Case Study 1: Matarraña River Basin - Euwareness

Claims for water supply for irrigation and for the regulation of the Matarraña river are
heard no more within the basin from October 2000 but at the regional and national level
continues the social protest and debate over the national water policy. In September
2000 the National Hydrological Preliminary Plan was presented and started being
debated in he social and expert arenas until its adoption in July 2001. On the other
hand, in Aragón there is a massive protest against the national hydraulic policy and for
a new water policy and culture. At the basin level, the conservation movement leaded
by PLADEMA continue their activity and in December 2 nd Seminar on the Matarraña
are held.
More recently, the approval of the National Hydrological Plan provided the legal basis
and the economic resources for the materialisation of the 2000 Water Agreement of the
Matarraña river basin. In September 2001 the Ministry of the Environment includes the
construction of the two lateral pools in the National Hydrological Plan and assumes the
financing of the works which will soon start. 2,102 hectares located in the municipalities
of Maella, Nonaspe and Fabara (all included in the Matarraña river basin) will be
irrigated with the newly available water resources from the pools.
Nowadays, the relevance of the Matarraña river basin case seem to have gone
beyond the river basin level. Taking it as a referee, some attempts are now being made
at the regional level in order to reproduce the dynamic of dialogue and consensus that
at the Matarraña river basin level led to the 2000 Water Agreement. In October 2001,
an important agreement was reached between a regional environmental association
(Fundación Ecología y Desarrollo), which had promoted and supported the 2000 Water
Agreement in the Matarraña river basin, and the regional association of farmers
(UAGA-COAG). This two organisations have created a forum, based on a shared
problem perception of the needs of the region (nature protection, territorial structuring
and promotion of social development in rural areas) where farmers, rural population
and experts can discuss about water management strategies and design the future of
rural areas in the region.
7. Dimensions of integration and regime change
The 2000 Water Agreement may be interpreted as a signal of transition from a complex
and desegregated water regime, towards a more integrated one. Integration, in this
case, relates to the governance system rather than to the regulative system and is
58