliferated around the world in the last three decades. Some of the most emblematic initiatives are anti-dam and anti-mining movements that have been framed, by and large, as civil society versus the state movements. In this article, we aim to bring nuance to such framings by analyzing broader and diverse river-commoning initiatives and the state–citizens relations that underlie them. To study these relations we build on notions of communality, grassroots scalar politics, rooted water collectives, and water justice movements, which we use to analyze several collective practices, initiatives, and movements that aim to protect rivers in Thailand, Spain, Ecuador, and Mozambique. The analysis of these cases shows the myriad ways in which river collectives engage with different manifestations of the state at multiple scales. As we show, while some collectives strategically remain unnoticed, others actively seek and create diverse spaces of engagement with like-minded citizen initiatives, supportive non-governmental organizations, and state actors. Through these relations, alliances are made and political space is sought to advance river commoning initiatives. This leads to a variety of context-specific multi-scalar state–citizens relations and river commoning processes in water governance arenas

The social construction and consequences of groundwater modelling: insight from the Mancha Oriental aquifer, Spain

[EN] Groundwater flow models have been increasingly used to support policy making. A substantial amount of research has been dedicated to improving, validating and calibrating models and including stakeholders in the modelling process. However, little research has been done to analyze how the choices of model makers and steering by policy makers result in models with specific characteristics, which only allow specific modelling outcomes, and how the use of these modelling outcomes leads to specific social, economic and environmental consequences. In this study, we use the social construction of technology framework to explore the development, characteristics and uses of the groundwater model of the Mancha Oriental aquifer in Spain. The specific characteristics and functioning of this model influenced the policy implementation, implying that involving stakeholders in the development and use of models is crucial for improved democratic policy making.This work was carried out as part of the collaboration agreement between the University of Castilla–La Mancha and Wageningen University. The research is also part of Femke Rambags’ MSc Thesis. David Sanz was supported by the Grants for Stays at Other Universities and Research Centres (UCLM). Special thanks go to the Júcar Water Authority (CHJ) and stakeholders (JCRMO) in the Mancha Oriental System for the necessary information. We would also like to thank Dr A. Sahuquillo of the Universitat Politècnica de València de Valencia and Dr S. Castaño of the University of Castilla–La Mancha for comments and participation in the first stage of modelling. The contents of this paper do not represent the views of CHJ or JCRMO. 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Regulating agricultural groundwater use in arid and semi-arid regions of the Global South : Challenges and socio-environmental impacts

Groundwater forms the basis for millions of rural and urban livelihoods in the Global South. Its use for irrigation has spurred widespread socio-economic development in various areas but has also led to aquifer overdraft and related socio-environmental impacts. This article presents common challenges that agricultural groundwater regulation faces in the areas of intensive use. It shows the main approaches that have been used to try to regulate and control groundwater use. These revolve mostly around direct regulation by the state; different forms of co-management between groundwater user groups and state agencies; and incentives aimed at reducing agricultural groundwater use. This review analyzes why in many contexts, these mechanisms have not led to more sustainable aquifer use. Finally, the article brings to highlight the important challenges this poses in terms of socio-environmental sustainability

Los nuevos sujetos del agua. Organización social y la democratización de la gestión del agua en los Andes ecuatorianos

La democratización se ha convertido en una importante herramienta para avanzar hacia una gestión del agua más social, equitativa, justa y sustentable. Sin embargo, el camino hacia la democratización es un camino de largo andar en el cual las relaciones entre Estado y sociedad tiene qie encontrar un nuevo balance. En esta búsqueda, uno de los retos mas grandes es encontrar un nuevo balance. En esta búsqueda, uno de los retos más grandes es encontrar estrategias que permitan a los usuarios, históricamente marginados, volverse partícipes de las decisiones qye afectan sus derechos y acceso al agua

Review of Watering the Revolution: An Environmental and Technological History of Agrarian Reform in Mexico, by Mikael D. Wolfe

Watering the Revolution: An Environmental and Technological History of Agrarian Reform in Mexico, by Mikael D. Wolfe, Duke University Press, 2017

Normative structures, collaboration and conflict in irrigation; a case study of the Pillaro North Canal Irrigation System, Ecuadorian Highlands

This paper analyzes conflict and collaboration and their relation to normative structures based on a case study of the history and external interventions of the Píllaro North Canal Irrigation System in the Ecuadorian Highlands. It does so by using Ostrom’s framework for analyzing the sustainability of socio-ecological systems together with an analysis of the normative structures that define the governance systems through which the interactions in irrigation systems are mediated. I argue that the external interventions by the state and NGOs imposed a new governance system that undermined the existing normative structures and related organizations, leading to internal conflicts. The case study suggests that a reformulation of irrigation policies and state intervention methodologies in user managed supra-community irrigation systems in the Andes could lead to higher levels of cooperation

Review of Watering the Revolution: An Environmental and Technological History of Agrarian Reform in Mexico, by Mikael D. Wolfe

'Watering the Revolution: An Environmental and Technological History of Agrarian Reform in Mexico', by Mikael D. Wolfe, Duke University Press, 2017

Corporate labour standards and work quality : insights from the agro-export sector of Guanajuato, Central Mexico

In this article we analyse how workers perceive corporate labour standards and the related work conditions in the agro-export sector of Northern Guanajuato, Central Mexico. We do so by first comparing labour standards on local farms to labour standards at an international fresh vegetable production, harvesting, processing and export company that has explicit corporate labour standards. Second, we present how workers from two rural communities of landless workers employed in the agro-export industry perceive the differences between work at local farms and work at the agro-export company. Our results show that better pay and secondary benefits resulting from corporate labour standards do not necessarily translate to perceptions of better work quality. This relates to the broader work conditions in which these labour standards are inserted. Many workers prefer work with lower labour standards but that has more convenient working hours and enables engagement in family and social activities alongside the job. Based on these results we argue that, from a sociological perspective, work quality is a situated and very context-specific notion. Therefore, higher labour standards and better pay even in contexts of cheap labour and widespread poverty are not necessarily associated by workers with higher work quality