Space, Time, and Hydrosocial Imaginaries: Water Quality Governance of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe

Abstract

We examine ways in which space and time, as well as governance, are embedded in and revealed by hydrosocial imaginaries. As conceptions of space and time are fundamental to the establishment of sociocultural-political relationships, they are central to water governance in providing a framework on which overall hydrosocial relations are constructed. We also recognize the ways in which Tribes continually redraw trajectories of power through engaging and reshaping complex governance networks. Our focus is how tribal governance of water quality connects a core value of the Pyramid Lake Paiutes to two of their hydrosocial imaginaries. Both hydrosocial imaginaries motivate governance practices and actions through which social meaning is constituted for the Pyramid Lake Paiutes and relationships are built with respect to water. We find that water quality governance is an avenue in which the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe move beyond partial and abstracted rights of inclusion by incorporating multidimensional Indigenous systems of obligation that span time and space. Key Words: hydrosocial imaginaries, Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, spatiotemporalities, tribal environmental governance, water quality.