Abstract
Sociohydrology has advanced understandings of water related phenomena by conceptualizing changes in hydrological flows and risks as the result of the interplay between water and society. However, social power and the heterogeneity of human societies, which are crucial to unravel the feedback mechanisms underlying human-water systems, have not been sufficiently considered. In response, this paper proposes an interdisciplinary approach that draws on political ecology perspectives to combine sociohydrological insights with analyses of social power and of the ways in which different social groups distinctively interact with water systems. We draw on empirical evidence of Cape Town’s water insecurity before and during the prolonged drought (2015–2017) that escalated into a severe water crisis, also known as Day Zero. The study integrates times series of reservoir storage and water consumption with 40 interviews and focus group discussions to firstly retrace the historical legacy of Colonial rules, Apartheid and, more recently, neoliberal policies. Within this human-water system, we show how Cape Town’s political legacy has encouraged unsustainable levels of water consumption amongst the (white) elite and tolerated chronic water insecurity amongst (black) informal dwellers. This uneven geography of water insecurity is also discernible in the unequal experiences of drought and water resilience trajectories of diverse social groups across Cape Town. We conclude that accounting for social power and inequalities can advance sociohydrology by identifying those mechanisms (within society) that determine what water is secured and what human-water interactions and dynamics will be sustained over time. Furthermore, by engaging with social power, sociohydrology can play a significant role in informing policies that reduce inequalities in water access and unsustainable water use.
Highlights
Sociohydrology has advanced understandings of water related phenomena by conceptualizing changes in hy drological flows and risks as the result of the interplay between water and society
Plessis’ family is watering the garden with water from the borehole they had recently drilled.2. Both families were experiencing a prolonged and severe drought, which resulted in a major water crisis that shocked the entire City, known as Cape Town’s Day Zero
Whilst the general perception of city gov ernment and international media was that the middle and upper class were the most affected by the crisis, water insecurity experienced in the townships and informal areas was more intense in terms of both dura tion, severity and outcomes
Summary
It is 5 pm on the 5th of February 2018 in Langa, a coloured township in Cape Town, South Africa. Sociohydrology has shed new light on water related phenomena by conceptualizing changes in hydrological flows as the result of the interplay between water and society (Ertsen et al, 2014; Viglione et al, 2014; Montanari, 2015; Troy et al, 2015; Schifman et al, 2017; Di Baldassarre et al, 2018a, 2018b) These attempts of capturing human behaviour have mostly concealed socio-political processes and context-specificities that characterize every society (Evers et al, 2017; Wesselink et al, 2017). While retracing the hydrological and political legacy of the City, we expose the power relations that produce uneven levels of water security in Cape Town, thereby enriching examinations of the current sociohydrological drought and its uneven impacts. Our study describes Cape Town water insecurity before and during the 2015–17 drought in order to understand to what extent the production of water insecurity relates to the occurrence of drought conditions
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