Competition for water

Are water riots a greater threat than water wars?

There is considerable literature on international water negotiations, but most research ignores local conflicts over water. In fact, violent 'water riots' at local levels are more common than inter-state 'water wars'.

Over the past decade, policy debates have increasingly associated water scarcity with conflict. This is at the international level (conflicts or wars between nations sharing the resource) and at national and local levels (conflicts or tensions over water access and use between different users and sectors). However, water-related conflicts are caused not just by scarcity, but by how access to water is governed.

Flashpoints for local level conflict

Privatising the water supply sector has created significant disputes. Where government agencies are handing over service provision to private water companies, the potential for unequal service provision is high. This is particularly true where regulations to control prices are not in place or inadequately enforced. This causes conflict over unequal access or increased prices. Furthermore, where one company has a monopoly to provide water services, tensions arise with small-scale independent providers.

In Latin America and Africa, the lack of affordable water access for vulnerable groups (such as poor urban people, small farmers, women and girls) has sparked confrontation between local communities and authorities. Even where communities or private water supplies have improved water access, conflicts have sometimes arisen between water managers and those who previously supplied water, such as travelling water vendors. This is due to the lack of sufficient regulation.

A recent study conducted for the World Bank's Water and Sanitation Programme, Africa (WSP-AF) in Mukuru slums, Nairobi, found evidence of violence between illegally connected water vendors and metered vendors linked to the water utility. This occurred after the utility introduced a new water supply system within this slum without prior community consultations and involvement. Another study undertaken for UN-HABITAT showed that even pro-poor water governance structures cause tensions if they are ineffective. For example, if local authorities and water utilities fail to provide water supply and sanitation services, this creates tension between them and poor urban people.

Managing local water conflicts

Direct violent conflicts over water are now more likely to occur at the local level than the inter-state level. Deficits in local access and supply are mainly rooted in institutions and political choices governed by unequal power relations. There is still a huge lack of understanding about local level governance. This means that vulnerable groups, which have the weakest rights and no political voice, often lose out to more powerful groups.

To ease these power differentials, it is necessary to develop an effective pro-poor approach to water governance that can have an impact at local levels. This requires acknowledging that, currently, some groups win and others lose. Policy and programme designs should therefore include:

• mapping existing groups and resources (human, technical and financial)
• community consultations about water access and allocation
• conflict-impact assessments and conflict resolution mechanisms
• adequate compensation for communities whose water access is disrupted
• enforcable regulations for privatised water suppliers to control prices, water quality and quantity.

Rose Osinde and Mandy Turner

Rose Osinde, P.O Box 28767, Nairobi 00200, Kenya
rose.osinde@unhabitat.org or rosinde@gmail.com

Mandy Turner, Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford, BD7 1DP, UK
T +44 (0)1274 234776
mandy.turner@ucl.ac.uk or m.turner4@bradford.ac.uk

See also

'Conflict Prevention and Access to Fresh Water in Sub-Saharan Africa', by V. Boege and M. Turner in Conflict Prevention, Management and Reduction in Africa, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland: Development Policy Information Unit, edited by J. Buxton, O. Greene and C. Salonius-Pasternak, 2006

An Assessment of the Activities of Small-scale Providers of Water and Sanitation in Nairobi's Informal Settlements, Water and Sanitation Program-Africa Region: WSP-AF commissioned study, by Rose Osinde, 2005

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