Liquid Integrity A Study of the Human Relationship with Water

Abstract

The human relationship with water has shifted from one of cooperative engagement as displayed by indigenous peoples before European colonization, to the treatment of water as an on-demand commodity. To harness water’s natural power is also to gain control over its access and distribution. The introduction of scarcity further advances this power dynamic by introducing a zero-sum game within an anti-commons paradigm. With our current climate chaos, a shift in critical consciousness is necessary to address governance agendas in the areas of water as commons-community, water as alive and autonomous-liberation, and the rights of ecological ethics. This qualitative study investigated the community’s water narratives along with the unintended consequences of a water moratorium originally enacted as an environmental strategy to halt development and protect community well-being. The study examined the social and political model the moratorium gave birth to, the relationship of individual residents with water, and the shadows that are cast by adopting water scarcity as a guiding principle of community advancement.