The paracommons of competition for resource savings: Irrigation water conservation redistributes water between irrigation, nature, and society

Lankford, Bruce A and Scott, Christopher A (2023) The paracommons of competition for resource savings: Irrigation water conservation redistributes water between irrigation, nature, and society. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 198. ISSN 0921-3449

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Abstract

Based on understandings of a natural resource commons, we examine the competition for redistributed irrigation water following water conservation. A ‘paracommons’ is characterised by an interconnected hydrology whereby changes to a proprietor's water management alters its distribution into different fractions/dispositions thereby adjusting water allocations to the four paracommoners; including the proprietor conserving water, an immediate neighbour, society and nature. The topic is important given the volumes potentially involved in irrigation savings; for example, a 15% reduction in the annual water depletion of an irrigation area of 30,000 hectares can notionally meet the domestic demands of one million people at 150 l/day/pp. However, this illustration, seeming to indicate that water conservation results in sizeable predictable outcomes, hides how water savings are captured by, or flow to, a paracommoner within the interlinked system. Using data from Mendoza, Argentina, we employ a model to examine 12 scenarios of conservation-driven water reallocation among paracommoners, and conclude with generalizable lessons.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sdg 6 - clean water and sanitation ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/clean_water_and_sanitation
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
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	19 Sep 2023 10:30
Last Modified:	26 Sep 2023 00:13
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/93061
DOI:	10.1016/j.resconrec.2023.107195

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