The collective management of irrigation is an essential factor in agrarian development, both present and past. However, the relationship of irrigation associations with the state remains underexplored, despite the increasingly important role played by water policies in the modern world. The present article examines this relationship in Spain over the last two centuries. Our results suggest that, first, the state played a decisive part in the emergence and evolution of irrigation associations, and this belies the assumption of the traditional origin of these institutions; second, that farmers, despite being subject to the regulatory framework, enjoyed substantial autonomy in the management of water resources; and, third, that the relationship between local associations and the state changed over time, in response to political regime changes and the transformation of irrigation agriculture. When the state tried to impose authoritarian policies upon irrigation users, these reacted by developing unprecedented forms of organisation.

No abstract

No abstract

La creación de los consorcios de riego, en la primera posguerra, revolucionó los equilibrios sociales e hidráulicos de las regiones citrícolas de Palermo (Italia). En este artículo, a través de fuentes primarias, se analizan las relaciones conflictivas entre los agricultores usuarios, los nuevos y controvertidos organismos de gestión colectiva, los propietarios de pozos, acusados de dominar el mercado de las aguas, y los distribuidores, enjuiciados por pertenecer a la mafia en los años fascistas.Palabras clave: aguas subterráneas; regadío; Sicilia; consorcios de riego; mafia. Abstract WELLS AND MAFIA. THE UNCERTAIN TRANSITION OF THE WATER MARKET TO COLLECTIVE MANAGEMENT IN THE PALERMO OF THE 20TH CENTURYThe creation of the Irrigation Consortia, during the first post-war period, changed the social and hydraulic balances of the citricultural region of Palermo (Italy). This paper, based on primary sources, analyses the conflictive relations between the agricultural users, the new and contested institutions for collective action, the owners of the wells, accused of dominating the water market, and the water distributors, judged during the Fascist period for belonging to the mafia.