Understanding the Relationship between Water Infrastructure and Socio-Political Configurations: A Case Study from Sri Lanka

Abstract

Academic scholarship in the social sciences has, in recent years, documented how water management infrastructure connects and disconnects people and flows, portraying and defining inequalities. The present work contributes to advancing this perspective by undertaking a case study to comparatively examine two irrigation-based water infrastructure systems in Sri Lanka: the tank cascade system and the surface irrigation system. The analysis demonstrates that differences in the layout of the water infrastructure directly contribute to the ways in which downstream communities are socially, economically and politically configured. Specifically, the arrangement of water infrastructure influences the degree of water users’ dependence on each other, the degree of social stratification between head-end and tail-end farmers, and the degree to which water is regarded as an ‘economic’ object. It can be concluded that the technical system of water infrastructure is inextricably bound to society and should, therefore, be considered a socio-material assemblage. Thus, it is important that policy decisions on water infrastructure management treat the structuring of infrastructure as experimental and potentially reversible.

The Existence of Multiple Hydro-Mentalities and their Implications for Water Governance: A Case Study from Sri Lanka

“…Brohier [30] has also reported on village tanks and on their associations with ancient irrigation works in Sri Lanka. A "cascade" is a connected series of tanks organized within a micro-(or meso-) catchment of a dry zone landscape for storing, conveying and utilizing water from an ephemeral rivulet [21,29,31]. Each of these cascades delineates a distinct small watershed or meso-catchment ranging from 13 to 26 km 2 with an average size of 20 km 2 .…”

“…The tank cascade system is composed of a tank (a sub system) that forms an interwoven irrigation network. Tanks, paddy fields, watersheds and canals are integrated and interwoven within the natural environment (naturalized), which has facilitated the evolution of the cascade system for over a millennium [31,32]. The tank cascade system of water management uses rainwater and small streams as water sources.…”

“…A cross-section of the dam, tank and canal network of the surface irrigation system created through the Mahaweli Development Project[31].…”

Hydrological Guidelines for Reservoir Operation to Enhance Water Governance: Application to the Brazilian Semiarid Region

“…Its rivers, however, are intermittent and groundwater is limited and often salty [1]. To cope with the frequent and severe droughts, the water-supply policy strongly relies on artificial surface reservoirs [2,3], whose poor management may negatively affect the most vulnerable fraction of the population [4]. During the recurrent water-scarce periods, when societal conflicts arise, efficient operation rules for multiple uses-a requisite for efficient reservoir water allocation-become a great challenge [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12].…”

Hydrological Guidelines for Reservoir Operation: Application to the Brazilian Semiarid Region

“…Its rivers, however, are intermittent and groundwater is limited and often salty [1]. To cope with the frequent and severe droughts, the water-supply policy strongly relies on artificial surface reservoirs [2][3], whose eventually-poor management may negatively affect the most vulnerable fraction of the population [4]. During the recurrent water-scarce periods, when societal conflicts arise, efficient operation rules for multiple uses -a requisite for efficient reservoir water allocation -become a great challenge [5][6][7][8].…”