Uses and Customs in Bolivia: Impacts of the Irrigation Law on Access to Water in the Cochabamba Valley
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Uses and Customs in Bolivia: Impacts of the Irrigation Law on Access to Water in the Cochabamba Valley Nasya Sara Razavi Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the MA in Globalization and International Development School of International Development and Global Studies Faculty of Social Sciences University of Ottawa © Nasya Sara Razavi, Ottawa, Canada, 2012 ABSTRACT Networks of indigenous irrigating farmers played an influential role in the Cochabamba Water War of 2000 that succeeded in ousting the major water company Bechtel from Bolivia and securing changes to the national legislation to recognize indigenous water rights. In their mobilization against privatization, the irrigators used a narrative grounded in the defense of their water rights and traditional uses and customs or usos y costumbres. Following the Water War, the irrigators effectively organized to have their traditional water rights recognized in the new Irrigation Law no. 2878, which was signed into law in 2004, and the Regulations, which came into effect in 2006. This paper critically examines the impacts of the Irrigation Law on access to water in the heavily farmed region of the Cochabamba Valley. It asks whether the social inequalities amongst farming communities, often exacerbated by usos y costumbres, are being reinforced through the law’s implementation. An analysis of the political processes of institutional change and the power dynamics in the rural water sector reveals that the configuration of power asymmetries formalized in the Irrigation Law maintains unequal access to water resources. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am highly indebted to Professor Susan Spronk for her support throughout my MA, from guiding me through fieldwork in Bolivia, to providing suggestions and critical feedback that motivated me at various stages of thesis drafting. Her kindness and endless patience are greatly appreciated. I am equally indebted to the various researchers at CESU-UMMS, Universidad de San Simón, and Centro AGUA in Cochabamba, Bolivia, for their time and engagement, particularly Vladimir Cossio, Rocio Bustamante, and Carlos Crespo. The University of Ottawa’s International Field Research Scholarship and Research Travel Grant provided the financial support necessary to conduct field research. I thank all my professors at the School of International Development and Global Studies, and my thesis committee, Professor Deborah Sick and Professor Sylvie Paquerot, for their contributions. Mil gracias to the Navia-Orellana family for taking me in as their own sister from the first minute in Cochabamba, for putting up with my abuelita ways, and for introducing me to Bolivian culture. Their warm hospitality enriched the experience in countless ways. To my fellow students and great friends in VH, Ottawa, and beyond, thanks for the laughs and positive energy. Finally, thank you to FERN and Guillaume for your constant encouragement and love. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT................................................................................................................. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................... iii INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1 Why Study Irrigation? Access to Water in the Agricultural Sector ........................ 4 Thesis Objectives and Organization ......................................................................... 12 CHAPTER 1: THEORY AND METHODOLOGY................................................. 14 The Political Ecology Approach................................................................................ 14 Power and Scale ......................................................................................................... 17 Social Differentiation.................................................................................................. 20 Project Design and Methodology............................................................................. 22 CHAPTER 2: INDIGENOUS PEASANT ORGANIZATION.............................. 29 Colonial Period [1570 - 1826]..................................................................................... 29 Bolivian Independence [1826] ................................................................................... 32 National Popular Revolution [1952]......................................................................... 36 Emergence of Indigenous Movements.................................................................... 39 State Restructuring under Neoliberal Reform and Indigenous Movements ....... 43 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 51 CHAPTER 3: THE IRRIGATORS’ MOVEMENT AND INSTITUTIONAL REFORM .................................................................................................................... 52 Usos y Costumbres: Local Irrigation Management in the Cochabamba Valley.. 52 The Irrigators’ Movement......................................................................................... 58 The Cochabamba Water War ................................................................................... 62 CHAPTER 4: IRRIGATION LAW NO. 2878......................................................... 72 Irrigation Law no. 2878.............................................................................................. 72 Social Differentiation.................................................................................................. 78 Problematic Aspects of the Irrigation Law.............................................................. 79 Access to Water .......................................................................................................... 79 Competition................................................................................................................ 82 Participation in Decision-Making.............................................................................. 84 Implementation of the Irrigation Law ..................................................................... 86 Punata ......................................................................................................................... 88 Analysis....................................................................................................................... 91 iv Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 94 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION.................................................................................. 95 BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................................... 100 APPENDIX: INTERVIEW LIST............................................................................. 106 v INTRODUCTION April 2010 marked the ten-year anniversary of the Water War in Cochabamba, Bolivia that succeeded in ousting the major multinational water company Bechtel from the country. The Water War is widely known as the first successful revolt against the neoliberal economic policies that were introduced in Bolivia over the previous two decades. These neoliberal policies included the privatization and commercialization of water through changes to legislation that promoted the signing of private contracts with foreign investors. However, within six months of signing over Cochabamba’s municipal water company to a private consortium, the act was met with strong resistance from the public who opposed the spikes in water bills and the transfer of water rights to multinational corporations. Tensions culminated when residents of Cochabamba, including workers and peasants, formed the organization La Coordinadora (La Coordinadora de Defensa del agua y vida – Coalition in Defense of Water and Life) to coordinate protests to fight for public control of the water systems. The protests resulted in the cancellation of the contract between the Bolivian government and the U.S.-based conglomerate Bechtel. Since then, the Water War has become a reference point for discussions and debates in several circles on various aspects of water resource management within Bolivia, and worldwide. For instance, the theme of the 2010 Annual International Water Conference in Cochabamba was the state of water management “10 years after” the Water War. Evidence of concrete improvements to service, e.g. water delivery, following the Water War is difficult to find. SEMAPA (Servicio Municipal de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado – Municipal 1 Drinking and Sewerage Services), Cochabamba’s water distribution company, is rife with corruption scandals, which have frustrated the development and improvement of the water system. Currently, water is provided by the public water utility to only half of the city’s population, being located in the wealthier zones of the city (the north and centre), leaving the poor southern zone marginalized. For decades, the latter population has self-organized in order to create their own communal water distribution systems. However, it can be argued that parallel water networks further embed the city divide (Bakker, 2007). Thus, while the Water War is seen as a triumph, not all of the outcomes have been positive, as problems of unequal access to water persist in the city centre as well as in the surrounding rural areas. The first to object