During the last 20 years, Acacías has evidenced Colombian economic reprimarization, characterized by the decrease of industrial and agricultural activity, and the increase natural resources exploitation, in particular oil... [ view full abstract ]
During the last 20 years, Acacías has evidenced Colombian economic reprimarization, characterized by the decrease of industrial and agricultural activity, and the increase natural resources exploitation, in particular oil exploitation, drag mining in rivers’ alluvial beds, oil palm agribusiness, in addition to the increase of complementary services to these activities and rapid urban growth. This process, accompanied by a limited municipal institutional capacity to manage, regulate and monitor the environmental impacts of these socio-economic interventions, has enable negative social and environmental externalities that limit the conservation and availability for a sustainable use of Acacías’ wide water supply by local actors, arousing socio-environmental conflicts in the municipality
This case study addresses the management of water resources in of Acacias’ (Meta, Colombia) between 2000 and 2015, through the analytical framework of water governance and approaches to sustainable development. In that way, the paper explores, from a multidimensional perspective, the complex interplay of three governance dimensions: institutional and normative factors; regulation instruments; multiple actors and intermediation spaces, in order to establish the prevailing governance mode that structure certain ways of water resources use. In this context of governance, the paper also explores the prevailing approach of sustainable development in Acacías, acknowledging whether environmental and social capabilities of water resources are guaranteed to endure the local socio- economic activities.
According to the analysis, in Acacías prevails a hybrid water governance mode, in which two types of governance coexist in tension: a decentralized and closed mode related to environmental and territorial planning issues and a hierarchical governance associated with mining-energy activities. These tensions are expressed in normative conflicts between the hierarchical mining-energy sector and the decentralized environmental and land planning regulations; power asymmetries that foster tensions between government actors and encourage grater influence of governmental actors over social stakeholders in the decision-making process; the prevalence of closed and hierarchical actors’ intermediation spaces; and rigid and coercive environmental instruments. In this hybrid water governance context, prevails a weak sustainable development approach, given that the water resources’ environmental and social capacities of are limited to support the socio-economic activities. The hybrid water governance mode and the weak sustainable development approach acknowledged through the research, highlight the lack of horizontal and vertical articulation between government and social actors; hierarchical power relations that lead to fragmented, sectoral and coercive decision-making process; tensions between the central state and the municipality; limited environmental regulation instruments, and the socio-environmental conflicts proliferation.
