TY - JOUR
T1 - Magical Realism for Water Governance Under Power Asymmetries in the Aracataca River Basin, Colombia
AU - Fonseca-Cepeda, Valentina
AU - Castillo-Brieva, Daniel
AU - Baquero-Bernal, Luis
AU - Rodríguez, Luz Angela
AU - Steiner, Eliane
AU - Garcia-Ulloa, John
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s).
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - The Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta is a wetland complex characterized by its high productivity and different systems of biodiversity use associated with water. The Ciénaga receives fresh water from rivers descending from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Changes in the water dynamics of these rivers since the early twentieth century have been causing serious social and ecological changes in the region. The Aracataca river is one of these rivers that showed a drastic change in its water availability. In this research we study the relation between cooperation and hydrological dynamics that shapes the water governance system in this basin. The study combines quantitative data obtained from the hydrological description and qualitative information derived from interviews and a role-playing game workshop, which was analyzed from a social-ecological perspective. The analysis shows that the historical management of water, characterized by conflicts between individual and collective interests, power asymmetries, and the heterogeneity between actors, has established a problematic scenario. Our analysis at river basin scale showed difficulties in water governance regardless of water annual variability, thus requiring structural changes that allow the development of coordinated processes toward collective action. This research identifies elements that can enrich the management discourses of the Aracataca river basin and the Ciénaga as a whole, highlighting the importance of understanding environmental issues as problems of common pool resources.
AB - The Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta is a wetland complex characterized by its high productivity and different systems of biodiversity use associated with water. The Ciénaga receives fresh water from rivers descending from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Changes in the water dynamics of these rivers since the early twentieth century have been causing serious social and ecological changes in the region. The Aracataca river is one of these rivers that showed a drastic change in its water availability. In this research we study the relation between cooperation and hydrological dynamics that shapes the water governance system in this basin. The study combines quantitative data obtained from the hydrological description and qualitative information derived from interviews and a role-playing game workshop, which was analyzed from a social-ecological perspective. The analysis shows that the historical management of water, characterized by conflicts between individual and collective interests, power asymmetries, and the heterogeneity between actors, has established a problematic scenario. Our analysis at river basin scale showed difficulties in water governance regardless of water annual variability, thus requiring structural changes that allow the development of coordinated processes toward collective action. This research identifies elements that can enrich the management discourses of the Aracataca river basin and the Ciénaga as a whole, highlighting the importance of understanding environmental issues as problems of common pool resources.
KW - Aracataca river
KW - Colombia
KW - Social-ecological systems
KW - institutional arrangements
KW - role-playing game
KW - water governance
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85133474970&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.5334/ijc.1167
DO - 10.5334/ijc.1167
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85133474970
SN - 1875-0281
VL - 16
SP - 155
EP - 172
JO - International Journal of the Commons
JF - International Journal of the Commons
IS - 1
ER -