Indigenous Water Research Articles

Impact assessment of indigenous field-level water storage structure (diggi) on agriculture in the great Indian desert

In the arid region of Rajasthan, India, it is very often a challenge to store rain/surface water for year-round use by human and livestock. The inhabitants of this desert area have developed several water storage structures, which they used to construct based on their indigenous knowledge of local terrain conditions. Recently, farmers living in the lower command areas of Indira Gandhi canal have constructed micro-farm water storage structures, called diggi, in their cropland. They store allocated canal water in diggi to timely utilize it as per irrigation requirements, and thus, done away with problems of deficit and untimely canal water supply. This impact assessment study, carried out in Poogal tehsil of Bikaner district, analyzed high-resolution satellite images for 2 years and used a geographic information system to quantify diggi structures and studied the diggi-growth interactions with changing rainfall pattern as well as land use/land cover. Results showed that during 2018, about 3243 number of structures were constructed compared to 241 existed during 2004–2005. The mean annual rainfall increased by 30% and crop area by 12,772 ha during the same period that included 7.86% increase in irrigated and 2.98% in rainfed croplands. Thus, diggi-based water management has been immensely helpful in the perspective of irrigated agriculture in the desert region.

Indigenous research methodologies in water management: learning from Australia and New Zealand for application on Kamilaroi country

Indigenous Research Methodologies (IRMs) for considering cultural values of water are a missing component of water and wetlands management in Australia. On this dry, flat and ancient continent Traditional Knowledge has been passed on from generation to generation for millennia. The profound knowledge of surface and groundwater has been critical to ensuring the survival of Indigenous peoples in the driest inhabited continent, through finding, re-finding and protecting water. Indigenous Research Methodologies can provide a basis for the exploration of this knowledge in a way that that is culturally appropriate, and which generates a culturally safe space for Indigenous researchers and communities. The development of IRMs has been and continues to be limited in Australia in the water context, primarily due to the lack of Indigenous water practitioners, with non-Indigenous researchers dominating the sector. The intention of the paper is to shift and decolonise the research paradigm from studying Indigenous peoples through non-Indigenous research methodologies, to partnering in developing methods appropriate to Indigenous knowledge systems. Indigenous Research Methodologies are rooted in Indigenous epistemologies and ontologies and represent a radical departure from more positivist forms of research (Wilson, Can J Native Educ 25:2, 2001). This allows the Indigenous researcher to derive the terms, questions, and priorities of what is being researched, how the community is engaged, and how the research is delivered. This paper provides an overview of Indigenous engagement in water management in Australia and Aotearoa (New Zealand), with reference to case studies. These more general models are used as the basis for developing an IRM appropriate to the Kamilaroi people in the Gwydir Wetlands of northern NSW, Australia.

Why indigenous water systems are declining and how to revive them: A rough set analysis

For many centuries, rainwater harvesting (RWH) was the main source of water in many ancient countries. However, over the last four decades, its use has been declining steadily. RWH structures fell into disrepair and were abandoned or were only occasionally used. Taking Sana'a Basin in Yemen as a case study, we examined the underlying factors for the decline and explored ways to reverse it. We interviewed 100 farmers and 65 experts and visited 22 RWH systems, both abandoned and still in use. We used rough set analysis to analyze RWH systems data. The overall results showed that the government plays a crucial role in the operational status of the RWH systems. However, the government's rhetoric on the importance of investing in traditional RWH, very few projects were actually implemented or maintained. In contrast, access to groundwater was heavily promoted making it the preferred water source. However, the water table became depleted and there was a dependency on diesel. Other socioeconomic factors including ownership, limited capacity of RWH systems, the availability of imported food, and rural-urban migration were other secondary reasons for abandonment. Without a shift in government support from groundwater to rainwater harvesting, this long-term decline is likely to continue.

Between Flood and Drought: Environmental Racism, Settler Waterscapes, and Indigenous Water Justice in South America’s Chaco

This article advances a novel approach to investigating geographies of settler colonialism and environmental justice through a critical physical geography (CPG) of water scarcity in the South American Chaco. Drawing from multimethod research conducted in collaboration with Enxet and Sanapaná communities in Paraguay, I evaluate how waterscape change produces social vulnerability with a focus on Indigenous access to safe drinking water. Stemming from a seemingly simple question—how have annual flood and drought events in the Chaco become malignant for Enxet and Sanapaná peoples—my analysis centers on current struggles for Indigenous rights amidst Paraguay’s booming ranching industry. I use an eclectic data set—from historical missionary accounts, seventy-two household questionnaires, mapping new waterscapes, and a political economy of cattle ranching—to show how settler waterscapes produce environmental racism by limiting Indigenous access to “good” water. I argue that the prevalence of water scarcity in Indigenous communities across the Bajo Chaco is not a natural result of biophysical geography but a socially produced outcome of how settler waterscapes rework hydrosocial relations along racial lines. CPG offers a way to bridge biophysical analysis with critical social theory to expand geographic understandings of settler colonialism and its effects on Indigenous environmental justice.

Utilization of biodegradable novel insulating materials for developing indigenous solar water heater for hill climates

Conventional flat plate collector based solar water heating systems use glass or ceramic wool as insulating materials to minimize the heat losses. The utilization of these inorganic insulating materials, is associated with risk in the industrial workplace activities, manufacturing, and installation depending on the exposure to the material. Thus, it is important to use and develop biodegradable organic insulating materials which are easily available, low cost and environment friendly. This study presents the design and fabrication of a flat plate collector solar water heating system using biodegradable forest and agriculture wastes as insulating material. The utilization of pine needles and rice husk as thermal insulation for the fabrication of solar water heaters is the novelty of the study. The innovative solar water heater is tested under different outdoor climatic conditions. Maximum hot water temperatures between 52 °C and 55 °C were observed with an average efficiency of 52% and 57% with rice husk and pine needles as insulating materials respectively. Experimental analysis is performed using 40 mm, 60 mm and 80 mm pine needle insulation. The optimum pine needles insulation thickness is found to be 60 mm with a maximum hot water temperature of 64 °C for the indigenously developed flat plate collector based solar water heater for hill climates. Follow-up research areas are also identified.

A Modified Non Electrical Filter for Decontamination of Iron Rich Water for Rural Application

A non-electrical filter is designed to cater the need of providing iron free water in forward and rural areas. The features of the unit are equipped with the aeration system and activated sand chemically coated by iron oxide as catalytic and filtering media which can bring down iron concentration from 12 mg/L to desirable limit. It increases the pH of water from acidic to pH above 7. This is in contrast to some indigenous water filter which existed in the North Eastern India that tend to remove iron below 4 mg/L. The modified filter is effective in reducing excess total dissolved solids (TDS) from drinking water. All other physical parameters found to be within the prescribed limit. It can give iron free water with output capacity of 25L/hr. The added advantage of the unit is the provision for back washing of the filter media and collection point of the precipitated iron at the lower bottom of the tank for safe discharge.

Flowsheet analysis of gasification-synthesis-refining for sustainable aviation fuel production from invasive alien plants

The study assessed the potential for producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from invasive alien plants (IAPs), which threaten indigenous biodiversity and water resources. Flowsheet analysis of various gasification-Fischer-Tropsch and refining (GFT-R) scenarios using Aspen Plus was followed by economic models, to calculate the minimum product prices. When comparing low-pressure, high-pressure gasification, and combined systems; a similar minimum syncrude selling price (MSSP) of 284 US$/bbl was attained (±1%). However, high-pressure gasification was most efficient at 49%. When considering integrated refining, scaling the feedstock from 38 to 114 tonne/h decreased process costs by 36%, resulting in a minimum aviation fuel selling prices (MAFSP) of 2.14 US$/L. Including alcohol and H2 recovery from FT side-streams may reduce the MAFSP to 2.05 US$/L. Assuming a SAF premium of 2.2 US$/L allowed for biomass to be delivered at factory gate for as high as 96 U$/tonne. The feasibility of co-processing hydrotreated syncrude in a conventional oil refinery was also investigated by comparing the gross product worth (GPW) of syncrude/crude oil blend to the MSSP. Co-processing was not economically viable as the GPW of the blend was only a 3rd of the MSSP. Thus, conventional refineries must be modified to accommodate syncrude.

Remote Sensing for Biocultural Heritage Preservation in an African Semi-Arid Region: A Case Study of Indigenous Wells in Northern Kenya and Southern Ethiopia

The region of Southern Ethiopia (Borana) and Northern Kenya (Marsabit) is characterised by erratic rainfall, limited surface water, aridity, and frequent droughts. An important adaptive response to these conditions, of uncertain antiquity, has been the hand-excavation of a sequence of deep wells at key locations often along seasonal riverbeds and valley bottoms where subterranean aquifers can be tapped. Sophisticated indigenous water management systems have developed to ensure equitable access to these critical water resources, and these are part of well-defined customary institutional leadership structures that govern the community giving rise to a distinctive form of biocultural heritage. These systems, and the wells themselves, are increasingly under threat, however, from climate change, demographic growth, and socio-economic development. To contribute to an assessment of the scale, distribution and intensity of these threats, this study aimed to evaluate the land-use land-cover (LULC) and precipitation changes in this semi-arid to arid landscape and their association with, and impact on, the preservation of traditional wells. Multitemporal Landsat 5, 7 and 8 satellite imagery covering the period 1990 to 2020, analysed at a temporal resolution of 10 years, was classified using supervised classification via the Random Forest machine learning method to extract the following classes: bare land, grassland, shrub land, open forest, closed forest, croplands, settlement and waterbodies. Change detection was then applied to identify and quantify changes through time and landscape degradation indices were generated using the Shannon Diversity Index fragmentation index within a 15 km buffer of each well cluster. The results indicated that land cover change was mostly driven by increasing anthropogenic changes with resultant reduction in natural land cover classes. Furthermore, increased fragmentation has occurred within most of the selected buffer distances of the well clusters. The main drivers of change that have directly or indirectly impacted land degradation and the preservation of indigenous water management systems were identified through an analysis of land cover changes in the last 30 years, supporting insights from previous focused group discussions with communities in Kenya and Ethiopia. Our approach showed that remote sensing methods can be used for the spatially explicit mapping of landscape structure around the wells, and ultimately towards assessment of the preservation status of the indigenous wells.

Occurrence and Characterization of Microplastics in Indigenous Fresh Water Fishes

Occurrence and Characterization of Microplastics in Indigenous Fresh Water Fishes

Indigenous nations at the confluence: water governance networks and system transformation in the Klamath Basin

Collaborative approaches to complex water quality problems can facilitate collective action across large watersheds with multiple, overlapping political jurisdictions, including Indigenous territories. Indigenous nations are increasingly engaging in collaborative water governance, in part, as a response to colonial legacies that have excluded Indigenous peoples from watershed management. This study uses social network analysis to explore emerging Klamath water governance networks. We seek to understand ongoing system transformation in contemporary water governance through tribal engagement in multi-jurisdictional water governance networks, from a system of Indigenous dispossession and exclusion (late 1800s-1980s) toward a yet unrealized system that centers Indigenous peoples. To envision the meaningful inclusion of Indigenous peoples in adaptive water governance, we first draw on criteria established by Indigenous water governance scholars. Then, we examine a snapshot of Indigenous participation in water quality governance in the Klamath Basin that focuses on the Karuk Tribe from 2018-2019. Specifically, Karuk tribal managers identified 21 different science-policy coalitions that they worked with on a range of water quality issues. We then used social network analysis methods to generate a network in which 210 different organizations were linked through co-membership in one or more coalitions. Our findings indicated that the Karuk and other Klamath Basin tribes play a central role in Klamath water quality governance and were not relegated to

Watering of wetlands on Indigenous Country in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia

Context Water managers in the Murray–Darling Basin increasingly recognise the cultural and environmental benefits generated by Indigenous co-management of environmental water. However, traditional knowledge and values are subsidiary to western technical and scientific perceptions when prioritising environmental water use. Aims and methods We mapped the locations and volumes of Commonwealth Environmental Water Office environmental watering events onto the wetlands within the land area represented by different state-determined Indigenous organisations and discuss how this relates to the varied nature and extent of Indigenous engagement in environmental watering decisions. Key results Between 2014–15 and 2018–19, one organisation had nearly 13% of the area of wetlands watered, but the average was less than 3%. In all, 18 of the 26 organisations received no environmental water. Conclusions The distribution of environmental flows does not meet the cultural needs of Indigenous nations due to physical restrictions and policy limitations. Yet, there are clear environmental and cultural co-benefits where Indigenous peoples have developed partnerships with environmental water managers. Developing stronger partnerships and increasing Indigenous water entitlements from the current 0.17% of issued entitlements would maximise these benefits in catchments where environmental water is prioritised. Implications The reviews of the Water Act and the Basin Plan scheduled for 2024–26 present opportunities to implement reforms.

Water Security and Indigenous Water Management Practice: A Case Study of the Metuk Water Management in Cambodia

Flood and drought are two forms of water security, which are key governance challenges, as it causes disaster to human, society, and the environment. Water governance in Cambodia has been challenged by too much water in the wet season, causing flooding, and by too little in the dry season, inducing drought. A proper water practice is needed in place to manage water and reduce water security to support the development of the country. This study is designed to explore the best practice of water management in Cambodia. To provide an answer to this exploration, the study reviews the relevant literature and undertakes a case study of indigenous water management practice in the Tonle Sap Lake. In doing so, the study examines the Metuk water management practice and examines how it contributes to improving water security and reducing its impacts on the livelihoods of local communities. It concludes that the Metuk system is a best practice for water management, which is operated by local communities, using local human and financial resources, with little hands of government agencies from all levels, to address future water governance in Cambodia.

Infrastructural awareness

ABSTRACT The invisibility of functional infrastructures has become a truism. Although infrastructures are invisible in many ways—because of their size, because they are hidden, or because they are so foundational—those whose livelihoods are endangered by infrastructures are keenly aware of them. In-person and online action against the Dakota Access Pipeline brought dramatic attention to oil infrastructure even though the pipeline was not only not visible, it was not yet built. I argue that the practices that make infrastructure perceptible—whether technological, geographical, social, or historical—are also always political. This study sets the efforts of Oceti Sokowin, other Indigenous, and non-Indigenous water protectors into the context of U.S. infrastructure history to examine the wide-ranging effects of the dominance of sight in infrastructural awareness and to make the case that infrastructures are not normally functional, whether by inevitable accident or in the more fundamental failure of infrastructures’ imbrication with settler colonialism in North America. Rerouting entrenched habits of perception helps to correct some of the damaging legacies of using sight as a metric for value, to foreground the fundamental nature of infrastructural breakdown, and to expand definitions of infrastructures to better account for their far-reaching and diverse dependencies and effects.

Analysing Challenges and Strategies in Land Productivity in Sikkim Himalaya, India

Agriculture is the major source of livelihood in rural areas and is considered the backbone of the Indian economy. In Sikkim, agriculture is being practiced by 80% of the rural population, and having no other major livelihood options has created immense pressure on the farmers and agricultural land. Agriculture sector is under great stress as the farmers are being confronted by various challenges in Sikkim Himalaya in recent years, such as land degradation, climate change and socio-economic problems. Despite the number of indigenous agriculture management methods being practised in Sikkim Himalaya, the agricultural production system is weakening. In this context, this paper presents an analysis of challenges faced by indigenous communities, local farmers and potential sustainable strategies for their management in Rani Khola watershed of Sikkim Himalaya. Data and information were collected by field observation, questionnaire surveys of 300 households, key informant interviews and focus group discussions conducted during 2017–18. Data processing and analysis were carried out with a combination of techniques, such as the application of remote sensing (RS), geographic information system (GIS)-based data processing and descriptive statistics. Major challenges identified in the watershed are water scarcity (80%), climate change (88%), soil erosion and runoff (72%), higher investment cost (100%), lack of irrigation facilities (77%), fragmentation and size of landholdings (100), human–wildlife conflict (59%) and pests and disease (60%). Some possibilities and innovations that could address these problems are the use and retaining of various indigenous soil and water conservation (SWC) measures, diversified farming systems, community involvement in the government development process, better irrigation facilities, strengthening the local economy, coordinated planning between stakeholders and development of market feedback mechanism within the system.

Ongoing Colonization and Indigenous Environmental Heritage Rights: A Learning Experience with Cree First Nation Communities, Saskatchewan, Canada

Ongoing colonization of the environment and natural resources has negatively impacted environmental heritage rights in many parts of the world, particularly Indigenous environmental rights and their relationships with the environment. For many Indigenous communities, the history of colonialism became a history of dispossession for Indigenous peoples, their land, water, traditional knowledge, and practices. This paper addresses the ongoing environmental heritage conflict between the Cree First Nation communities’ traditional environmental heritage practices and developmental energy projects in Saskatchewan, Canada. Drawing from a relational research framework, we (Cree First Nation Knowledge Keeper and settler scholar of color) shared our learning reflections from Cree First Nation communities on how energy projects (particularly pipeline leaks) have negatively impacted Indigenous land, water, and traditional heritage and practices. In this paper, we focus our learnings from the Cree First Nation communities on the following questions: Why and how do developmental projects neglect Indigenous heritage rights, particularly environmental heritage rights? What can be or should be done about it? What are our responsibilities as researchers and educators? In this study, we learned about traditional-knowledge-based consultation and solutions to the ongoing challenges of incorporating Indigenous interests into environmental heritage to foster Indigenous environmental heritage rights. We also highlight how Indigenous perspectives on their environmental heritage rights are interconnected with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from our learning reflections, particularly Goal 3, Good Health and Wellbeing, Goal 10, Reduced Inequalities, Goal 13, Climate Action, Goal 15, Life on Land, and Goal 16, Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions.

Benchmarking Indigenous water holdings in the Murray-Darling Basin: a crucial step towards developing water rights targets for Australia

ABSTRACT Australia’s ability to address Indigenous claims for water rights and to advance both national Indigenous and water policy is hampered by a lack of information on Indigenous water entitlements and the communities that hold them. This paper contributes to the policy agenda of increasing Indigenous water rights by developing a method that quantifies and enables spatially explicit comparison of Indigenous-held water within and across Murray-Darling Basin jurisdictions. We construct baselines for (i) Indigenous population (ii) Indigenous holdings of surface water entitlements, and (iii) Indigenous holdings of groundwater entitlements across water management units in the Basin. We estimate that Indigenous surface water holdings constitute no more than 0.17% of the equivalent permitted take across the entire Basin. Groundwater entitlements held by Indigenous entities constitute 0.02% of all available groundwater. The approximate market value of these water entitlements is A$19.2 million in 2015–16 terms, which equates to 0.12% of the total $16.5 billion market value. In contrast, 5.3% of the Murray-Darling Basin population is Indigenous, a proportion that is rapidly increasing. The production of estimates of this type, and Indigenous control of the data needed to generate them, are first steps in a reparations process that can contribute towards Indigenous water justice.

Bioefficacy, environmental safety and synergistic impacts of biorational formulations against whitefly, leafhopper and blister beetle in organic okra ecosystem

AbstractWhitefly (Bemisia tabaci Gennadius), leafhopper (Amrasca biguttula biguttula Ishida) and large yellow-banded blister beetle (Mylabris phalerata) cause considerable damage to okra, especially under organic farming. Thus, the present study was carried out to test the bioefficacy and environmental safety of six naturally derived components [indigenous water plant extracts, i.e. chilli (Capsicum annum), garlic (Allium sativum L.) and neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss.) along with cow urine in three different combinations, one commercial botanical (azadirachtin 0.15%), and two formulated entomopathogenic fungi (Verticillium lecanii and Beauveria bassiana)] on aforesaid pests for two consecutive years at field scale. In addition to this, the eco-toxicological effect of naturally derived components was also studied on natural enemies’ populations, viz. spiders and coccinellids. Quaternary mixture application of chilli, garlic, neem leaf and cow urine (CGNC) at 10% w/v was found effective in reducing leafhoppers (94.6%), whiteflies (95.2%) and blister beetle (94.6%) over control. Okra treated with CGNC produced a higher marketable fruit yield (18.44 mg/ha) than those of other treatments. It was also observed that the application of CGNC had no phytotoxic symptoms on okra plants. Application of CGNC was found safer to the natural enemy's population (spiders and coccinellids). Thus, the study suggests that CGNC can be considered as a potential source for managing the population of whitefly, leafhopper and blister beetle without affecting the ecology of natural enemies and it could be a viable eco-friendly option in organic okra production for ensuring food safety and healthy environment.

Governing water insecurity: navigating indigenous water rights and regulatory politics in settler colonial states

ABSTRACT Indigenous peoples experience water insecurity disproportionately. There are many parallels between the injustices experienced by racialized and marginalized populations and Indigenous peoples. However, the water insecurity experienced by Indigenous peoples is distinctly shaped by settler colonialism. This article draws on examples from Canada and the United States to illustrate how jurisdictional and regulatory injustices along with the broader political and economic asymmetries advanced by settler colonial States (re-)produce water insecurity for Indigenous peoples. We conclude by engaging with how Indigenous peoples are pushing back against these arrangements using State and non-State strategies by revitalizing Indigenous knowledge and governance systems.

Indigenous Water Ontologies, Hydro-Development and the Human/More-Than-Human Right to Water: A Call for Critical Engagement with Plurilegal Water Realities

Water conflicts across the world are bringing to the fore fundamental challenges to the anthropocentric boundaries of the human rights paradigm. Engaging with the multi-layered legal ethnographic setting of the Xalalá dam project in Maya Q’eqchi’ territory in Guatemala, I will critically and empirically unpack not only the anthropocentric boundaries of the hegemonic human rights paradigm, but also the ontological differences between indigenous and Euro-Western legal conceptualizations of human-water-life. I argue that it is necessary to pave the way for urgent rethinking of the human right to water and, more broadly, human rights beyond the modern divide of nature-culture. International law and human rights scholars should therefore not be afraid of plurilegal water realities and should start engaging with these ontologically different concepts and practices. Embarking on a bottom-up co-theorizing about human and beyond-the-human water rights will be imperative to avoid recolonization of indigenous knowledges-ontologies by non-indigenous scholarships and public policy.

Assessing natural resource change in Vhembe biosphere and surroundings.

South Africa is a custodian of an immense wealth of natural and biodiversity resources in Africa. Natural resources are continually changing in different South African biospheres based on anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic causes. Land use activities like agriculture, cultivation, livestock rearing, commercial plantations, urbanisation and mining are among the major drivers of natural resource change and transformation. In this study, land cover change assessment was used to assess natural resource change in Vhembe biosphere and surroundings. To assess natural resource change in Vhembe biosphere, land use land cover change assessment was conducted using South African's national land-cover dataset, generated from multi-seasonal Landsat 5 and Sentinel-2 images. The 72× class land cover map was re-classified into 12× classes to fit the study objectives. Eight out of twelve classes quantified in hectares: indigenous forests, thicket/dense bush, natural woodland, shrubland, grassland, water bodies and wetlands were categorised as natural resources for which the natural resource change assessment for this study was based. Assessment findings established that land use and its related activities have contributed substantially to natural resource change where cultivated commercial, natural woodland and built-up residential contributed the most significant upward change in hectarage and percentage, from 132,246.9 to 365,644.92 (ha)-percentage change of 176%; from 94,665.42 to 257,889.68 (ha)-percentage changes of 172% and from 74,070.27 to 147,701.88(ha)-percentage change of 99% respectively. Shrubland, thicket/dense bush and indigenous forests registered the highest downward changes from 263,070.6 to 977.72 (ha); from 338,723.7 to 23,166.92 and from 13,211.91 to 7402.92 (ha) with percentage changes of -100%, -93% and -44% respectively in Vhembe biosphere and the surroundings from 1990 to 2018. The study showed how natural resources are changing and the use of remote sensing for environmental monitoring and assessment in the Vhembe district.