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3.4 Access to Water and Conflict: An Indigenous Perspective from Latin America Patricia Ávila Researcher, Center for Ecosystem Research, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico
Introduction Water conflicts are numerous, and they may arise through the confrontation of two or more cosmogonies and their respective social perceptions of water’s value, among other reasons. Such examples exist from the Colonial period in Latin America: while for indigenous people, lakes were a source of multiple material and spiritual assets, for the Spaniards they were a source of disease because of the stagnant and foul-smelling waters. It was this latter conception that instigated the desiccating of the lakes, which in the valley of Mexico was achieved by draining its water to another watershed basin (Musset, 1992; Espinosa, 1996). Today, this contrast in values is reflected in the dichotomy that exists between institutions and social agreements in the management of water at the community level. The state ignores the water rights of indigenous peoples and introduces new modalities, from supporting individual rights to the public and private management of water. However, the conflict is more deeply rooted in the free-of-charge and collective access to water, given that the state promotes the re-valuation of water as an economic good that should have a market value and price. In this sense, disassociating or even omitting the existence of the social and cultural dimensions of water is a way of endangering both the basis of contemporaneous civilizations and indigenous regions where there is a culture of sustainable use and management of water. In addition, it is a way of generating water conflicts and of attacking collective rights and forms of management in indigenous territories that since ancient times have supported a sustainable appropriation of water (Ávila, 1996). 1. Water and Cosmogony Throughout history, water has had deep, mythical-poetic and socio-cultural meanings and values associated with cosmogony and with the perception of the world and nature (León Portilla, 1992; Ilich, 1993; Estermann, 2006). This has resulted in cultural ways of managing water within an integrated water-land-forest matrix, and in a social recognition of water as a collective good or common (Robert, 2002). The relevance of recognising the value of water in its largest sense is a key factor in understanding the past and present existence of water cultures that have been founded on the principles of social and environmental sustainability (Ávila, 1996; Palerm, 1972; Rojas, 1985). Historically, water has been a common good that is socially regulated in order to guarantee a more equitable access to it; and since not being dissociated from the territorial water-land-forest matrix, its appropriation was based on an integrative logic and on the profound knowledge of the cycles of nature (Espinosa, 1996; Robert, 2002). For Mesoamerican and Andean peoples alike, water was considered a gift from the gods with which they would live and strengthen (León-Portilla, 1992; Estermann, 2006). The availability of water in the territory contributed to the birth of communities and peoples that settled following the land-water-forest patterns along valleys, hills and mountains in which springs and rivers had their source. Conservation and adequate management of water, land and forests enabled life itself and the development of communities. It also was the basis for the flourishing of the Mesoamerican and South American hydraulic societies (Palerm, 1972; Rojas, 1985, Gelles, 2000). Indigenous peoples created rights, regulations and collective practices about water in order to guarantee its adequate use and appropriation (León-Portilla, 1992; Robert, 1994; Ávila, 1996). As stated by Robert (2002): “In history, water has been the great maker of communities. Always people from diverse origins learned to share the same fountains and to coexist beside the same rivers and, by the act of concluding agreements, set the bases of a community.” Free-of-charge water supply was associated with its divine nature, as water was considered a gift from the gods. This enabled free access to water, which was then regulated by communitarian actions (such as tasks and festivities), and by the creation of rights for collective water use and management. In this framework, water was considered to be a common good contributing to the reinforcement of the territorial links of belonging and identity. Access to Water and Conflict: An Indigenous Perspective from Latin America Part 3 143
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The Global Water Crisis: Addressing
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About the InterAction Council Estab
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Acknowledgements
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Foreword
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The undeniable seriousness of the g
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Foreword xiii
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The Global Water Crisis: Framing th
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Ethical considerations also need to
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3. Support Ratification of the UN W
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1 Water and Global Security
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Introduction Since the serious stat
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Jury and Vaux project that the numb
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5. The Potential for Conflict and t
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References Cullen, H., 2010. The We
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Introduction Water is an integral p
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shortage Statewide Regional Local N
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summer months. To alleviate the con
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References Department of Energy, 20
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Introduction Water, economic and en
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Economic analyses of ecosystem good
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• Managing for sustainability. De
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Richter, B.D., M.M. Davis, C. Apse
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Introduction Water is an essential
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early post-Cold War period, from a
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2.4. Water, conflicts, and institut
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Renaud et al. (2011) proposed a pre
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Carius, A., D. Tänzler and A. Maas
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Turton, A.R., 2004. “The Evolutio
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Introduction In the West Asia and N
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2. Water in the WANA Region 2.1. De
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Following on this, during a persona
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Below are some suggestions for how
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plants through evapo-transpiration)
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WANA Forum, 2010b. Toward Supra-nat
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Introduction “The trouble with wa
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• Upgrading current water infrast
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60,000 ventilation improved pit lat
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5. The Bottom Line It is widely ack
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The Blue Economy: Risks and Opportu
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2.1 A Human Development Approach to
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apparatus assists nation-states in
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By ensuring that the international
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2.2 Water and Health Security Ganes
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1.1. Human-induced Pollutants Domes
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Table.1. Water pollutants and human
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In many urban and semi-urban areas,
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2.3 Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and
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1. The Impacts of Poor Water, Sanit
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77 64 2015 MDG target Coverage (%)
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3. The Neglect of the WASH Sector a
Page 106 and 107: References Checkley, W., G. Buckley
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Page 114 and 115: 2.5 Investing in Women’s Particip
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Page 118 and 119: their substantial contribution is p
Page 120 and 121: Although cultural constraints still
Page 122 and 123: UNEP, 2009. Water Security and Ecos
Page 124 and 125: 2.6 Water Governance Reform in Afgh
Page 126 and 127: 1.2. The Extreme risk of food secur
Page 128 and 129: Furthermore, within each basin, lan
Page 130 and 131: 3.2. Early doubts vis-à-vis progre
Page 132 and 133: transboundary water management conc
Page 135 and 136: 3 Will the Right to Water Alleviate
Page 137 and 138: Introduction A growing number of ar
Page 139 and 140: 2. Ethical Perspectives on State Ob
Page 141 and 142: References Barlow, Maude, 2007. Blu
Page 143 and 144: Introduction It is widely recognize
Page 145 and 146: Later in 2010, the UN Human Rights
Page 147 and 148: 3.2. Legislative Recognition Dozens
Page 149 and 150: Mandela, M., 2002. No Water, No Fut
Page 151 and 152: Introduction South Africans have a
Page 153 and 154: water per person per day. The appli
Page 155: References Bluemel, E. B., 2004.
Page 159 and 160: 4. Water Policies and Their Impact
Page 161 and 162: y its interconnection to encompass
Page 163 and 164: Access to Water and Conflict: An In
Page 166 and 167: Response from the InterAction Counc
Page 168 and 169: As former U.S. President Mr. Bill C
Page 170 and 171: The InterAction Council Québec Dec
Page 172: List of Participants
Page 175 and 176: List of Participants: 29 th Annual
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