FIGHTING OVER VITAL RESOURCES/In 1999, the Bolivian government sold Cochabamba’s public water system to the British company Aguas del Tunari. The whole population took part in marches against steeply increased water prices. Photo/Thomas Kruse
There is a parallel situation today, with the French company Suez, which represents itself as a NGO with support from the World Bank, privatising water resources in Bolivia and Argentina, as well as in other countries. In one of the poorest districts of El Alto, Bolivia, the company have won exclusive rights over the largest water source. Each household is being charged USD 300 for access to the water, which is more than most families can afford. In addition, each family has to dig the ditch in order to bring the water-pipes to its own house. Two anthropologists who are taking part in the water research project report serious health problems due to polluted water.
To exemplify the hidden complexity and the need to extend the research beyond the limits of local communities, Jacobsen points to the research done on the water channel systems in Potosí in Bolivia. “In Potosí, we were looking at systems for collecting limited amounts of groundwater through channels. We discovered that the channels leak, and in consequence, the surrounding vegetation makes good pastures for the neighbouring farmers. We asked ourselves if the leakage of the channels might just be a planned and conscious cooperation between neighbours–and whether such aspects are taken into consideration when systems are being established in new areas. This idea came from two local researchers at a university in Bolivia.” “Neighbourhood studies have been very popular in our discipline, but we are concerned with the idea that in order to understand what is going on, we need rather to examine the networks of people between rural and urban areas.” Jacobsen refers to a personal example from the Santa Elena peninsula in Ecuador. “The village headmen often work in Guayaquil as lawyers, businessmen, in small-scale trade and so forth. Even when they move out, they still have a strong commitment to the land, which still is community-owned. During the sawing or harvesting periods, the villagers come back to the village to help. There are whole areas of Guayaquil that are village-based. The social networks in the villages are very complex ones, despite what one might expect of a small-scale society. In historical terms, there have been enormous networks spreading up and down the coast, from the USA to Chile, and also towards inland regions, so it is hardly surprising that complex networks still exist today. Even though the villages seem very ‘locally based’, the research we want to do on local knowledge can not be limited by locality.”
“We are aware of the dramatic political situation related to water resources,” Jacobsen continues. “We believe that control over natural resources underlies the conflicts in the area. Research on this area is like walking through a minefield. Cooperation with the local population makes it necessary to take into consideration the political circumstances, not only small organisational frames, but also bigger issues.”
Research on this area is like walking through a minefield. “The privatization of water represents a huge threat to peoples own water-collecting systems,” says Jacobsen. “There is a growing awareness of the value of preserving local knowledge. In Bolivia we are also seeing the growth of alliances between indigenous organisations and labour unions. It looks as though both parties are putting standardised ideologies aside and establishing new alliances.” The relationship between the researchers and the more neo-liberalistic representatives of the government, the NGO sector and academia has not been easy, according to Jacobsen. “Jorge Marcos, a professor of archaeology and coordinator of the project in Ecuador,
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Across knowledge universes The Andes project not only involves researchers from different institutions in different parts of the world, but also represents research disciplines that one would think were too different to even understand each other’s importance. “Actually, even though you would expect frictions between the disciplines, there are almost none–at least so far. Our partners have excellent theoretical skills, at the same time as they take a very practical approach to their research. What they perceive as exciting knowledge is knowledge that works. They find down-to-earth common ground, despite their different points of departure.”
Researchers involved in the network have produced several publications, as well as seminars and conferences. Although it is early to draw conclusions, since much of the research projects are in their early stages, the project is exploring the possibilities of transferring knowledge about water harvesting systems, on the technical, organisational and ecological levels, from one area to another. Ragnhild Solvi Berg is a higher executive officer at SIU.
JUAN CARLOS GONZALEZ GUZMAN/TEXT ECUADOR
While government’s water collection systems broke down during the weather phenomenon “El Niño”, the water harvesting systems used by the population along the coast of Ecuador since pre-Columbian times resisted the heavy rains. Archaeologist and anthropologist Professor Jorge Marcos at the Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL) in Guayaquil, Ecuador, has been studying the albarrada systems for more than 20 years.
Jorge Marcos (JM): Albarradas or jagüeyes are water retention ponds of various sizes that were built by Amerindians in pre-Columbian times. They were built to contain the runoff of rainwater, prevent the topsoil from eroding into the sea and to recharge the sub-surface aquifer. Albarradas is the term most often used in coastal Ecuador since the beginning of the twentieth century; Jagüeyes is generally used in Central and South America and the Caribbean. Which are the main benefits of albarradas systems for local communities?
“THE WATER BELONGS TO US, DAMNIT!”/This photo from 2000 shows people protesting over the water issue. In 2005 in the city of El Alto, the French company Suez is claiming USD 300 from each household for access to clean water. Most poor families cannot afford this, and have to rely on polluted water sources. Photo/Thomas Kruse
This down-to-earth approach also makes cooperation between local experts and academics easier. The need to dissolve the dialectical opposing categories of local and expert knowledge is one of the most important findings of the project, according to Jacobsen, who dreams of involving more non-academic experts in the project. “We are in the early stages of the process, but we want to contribute to the continuation of local initiatives, not only with knowledge, but also in the evaluation of new land areas, where new water harvesting systems can be developed. Our dream is to involve non-academics who can evaluate soil and rock, local farmers and leaders as well as specialists in public administration.”
Water Forever
What are albarradas or jagüeyes? Who made them and why?
Water war In April 2000, peasants in the Bolivian town Cochabamba raised their voices against the national government, in what later was to be known as the water war. The government sold the national water company to Agua Tunari, a British water company. Not only did the company raise water charges, they also banned people from using their own methods of water harvesting, like collecting rainwater. “The sale of the water company represented a huge threat to the people’s own systems,” Jacobsen says. The massive protests against the globalisation of the water forced the international company to redraw from Bolivia. Control over water resources was allocated to local interests.
has invited them to his workshops, but they have never shown up. I was once on a guided tour with representatives from a local NGO, and they basically had two messages; First that the local population are lazy, and the second that their forefathers did have a lot to contribute, but that now we have to teach them how to manage their resources. Marcos takes the opposite attitude; he has devoted his life to participating with the local population and learning from their knowledge.”
JM: Today, the albarradas systems contribute to the sustainability of biodiversity and fresh water resources for the population, especially for the more vulnerable sectors of local society. Information gathered from excavations and subsequent archaeobotanical and botanical analysis will serve as a guideline for new water management constructions and investments that may be built in the future.
All the communities that directly or indirectly benefit from the albarradas system have implemented various mechanisms to maintain, restore and manage their albarradas. In the twentieth century they combined modern technology such as machinery with traditional collective community work. Before the rains begin, several tasks have to be carried out: Restoring walls, cleaning the overflow, weeding the basin and the lower wall, refurbishing the staked water wells associated with the system, introducing beneficial water-plants and fish that help maintain water quality, repairing and building of complementary facilities such as laundry facilities, drinking troughs for animals, small quays reaching into the albarradas basin to replenish water tanks for home use, building fences, and so forth.
Beat modern technologies In comparison with western modern technologies, do the technologies based on traditional knowledge have any advantages? JM: Archaeological excavations showed differences between ancient and modern albarradas structures, changes in form and retaining wall size, as well as changes in construction techniques, explaining why albarradas built according to traditional and ancient construction techniques best resist the impact of heavy rains. A comparative study of the albarradas’ traditional layered construction technology and modern road building machine soil/piling methods used to build modern “albarradas” and river dams, shows that traditional technology is more efficient with respect to retaining wall durability, not only in the face of “El Niño” flashfloods, but also in resisting pervasive wind and rain erosion. While 77 per cent of albar-
While 77 per cent of albarradas are still functional, only 25.8 per cent of the small dams built with government funds resisted the “El Niño” events of 1982-83 and 1997-98. WATER POLITICS/27