Between Water Abundance and Scarcity: Discourses, Biofuels, and Power in Piura, Peru Patricia Urteaga-Crovetto School of Law, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima, Peru;
[email protected] Abstract: In 2006, transnational ethanol corporations arrived in Chira, a semi-arid zone located in the Piura region of northern Peru. Large expanses of land were used to produce sugarcane for ethanol, which triggered local concern over the pressure this would mean on the regional water balance. From political ecology, I examine how the state and a corporation produced discourses on the idea of water abundance in the Chira Basin in order to secure water rights, which increased the risk of water scarcity for small commu- nities, pastoralists and farmers in the region. In doing so, I call attention to the discursive strategies aimed to facilitate processes of dispossession under a technical ethos that reinforce capital accumulation. Finally, I argue that water abundance discourses contrib- uted to produce a “waterscape” that not only produced unsustainable water use but also reinforced social inequalities. Resumen: En el año 2006 varias compañías transnacionales interesadas en producir etanol llegaron al valle del Chira, ubicado en la región de Piura al norte de Perú. Adquirieron grandes extensiones de tierra en esta zona semi-árida para cultivar caña de azúcar, lo que preocupó a los usuarios locales debido a la presión que ello implicaría sobre el balance hídrico. Desde la ecología política, en este artículo analizo cómo el Estado y una compañía crearon discursos que proyectaban la idea de abundancia de agua en la cuenca del Chira para asegurar sus derechos de agua.