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The Water Metabolism of Socio-Ecosystems

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The Water Metabolism of Socio-Ecosystems The Water Metabolism of Socio-Ecosystems Epistemology, Methods and Applications by Cristina Madrid-López A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy PhD Program in Environmental Science and Technology Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA) Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) October 2014 Supervisors: Dr. Vicent Alcántara Dr. Mario Giampietro Dr. Jesús Ramos- Martín Emeritus Professor, ICREA Research Professor Dean Departament d’Economia Aplicada, Institut de Ciència i Centro de Prospectiva Tecnologia Ambientals, Estratégica, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Universitat Autònoma Instituto de Altos de Barcelona Estudios Nacionales (Spain) (Spain) (Ecuador) Para Felipe y Toñi “¿Qué gigantes? dijo Sancho Panza. Aquellos que allí ves, respondió su amo, de los brazos largos, que los suelen tener algunos de casi dos leguas. Mire vuestra merced, respondió Sancho, que aquellos que allí se parecen no son gigantes, sino molinos de viento, y lo que en ellos parecen brazos son las aspas, que volteadas del viento hacen andar la piedra del molino.” (El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha, Miguel de Cervantes) Für Martijn “Drum hab’ ich mich der Magie ergeben, Ob mir durch Geistes Kraft und Mund Nicht manch Geheimniß würde kund; Daß ich nicht mehr mit sauerm Schweiß, Zu sagen brauche, was ich nicht weiß; Daß ich erkenne, was die Welt Im Innersten zusammenhält” (Faust, Wolfgang vom Goethe) Abstract The research line presented in this dissertation is a first attempt to provide a bridge for the communication between Hydrological studies and Social Metabolism. It was born from the observation that water is neglected in Social Metabolism and that current water science, while certain about the need of evolving towards a more interdisciplinary field, still faces challenges in the connection of social and ecosystem analyses. The contribution made here is the definition of an analytical framework – the Water Metabolism of Socioecosystems- where this connection can be established and which is formed by a conceptual proposal and a methodological toolkit. The document is divided in three parts where the epistemological, the methodological and the formal novelties of the framework are discussed. Part I covers the epistemological reflections related to the analytical framework. It begins in Chapter 1 with the explanation of the challenges faced by current water science and which are related to the need of finding analytical frameworks that contribute useful inputs to integrated management of the water resources (IWRM). As with the case of other resources, IWRM requires the analytical connection of the social and ecosystem dynamics. As a key piece within Sustainability Science the analogy of the metabolism of societies can be used to establish this connection. However, the metabolism concept needs a close examination before its joint use with other conceptions of the relations between humans and nature. After highlighting the need of considering the societal and ecosystem metabolism of socio-ecosystems as two separate but connected processes, a conceptual scheme is proposed in Chapter 2 to describe the metabolic relations between them. In Chapter 3, this scheme is adapted to the specifics of water using some of the most relevant concepts in socio- and eco-hydrology. In this way the water metabolism of socio-ecosystems is defined as the metabolism of the coupled water-human systems. Part II describes the methodological framework. In Chapter 4 the Multi-Scale Assessment of the Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) is presented as an established framework able to deal with the scale issues and the integration of narratives. MuSIASEM is adapted to the analyses of coupled water-human systems. Since water presents some differences with the previous energy-focus analyses, its adaptation requires the inclusion of new scales of analysis –problemshed and watershed- and new definitions of water as a metabolite –as flow and fund. In Chapter 5 the differences and synergies between MuSIASEM and the water footprint analysis –as one of the tools of the IWRM- are highlighted. 6 In part III four case studies are presented with two objectives. First, Chapter 6 assesses the sustainability of the metabolic patterns I Punjab and Mauritius in order to test the adaptation of MuSIASEM to water and to show how this type of analyses is made functional. Second, Chapter 7 shows how the water footprint accounting methods can complement the analysis of the water flows in MuSIASEM and how MuSIASEM, in turn and provide a space for their contextualization. Keywords: Agriculture, Complex Systems, Integrated Water Resources Management, Flow/Fund Model, Grammar, Multilevel Matrixes, MuSIASEM, Scale Issues, Socio-Ecological System, Social Metabolism, Virtual Water, Water, Water Footprint, New Water Culture. 7 Resumen La línea de investigación presentada en esta tesis representa un primer acercamiento entre los estudios sobre Hidrología y Metabolismo Social. La línea nace de la observación de que el agua es evitada en los estudios que tratan el metabolismo y de que la ciencia del agua –si bien reconoce la necesidad de evolucionar hacia la interdisciplinariedad- todavía no ha conseguido conectar los análisis enfocados en la sociedad y en los ecosistemas. La contribución que se hace en este trabajo es precisamente la definición de un marco analítico –el Metabolismo Hídrico de los Socio-ecosistemas- donde se puede establecer esta conexión y que está formado por una propuesta conceptual y un set de herramientas metodológicas. El documento se divide en tres partes donde se discuten las novedades epistemológicas, metodológicas y formales del marco. La Parte I cubre las reflexiones epistemológicas relacionadas con el marco analítico. Éstas comienzan en el Capítulo 1 con la explicación de los restos a los que la ciencia del agua se enfrenta y que están relacionados con la necesidad de encontrar marcos analíticos que puedan proporcionar inputs relevantes para la gestión integrada de los recursos hídricos (GIRH). Al igual que para el caso de otros recursos, la GIRH requiere el establecimiento de una conexión analítica de las dinámicas sociales y de los ecosistemas. La analogía del metabolismo de la sociedad, como una de las piezas claves de la Ciencia de la Sostenibilidad, es una buena opción para establecer esta conexión. Sin embargo, el concepto de metabolismo necesita ser examinado de cerca antes de su uso combinado con otras concepciones de las relaciones entre el ser humanos y la naturaleza. Tras subrayas que el metabolismo de las sociedades y los ecosistemas son dos procesos distintos per conectados, en el Capítulo 2 se propone un esquema para la descripción de las relaciones metabólicas entre ellos. En el capítulo 3, este esquema es adaptado a las condiciones específicas del agua, usando algunos de los conceptos más relevantes en socio- y eco-hidrología. De esta forma, el metabolismo hídrico del socio-ecosistema es definido como el metabolismo del sistema agua-ser humano. La Parte II describe el marco metodológico. Como un marco ampliamente establecido que es capaz de tratar los problemas de escala y de integrar narrativas, el Capítulo 4 presenta el Análisis Integrado Multi-Escala del Metabolismo Social y de los Ecosistemas (MuSIASEM). MuSIASEM se ha seleccionado como raíz y ha sido adaptado al análisis de sistemas complejos agua-ser humano. Dado que el agua presenta importantes diferencias con respecto a los análisis previos en energía, esta adaptación requiere la inclusión de nuevas escalas de análisis –el ‘problemshed’ y el 8 ‘watershed’- y nuevas definiciones del agua como metabolito –como flujo y fondo. En el capítulo 5 se señalan las diferencias y sinergias ente MuSIASEM el análisis de la huella hídrica –como una de las herramientas de la GIRH. En la Parte III se presentan cuatro casos de estudio con dos objetivos. En primer lugar, el Capítulo 6 analiza a sostenibilidad de los patrones metabólicos en el uso del agua en Punjab y Mauricio para testear la aplicación de MuSIASEM a los estudios de agua y para mostrar cómo este tipo de análisis de formaliza. En segundo lugar, el Capítulo 7 muestra como los métodos de contabilidad del agua del análisis de la huella hídrica complementan el análisis de flujos de agua en MuSIASEM, encontrando además una referencia para su contextualización. Palabras clave: Agua, Agua Virtual, Agricultura, Gestión Integrada de Los Recursos Hídricos, Gramática, Huella Hídrica, Metabolismo Social, Modelo de Flujo/Fondo, Matrices Multinivel, MuSIASEM, Nueva Cultura del Agua, Problemas de Escala, Sistemas Complejos, Sistema Socio-Ecológico. Contents Content Index ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................... 5 RESUMEN ......................................................................................................................... 7 CONTENTS 9 CONTENT INDEX ................................................................................................................. 9 FIGURES ......................................................................................................................... 11 TABLES ........................................................................................................................... 13 ACRONYMS ..................................................................................................................... 14 PREFACE 15 EVOLUTION
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