Abstract
ABSTRACTGrowing trade in virtual water – the water used to produce exported products from agriculture and mining sectors – affects local communities and the environment, and transforms hydrosocial territories. National and international water regulations reshape communities’ hydrosocial territories by changing water governance structures to favour export commodity sectors, often inducing strong contestation from local communities. Transnational companies formulate and enforce global water governance arrangements oriented toward strengthening export production chains, often through asymmetrical relationships with local groups in water-export regions. These arrangements compromise political representation and water security for both local communities and companies.
Highlights
Water use for export agriculture and industrial production often affects local communities and the environment
Observing that virtual water export has doubled during the last decade (Dalin, Konar, Hanasaki, Rinaldo, & Rodriguez-Iturbe, 2012) and constituted nearly 30% of the world’s direct water withdrawal (Chen & Chen, 2013), others have documented the negative effects of water-intensive trade patterns
This paper explores the relationship between virtual water export and hydrosocial territories
Summary
Water use for export agriculture and industrial production often affects local communities and the environment. We identify two main mechanisms by which virtual water trade and changes in hydrosocial territories become associated: ‘formal’ access to and control of local water sources by international companies, and imposition of water use standards on small producers.
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