Rights to water use and appropriation strategies in the semiarid region of Puebla, México

Abstract

 

The study shows the capacities of rural communities to face the physical scarcity of water in a semiarid region of the south of the state of Puebla, México. The different sources of water were analyzed, as well as the right to their use and the appropriation strategies that social groups have established. A survey was applied to 221 families from 30 communities in nine municipalities, and transects and workshops were carried out. The results show that water appropriation under conditions of scarcity requires the recognition of the territory to identify the different sources of water and the water’s property, the construction of local agreements, and different strategies according to the material, economic and human resources of each user. The right to use water is related to the property of the natural space (family or individual, community or communal, and state) and to the property of the water source (private, communal and open or free access). It is concluded that the physical scarcity of water has forced human groups to recognize their physical and ecological space, and to develop different strategies to take over a resource that they have the right to.