"Spatialities of water reallocation in river basin governance. The case of the Segura (Spain)" by Javier Rodriguez Ros (ESR2)

Water scarcity has historically been the main driver of water policy in the southeast of Spain. The Segura River Basin is an iconic case in which water shortage has been politically mobilized: first to enhance supply and second to tame demand. Despite (and sometimes thanks to) the measures and policies adopted, groundwater depletion and ecological degradation are expanding in this basin, largely due to the growth of an agribusiness model based on intensive water consumption and export.This presentation examines the persistent construction and instrumentalization of water scarcity in basin governance, invariably fueling the goals of powerful actors. It will particularly focus on water redistribution in the basin, leading to territorial and political reconfigurations that cross multiple levels of water governance, from communities of irrigators to hydrological planning and regulations..

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About the speaker

Javier Rodriguez Ros is a PhD researcher at the Institute of Research for Development (IRD) in Montpellier (France). His background as agricultural engineer working in development projects developed his interest on agroecology and water governance, which he addresses from a political ecology and critical geography perspective. Javier's research project explores the production and instrumentalization of water scarcity at multiple scales, from community-based irrigation to river basin governance. Specifically, he investigates power dynamics in the Segura River Basin, an iconic case of basin closure whose experience may inform similar cases of the Mediterranean basin.

Moderators & discussants

François Molle is Directeur de Recherche at the IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement), France. He has pver 35 years of experience in research for development in the fields of irrigation systems and irrigated farming systems analysis, water resources development and management, and water governance and policy. His initial expertise shifted from small dam systems (Northeast of Brazil), to large scale irrigation management (Mali, then Thailand, Sri Lanka, Egypt), to the analysis of regional development (Southeast Asian and Nile Deltas), river basin governance and water policy (Southeast Asia, Jordan, Iran, Sri Lanka, Syria, Egypt), and groundwater governance (Middle-east and Northern Africa). François Molle is mostly interested in multi-disciplinary and systemic approach of irrigation systems, aquifers and river basins, governance and policy analysis, and in the interaction between societies, technology and the environment. He is the co-editor of Water Alternatives..

Marta García-Mollá, currently works at the Valencian Centre for Irrigation Studies (CVER), Universitat Politècnica de València. Marta does research in Environmental Science, Water Science and Irrigation and Water Management. Their current project is 'Metodologías y herramientas para analizar Impactos y Adaptación al Cambio Global en Sistemas de Recursos Hídricos'.

This seminar is part of the “The Next Wave of Water Governance” Diffused Conference Thematic Seminar series. The series includes bi-weekly seminars on the key topics of water governance investigated by the NEWAVE Early Stage Researchers. You can register for learn more and see the full schedule of the upcoming sessions at this link.