The hydrosocial cycle in rapidly urbanizing watersheds

Abstract

Water is the essential resource of the 21st century where innovative water management strategies are needed to improve water security. This paper examines three case studies that exemplify the global water crisis, situated in rapidly urbanizing watersheds: Nairobi River Basin, Kenya; Citarum River Basin, Indonesia; and Addis Ababa River Basin, Ethiopia. Each of these watersheds are implementing large-scale water management strategies inclusive of local communities and regional governments to address water quality and waste management issues. The hydrosocial cycle (Linton, 2010) provides a framework to investigate the social, technical and physical aspects of water flows. Using the hydrosocial cycle as an organizing framework, these watersheds are examined to highlight how water security underpins water justice. The issues of gender and inequity are often overlooked in larger policy, development, and infrastructure discussions where technical requirements, restoration management, and engineering solutions obscure power inequities. Projects are compared to assess the implementation of the hydrosocial cycle through a discussion of social power and structure, technology and infrastructure, and the materiality of water in each location. This comparison reveals a dependence on large-scale technical projects with limited community engagement, and a need for science-based river restoration management. Recommendations are provided to improve and address holistic water management.