Abstract

DIAS TADEU, Natalia; TRIMBLE, Micaela; GIORDANO, Gabriel  and  TORRES, Pedro. Water and territory conflicts in Laguna del Cisne (Canelones, Uruguay): hydrosocial projects in dispute. Rev. urug. Antropología y Etnografía [online]. 2022, vol.7, n.2, e648.  Epub Dec 01, 2022. ISSN 2393-7068.  https://doi.org/10.29112/ruae.v7i2.1648.

Since the early 2000s, water governance models in Uruguay, under divergent pressures, have been in transition towards greater decentralization, social participation, and integration between sectors. In this article we sought to analyze the process of problematizing the water issue and water crises, focusing on the dispute between different materialized and non-materialized hydrosocial projects, as well as the strategies used by different groups of actors to maintain hierarchical relationships and, consequently, power over water and territory. Based on the case study of Laguna del Cisne (Canelones, Uruguay), we analyze the process of social construction of two water crises associated with the notion of water scarcity (in quality and quantity) and its relationship with divergent hydrosocial projects, as well as its implications for water, the territory and hydrosocial relationships. We conducted interviews with actors directly and indirectly involved (social organizations; small-scale farmers; academia; government institutions at national, subnational and municipal levels), participant observation in formal participatory forums and document analysis. The results showed that, in contexts of crisis, the decision-making process is centralized in State institutions at the national level, through strategically articulated scales, to meet the interests of certain groups of actors, despite the existence of advisory participatory boards like the basin committees.

Keywords : Political Ecology of Water; water security; hydrosocial territories; water governance; participation, Latin America.

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