Water Conflict

“Water resources economy: from internalisation of externalities towards integrated water management. The example of the Audomarois water basin”.
Evidence relating to the scarcity of water, in terms of both quantity and quality, has made this resource an increasingly interesting object of study amongst economic scientists. Water has become a precious resource desired by a variety of interdependent users. This interdependence, coupled with water’s multi-functionality and the diverse socio-economic organisation of users, results in a variety of conflicting situations.
This is the starting point of our research, which aims to develop a detailed insight into water resource management through a dual perspective that is at once analytical and prescriptive. The analytical aim of this research concerns water use conflicts. Having identified the limitations of standard theoretical approaches in dealing with water specificities and with water conflicts dimensions (collective dynamics, mental representations, territorial issues…) the aim is to build a theoretical framework which allows the examination of these conflicting relations in all their dimensions – and primarily of those factors which act as triggers. Moreover, we question, in a more normative perspective, about the notion of integrated water resource management.
Thus, we assert that the definition of an integrated water resources management involves: an integrated institutional water regime (high coherence between public policy and property/use rights and high scope), a recognition and understanding of water use conflicts and their resolution and a transverse implementation of public policies influencing water resources, especially space management policies.
We use four complementary theoretical approaches: the “cities” model proposed by Boltanski and Thévenot (1991), the patrimony approach, proximity economics and the institutional resource regime. The combination of these theoretical tools allows us to construct a relevant analytical framework in which to consider the emergence, the setting and the management of water use conflicts. This framework also contributes to a more normative definition of integrated water management. Our study of the Audomarois water basin (Nord – Pas-de-Calais) will form the empirical basis of our testing of this analytical framework. We examine water management in practice on a local spatial scale, since water basin is considered as the relevant territorial unit for water management.

The Middle East has been a subject of interest to me ever since my first travels to this region (Syria, Jordan and Turkey) when I was nine. I found it extremely interesting how water, this indispensable element of life, can be a hindrance or a means of hope for the cooperation of two countries: Israel and Palestine. These two states have fierce, complicated and complex century old conflicts in which water plays a crucial role. I was wondering whether a set of solutions could possibly save the future of this region, thus the research question “Water Between Israel and Palestine: A Never-Ending Casus Belli or A Key Motive for Cooperation Amongst Two Countries (Analysis and Potential Solutions)”.
I have studied sources from multiple perspectives: Israeli, Palestinian and others; doing so I enhance impartiality and look at the situation from an objective point of view as much as possible, helping me build a conviction further demonstrated in this essay. My main primary sources include The World Factbook, The World Bank and The United Nations. The principal secondary sources involve mostly research papers such as “Water in The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” and “The Water Economics in the Middle East – Main Problems and Possible Solutions” and news articles, BBC News and Globe’s Business and Technology News. These sources have allowed me to gather specific data for both countries, such as water usage, available freshwater resources, existing and future water facilities, permitting me to construct this essay.
In the conclusion I show that an eradication of a water-based conflict between Israel and Palestine is possible, due to understandings and future water infrastructures being set up. As a result water could stop from being utilised as a weapon. Both sides need to show cooperation and tolerance of each other’s water needs, with help from international institutions.

The Mozambican village of Canhane has been frequently cited as a successful case of 'community development'. This is the result of the implementation of a 'community-based' tourism venture, which began in 2004. However, this positive image hides conflicting social processes that have been caused by the emergence of 'untraditional' modes in the village. This article shows how new perceptions of water and forms of its control, which were an outcome of the project's tourism 'benefits', are shaking up social relations in Canhane. With profound water shortages persisting in the village, its residents decided to invest revenue generated through tourism initiatives in a water supply system. Since its completion, however, the village has experienced apparently contradictory social upheaval. Although the water system is functioning, in practice it is not being used. Based on empirical fieldwork, this article addresses the reasons behind the water supply conflict in Canhane. By showing how inhabitants of Canhane responded to 'tourism benefits' and how these responses caused changes in customary practices of control over water, this article discusses how social organisation relies on spatial forms of the control of the commons and, in turn, the importance of such spatial forms of control for ordering the social.

Das Säbelrasseln Ägyptens in der Nilwasserfrage stößt an seine Grenzen, meint Tobias von Lossow. Da die Notwendigkeit zu kooperieren stetig zunimmt, müssen Ägypten und Äthiopien ihre politischen Absichtserklärungen endlich glaubhaft mit Leben füllen.

The conflict between the two southern most states of India, Kerala and Tamil Nadu over Mullaperiyar dam issue is for safety and water. The waters of Mullaperiyar of Kerala were diverted to irrigate the drought prone districts of Tamil Nadu during the legacy of the British based on the Periyar lease deed. This interstate project is serving as a source of water and hydel power to Tamil Nadu but now Kerala is not permitting to keep the water at full storage level citing various reasons. The issue came to the Supreme Court, the apex body of the judicial system in India. Politicians of both the states started using this issue for their benefits and exploiting the emotions of the local people. The details about the river, dam, lease deed and the origin of the conflict are traced along with the aspects of safety and environmental concerns. The demands of Tamil Nadu and the arguments of Kerala in connection with the possibility of the new dam are also discussed.