Water Rights and Politics in Andean Water Policy Reforms
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Water Rights and Politics in Andean Water Policy Reforms Research,Trainin gan dSemina r Results ofth eProgram : WATER LAWAN D INDIGENOUS RIGHTS- WALIR Towards recognition of indigenous and customary water rights and management rules in national legislation http://www.eclac.cl/drni/proyectos/walir/whatis.asp ISBN 90-8585-064-9 WALIR StudiesVolum e1 1 Wageningen University/ IWEan d United Nations/ CEPAL Author: Rutgerd Boelens With contributions from Paul H. Gelles and Margreet Zwarteveen Wageningen,200 6 Photob y Rutgerd Boelens(Cusco ,Peru ) WALIRStudie sVolum e1 1 WALIR- Water Lawan d Indigenous Rights The program Water law and Indigenous Rights is an international, inter-institutional endeavor based on action-research, exchange, capacity-building, empowerment and advocacy. This comparative research program builds upon academic research and action-researchers in local networks - both indigenous and non-indigenous. It attempts to be a kind of think-tank to critically inform debates on indigenous and customary rights in water legislation and water policy, both to facilitate local action platforms and to influence the circles of law- and policy-makers. Equitable rights distribution and democratic decision-making and therefore, support for empowerment of discriminated andoppresse d sectors,ar e majorconcerns . Inco-ordinatio n andcollaboratio nwit h existing networks and counterpart-initiatives, WALIR sets out to analyze water rights and customary management modes of indigenous and peasant communities, comparing themwit h the contents ofcurren t national legislation and policy. Thereby, it sheds light on how the first are legally and materially discriminated against and destructed.Th e aim is to contribute to a process of change that structurally recognizes indigenous and customary water management rules and rights in national legislation. It also aims to make a concrete contribution to the implementation of better water management policies. As part of its strategy WALIR plans to contribute to and present concepts, methodologies and contextual proposals and to sensitize decision makers regarding the changes needed for appropriate legislation and water policies. In its initial phase, WALIR has set up an inter-institutional network of institutions, scholars and practitioners of various disciplines and backgrounds, involved in and committed to the above objectives. Preparatory studies conducted so far have focused on current legislation and legal attention to, or neglect and discrimination of, indigenous and customary water rights. The project aims to have an effect beyond this Andean focus, by providing an example and tool for similar action research to be pursued in other regions. Second phase studies of WALIR focus on indigenous water rights in international law and treaties, indigenous identity and water rights, current indigenous water management systems, field case studies, and thematic, complementary research projects (on the relation between "WALIR" and gender, food security, land rights, water policy dialogue methods, among others). Short comparative studies in other countries will further complement and strengthen the project and its thematic networks, and lay the foundation for a broader international framework. Nexta number ofexchange ,dissemination ,capacity-buildin g and advocacy activities will be implemented, inclos e collaboration with local, national and international platforms andnetworks . The program, therefore, is not just academic but also action-based. While especially the indigenous populations are being confronted with increasing water scarcity and a traditionally strong neglecto fthei rwate r management rulesan drights ,th ecurren t political climate seemst ob e changing. However, actual legal changes are still empty of contents, and there is a lack of clear research results and proposals in this area. The program aims to help bridge these gaps, facing the challenge to take into account the dynamics of customary and indigenous rules,withou t falling into the trap of decontextualizing and 'freezing' such local normative systems. Fundamentally, WALIR program is directed towards activities and conclusions that facilitate local, national and international platforms and networks of grassroots organizations and policymakers. But the practicalan dconceptua l pitfalls rightsanalysi s andrecognitio n initiatives aremanifold . WALIR iscoordinate d byWageninge n University aridth e United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN/ECLAC) and is implemented in cooperation with counterpart organizations in Bolivia, Chili, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, France, The Netherlands and the USA. The counterparts, with whom they work together, form a much broader group of participants: institutions at international, national and local level.Th ewate r Unito fth e Netherlands Ministry of Foreign affairsfund sth eprogram . RutgerdBoelen s WALIR- Legislaciónd e Recursos Hïdricosy Derechos Locales e Indigenas (Spanish Summary) WALIR es un programa colaborativo coordinado por la Universidad de Wageningen y la Comisión Económico de las Naciones Unidas para America Latina y el Caribe (UN/CEPAL), y es implementada en cooperación con instituciones de contraparte en Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, México, Francia, Paises Bajos y Estados Unidos. Las contrapartes con las que estas trabajan forman un grupo de participantes mucho mâs amplio: instituciones a escalas local, nacional e intemacional. WALIR se formuló como una red interinstitucional basada en investigación-acción, intercambio, capacitación, empoderamiento y defensa legal. Se asienta sobre investigaciones académicase investigación-acción en redes locales, nacionales e internacionales - indîgenasy n o indigenas. Prétende ser un "centra de ideas" (think tank) para informar criticamente a los debates sobre los derechos consuetudinarios e indigenas relacionadas con la legislación y politicas hidricas, tanto para facilitar las plataformas locales de acción como para influir en los circulos donde se hacen las leyes y politicas. La distribución equitativa de los derechos y la toma democrâtica de decisiones y, por lo tanto, el apoyo para el empoderamiento de los sectores marginadosy discriminados , son lasprincipale s preocupaciones delWALIR . WALIRStudie sVolum e1 1 Sobree lauto r Rutgerd Boelens isa lecture r andresearche r withth e Irrigation andWate r Engineering Groupa t Wageningen University, The Netherlands. His academic and action research focuses on water rights, peasant and indigenouswate r control, legalpluralis man d interactive irrigation development, in the Andean countries and Spain. Currently he coordinates the program Water Law and Indigenous Rights (WALIR) on official and local water rights frameworks in Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador (comparative cases Mexico and U.S.A.), as well as the interAndean Concertación programo nwate r policy research and interdisciplinary water training. His books include Searching forEquity. Conceptions ofJustice andEquity inPeasant Irrigation (Spanish:Buscando la Equidad, with Dâvila, 1998); WaterRights andEmpowerment (wit h Hoogendam,2002) ;Derechos deAgua y Action Colectiva(wit h Hoogendam, 2001); Mujercampesina e Intervention en el Riego Andino (with Arroyo, 1997); Derecho ConsuetudinarioCampesino e Intervention en el Riego (with Doornbos, 1996); LiquidRelations. Contested Water Rightsand Legal Complexity (with Roth and Zwarteveen, 2005); Water and IndigenousPeoples (with Chiba and Nakashima, 2006). In his articles and book chapters he has also published on the linkages between water rights, water cultures,wate r policiesan d power relations. E-mail: [email protected] WALIRStudie sVolum e1 1 Table ofcontent s / Indice 1 LOCAL LAW AND THE POLITICS OFPARTICIPATIO N 1 THE PITFALLS AND CHALLENGES OFLOCA L WATER RIGHTS RECOGNITION INTH E ANDES 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.2 THE CONTEXT OF LOCAL WATER RIGHTS AND PRODUCTION SYSTEMS IN THE ANDES: SOME ILLUSTRATIONS .... 2 1.3 WATER RIGHTS AND WALIR 4 1.4 CONCEPTUAL PROBLEMS AND STRATEGIC CHALLENGES 6 1.5 INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION 9 2 POLÎTICAS AGUADAS YCANALIZACIÓ N DELPODER . DESCENTRALIZACIÓN, GOBIERNOS LOCALES Y ELRECONOCIMIENT O DELO SDERECHO S CAMPESINOS E INDÎGENAS 21 2.1 INTRODUCCIÓN 21 2.2 EL DEBATE DEL A DESCENTRALIZACIÓN DEL AGESTIO N DEL AGUA 22 2.3 CENTRALISMO LEGAL, POSITIVISMO, YL AGESTIO N DELAGU A- UNA ILUSTRACIÓN ECUATORIANA 24 2.4 NEOLIBERALISMO, POSITIVISMO, YL ADESCENTRALIZACIÓ N DE LA GESTION DEL AGUA 28 2.5 POLÎTICAS AGUADAS: LA 'DEVOLUCIÓN DEL GOBIERNO DEL AGUA' ENL APRACTIC A 33 2.6 REFLEXIONES 43 3 CULTURAL POLITICS, COMMUNAL RESISTANCE AND IDENTITY INANDEA N IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT 51 3.1 INTRODUCTION 51 3.2 THE APPROPRIATION OF LOCAL BELIEFS AND INSTITUTIONS BYINK A AND SPANISH REGIMES 52 3.3 IMAGINED COMMUNITIES AND THE CULTURAL POLITICS OF ANDEAN IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT 53 3.4 CONSTRUCTING IDENTITY AND WATER RIGHTS INA N ECUADORIAN IRRIGATION SYSTEM 55 3.5 CULTURAL IDENTITY, RESISTANCE, AND REAPPROPRIATION INA PERUVIAN IRRIGATION SYSTEM 57 3.6 CONCLUSIONS 59 4 PRICES AND POLITICS INANDEA N WATER REFORMS 64 4.1 INTRODUCTION 64 4.2 DIVERGENT CONCEPTUALIZATIONS OF WATER RIGHTS 66 4.3 PRICES AND POLITICS: EVIDENCE OF NEO-LIBERAL WATER REFORMS 69 4.4 PRICES OR POLITICS? SOME CONCLUDING REMARKS 74 Localla wan dth epolitic so fparticipatio n 1 Local Law and the Politics of Participation. The pitfalls andchallenge s of localwate r rights recognition in theAndes 1 1.1 Introduction Water, being a fundamental resource for human life and agrarian production, is