Hydrosocial territories in the context of diverse and changing ruralities: the case of Cochabamba’s drinking water provision over time

ABSTRACT

The article describes the history of drinking water provision of the city of Cochabamba, Bolivia, as an instructive case for analyzing the dynamic reconfiguration of hydrosocial territories and rural–urban relations over time. Cochabamba’s growing drinking water demand obliged the city to expand its access to water sources, involving diverse rural areas and groups of rural inhabitants. Using the concept of hydrosocial territories, the history of Cochabamba’s water solutions is explored, showing the need to analyze rural actors in a differentiated way in order to understand their (changing) role in the configuration of the hydrosocial territories.

KEYWORDS:

• Water
• rural-urban relationships
• hydrosocial territories
• Cochabamba

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. FEDECOR: Federación Departamental Cochabambina de Organizaciones de Riego.

2. SEMAPA: Servicio Municipal de Agua Potable y Saneamiento.