The Formal Recognition of Local Water Rights in Cochimita, Tiraque Valley, Bolivia

Abstract

The following illustrative case study of the community of Cochimita in the Tiraque Valley of Cochabamba demonstrates how local water (access and control) rights are constituted and how they reflect the local notions of water security and justice. By describing Cochimita’s process of obtaining a water registration and how the process takes concrete shape in the local context, its impact on internal water access and control rights as well as on conflict dynamics with the neighboring community Sank’ayani Alto are revealed. This empirical information demonstrates how the formal water right influences the dynamics of the conflict and local notions of equity and water security.