Alliances and conflicts in a water territory: the case of Santa Eulalia sub-basin

Abstract

Participation is considered a key element for decentralization in water management and as a means for efficiency as well as for the reduction of territorial inequalities. In a water territory, we find diverse actors with diverse interests, demands and agendas in relation to water. This could lead to tensions for a resource that becomes more and more demanded due to the different uses (agricultural, urban, industrial, tourist) and in the different management instances (public, private and communal). This article attempts to show the power relations in a water territory, how local powers participate in water management, and how they coordinate among themselves and with other actors at various scales.
These power relations show cooperation, alliances to be consolidate, but tensions also between the actors, conflicts between territories, struggles for territorialities and overlapping projects. This because of the limited coordination between local actors, since each one is dominated by their individual agendas and has interests at stake, which does not allow effective participation or consolidation of alliances. This is a real challenge for water governance and for the territory.