Mining water governance: Everyday community-mine relationships in the Peruvian Andes Milagros Sosa Landeo Thesis committee Promotors Prof. Dr R. A. Boelens Personal chair at Water Resources Management Wageningen University & Research Prof. Dr M. Z. Zwarteveen Professor of Water Governance IHE Delft Institute for Water Education / University of Amsterdam Other members Prof. Dr B. E. Büscher, Wageningen University & Research Prof. Dr T. A. Perreault, Syracuse University, USA Dr B. B. Hogenboom, University of Amsterdam Dr D. Roth, Wageningen University & Research This research was conducted under the auspices of the Wageningen School of Social Sciences. Mining water governance: Everyday community-mine relationships in the Peruvian Andes Milagros Sosa Landeo Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of doctor at Wageningen University by the authority of the Rector Magnificus, Prof. Dr A.P.J. Mol, in the presence of the Thesis Committee appointed by the Academic Board to be defended in public on Wednesday 25 October 2017 at 1:30 p.m. in the Aula. Milagros Sosa Landeo Mining water governance: Everyday community-mine relationships in the Peruvian Andes 200 pages PhD thesis, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands (2017) With references, with summary in English ISBN: 978-94-6343-676-2 DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.18174/421715 Table of Contents Chapter 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 9 1.1 Problem statement: Water governance as everyday politics ........................................ 10 1.2 Research design .................................................................................................................. 13 1.2.1 Research objective and research questions ............................................................. 13 1.2.2 Navigating roles and positions: Research sites and methods .............................. 13 1.3 Theorizing water governance: Politics, practices and people ...................................... 22 1.4 Background of the thesis and the research sites ............................................................. 26 1.4.1 Peru: Mining, water and conflicts ............................................................................ 26 1.4.2 Research sites and companies: Apurímac - Las Bambas and Cajamarca - Yanacocha .................................................................................................................................... 30 1.5 Structure of the thesis ........................................................................................................ 38 Chapter 2. The Influence of Large Mining: Restructuring Water Rights among Rural Communities in Apurímac, Peru ........................................................................... 41 2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 42 2.2 Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 43 2.3 Examining water governance and the formalization of rights .................................... 45 2.3.1 Water governance and rights in contexts of local management .......................... 45 2.3.2 Water management and formalization of rights in Peru ...................................... 47 2.4 The context: Las Bambas in Apurímac ............................................................................ 49 2.4.1 The Apurímac region ................................................................................................. 49 2.4.2 The Las Bambas mining project ................................................................................ 51 2.5 Water arrangements, formalization of rights and tensions within communities ..... 53 2.5.1 Water and rural communities neighboring the Las Bambas project ................... 53 2.5.2 Communities’ water rights and the formalization process .................................. 55 2.5.3 Contestation and disempowerment of customary water rights arrangements . 59 2.6 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 62 Chapter 3. Exploring the politics of water grabbing: the case of large mining operations in the Peruvian Andes ..................................................................................... 67 3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 68 3.2 Water grabbing and mines: Some theoretical points of departure .............................. 71 3.3 Cajamarca, water and Yanacocha .................................................................................... 71 3.3.1 Case 1: La Ramada Canal .......................................................................................... 76 v 3.3.2 Case 2: The San José Reservoir ................................................................................. 85 3.4 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 92 Chapter 4. Questioning the effectiveness of planned conflict resolution strategies in water disputes between rural communities and mining companies in Peru ...... 95 4.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 96 4.2 Water governance and socio environmental conflicts .................................................. 98 4.3 Background of the area and the conflict .......................................................................... 99 4.3.1 The highlands of Combayo ....................................................................................... 99 4.3.2 Socio environmental conflicts in Combayo .......................................................... 102 4.4 Invoking legality: Operating according to law ............................................................ 106 4.5 Invoking science: Technical knowledge supporting operations ................................ 110 4.6 Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 113 Chapter 5. The institutional regulation of the sustainability of water resources within mining contexts: Accountability and plurality................................................ 119 5.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 120 5.2 Water and mines: Institutional pluralisation ................................................................ 121 5.3 Regulating the water impacts of mining ....................................................................... 123 5.4 Accountability and institutional pluralism: The regulation of water sustainability in mining contexts ............................................................................................................................. 129 5.5 Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 131 Chapter 6. Conclusions and reflections ......................................................................... 133 6.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 134 6.2 Major findings and research question ........................................................................... 134 6.3 Theoretical discussion: Contributions to water governance debates ........................ 139 6.4 Implications for governance practices ........................................................................... 143 6.5 Reflection: Re-thinking water governance in community -- mine relations ............ 145 6.6 Final remark ...................................................................................................................... 146 References ............................................................................................................................ 149 Appendix 1. List of Interviews and key informants .................................................... 171 Appendix 2. Mining concessions in Challhuahuacho – Apurímac .......................... 173 Appendix 3. Mining concessions in Cajamarca............................................................ 175 Appendix 4. Gold production in Yanacocha mining company – Cajamarca .......... 177 Appendix 5. Research fieldwork guide: Water notions in Las Bambas –Apurímac ................................................................................................................................................ 179 vi Summary .............................................................................................................................. 181 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................. 185 About the author ................................................................................................................. 193 Publication list .................................................................................................................... 195 Figure 1. Location of the main research sites in Peru. ...................................................... 14 Figure