Water into Wine: Power and participation in local groundwater governance in Guadalupe Valley,Mexico.

详细信息   

• 作者：Pells ; Chantelise.
• 学历：Doctor
• 年：2014
• 毕业院校：University of California
• Department：Geography.
• ISBN：9781321609639
• CBH：3685277
• Country：USA
• 语种：English
• FileSize：3983823
• Pages：135

文摘

The dissertation analyzes local governance of groundwater resources in a viticulture region in Baja California,Mexico. The analysis is based on empirical research conducted in the study site,Guadalupe Valley from 2008-2013. Multiple methods were employed to gather data on groundwater governance in the region such as 1) expert interviews with local hydrogeologists,water management officials,and university scientists,2) archival data research,3) semi-structured interviews in Sonoma Valley and Guadalupe Valley and 4) a survey conducted with 167 respondents in Guadalupe Valley. The research design and analysis is based on E. Ostroms Social Ecological Systems SES) framework. The aim of the research was to assess the participation by local groundwater users in the local citizen based groundwater association. Participation was measured in a number of ways such as attendance at regular meetings,visits to the local office,well registration,water meter installation,and volunteering. Core findings of the research show that the local association contributes to social inequality by favoring commercial viticulture producers. Small-scale groundwater users are not well represented by the association and are more likely to be punished under the regulations and in addition have limited access to clean reliable groundwater. The dissertation is organized into three chapters. The first chapter,Social Ecological Systems Analysis of A Water Fund for Ensenada Region,Baja California Mexico,presents an SES analysis of the Ensenada Region,where the Guadalupe Valley is located,to determine the likelihood of establishing a novel water conservation strategy. The chapter is adapted from a collaborative report prepared for and sponsored by The Nature Conservancy in 2013. The second chapter,Power and the Distribution of Knowledge in a Local Groundwater Association in Guadalupe Valley,Mexicos Premier Viticulture Region,is a book chapter for Collaborative Governance Regimes forthcoming in 2015). The chapter focuses on power asymmetries in the local groundwater governance association that is an obstacle to the distribution of knowledge regarding the new rules. The third and final chapter,Powerless participation: Decentralization,Local Groundwater Governance,and Social Inequality,analyzes decentralized local governance in Mexico by looking at Guadalupe Valley as a case study. In the chapter,I argue,that decentralization supports the legal and institutional foundation that facilitates economic liberalization. The evidence shows that the aims of democratic decentralization equal representation and distribution of benefits) are trumped by the economic development goals of neoliberalization. The results of the dissertation research can inform environmental policies that promote decentralization and local governance by demonstrating that power can be an obstacle to equitable democratic representation and distribution of resources. The research contributes to literature on environmental local governance,environmental justice and groundwater governance.