Abstract
This paper examines the development of export-oriented agriculture and the allocation of water resources for irrigation in La Ligua river basin in Chile's Norte Chico. The paper uses a theoretical framework within the political ecology tradition in order to approach questions of demand, evaluation and allocation of water resources, and related issues, and to show how they are shaped by social power relations. The paper highlights in particular how a hydrological assessment was used to respond to rapid and uncontrolled groundwater exploitation, which ultimately produced unequal outcomes among different farmers. The paper concludes that, to better understand issues around the allocation of water resources, the concept of the hydrosocial cycle is more useful than that of the hydrological cycle.
Translated title of the contribution | Use, evaluation and allocation of water in La Ligua river basin, Chile: A political ecology analysis |
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Original language | Spanish |
Pages (from-to) | 167-184 |
Number of pages | 18 |
Journal | Revista de Geografía Norte Grande |
Volume | 52 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Sep 2012 |