Contested H2O: science, policy and politics in water resources management in Chile

Budds, Jessica (2009) Contested H2O: science, policy and politics in water resources management in Chile. Geoforum, 40 (3). pp. 418-430. ISSN 0016-7185

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Abstract

This paper critically explores the politics that mediate the use of environmental science assessments as the basis of resource management policy. Drawing on recent literature in the political ecology tradition that has emphasised the politicised nature of the production and use of scientific knowledge in environmental management, the paper analyses a hydrological assessment in a small river basin in Chile, undertaken in response to concerns over the possible overexploitation of groundwater resources. The case study illustrates the limitations of an approach based predominantly on hydrogeological modelling to ascertain the effects of increased groundwater abstraction. In particular, it identifies the subjective ways in which the assessment was interpreted and used by the state water resources agency to underpin water allocation decisions in accordance with its own interests, and the role that a desocialised assessment played in reproducing unequal patterns of resource use and configuring uneven waterscapes. Nevertheless, as Chile’s ‘neoliberal’ political-economic framework privileges the role of science and technocracy, producing other forms of environmental knowledge to complement environmental science is likely to be contentious. In conclusion, the paper considers the potential of mobilising the concept of the hydrosocial cycle to further critically engage with environmental science.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sdg 12 - responsible consumption and production ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/responsible_consumption_and_production
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Global Development (formerly School of International Development)
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Water Security Research Centre Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Globalisation and CSR
Depositing User:	Jessica Budds
Date Deposited:	27 Feb 2013 16:35
Last Modified:	14 Aug 2023 09:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/41615
DOI:	10.1016/j.geoforum.2008.12.008

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