Water and Rural Communities
The overall theme of this book concerns the multiplicity and complexities of discursive constructions of water in Western economies in relation to irrigation communities. The authors argue that the politics of place is given meaning in relation to local knowledges and within multiple and multiscalar institutional frameworks involved with the social, physical, economic and political practices associated with water. They are particularly concerned with water at the local level, including how it is exchanged, managed and given meaning.
Using case studies from Australia and the United States of America, it is shown how water use and community relations, particularly during times of drought, are central to developing understandings about how communities challenge, adapt and respond to policy developments. The book also brings to light how unequal distribution of resources and risk conspicuously come to the surface during times of drought, illustrating that water is a political subject occupying a unique position, moving between the natural and social worlds.
Lia Bryant is an Associate Professor and Director of the Centre for Social Change in the School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, University of South Australia.
Jodie George is a Researcher and Lecturer in the School of Communication, International Studies and Languages, University of South Australia.
Earthscan Studies in Water Resource Management
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Water and Rural Communities
Local Politics, Meaning and Place
Lia Bryant with Jodie George
First published 2016
by Routledge
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2016 Lia Bryant and Jodie George
The right of Lia Bryant and Jodie George to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Bryant, Lia, author. | George, Jodie, author.
Title: Water and rural communities : local politics, meaning and place / Lia Bryant with Jodie George.
Description: London; New York : Routledge, [2016] | Series: Earthscan studies in water resource management | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016005698 | ISBN 9780415723589 (hbk) | ISBN 9781315857602 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Water-supply--Political aspects--Australia--Renmark (S.A.) Water-supply--Political aspects--California--Fresno. | Water rights--Australia--Renmark (S.A.) | Water rights--California--Fresno. | Irrigation farming--Political aspects--Australia--Renmark (S.A.) | Irrigation farming--Political aspects--California--Fresno. | Renmark (S.A.)--Politics and government. | Freson (Calif.)--Politics and government.
Classification: LCC HD1700.R46 B78 2016 | DDC 333.91009794/83--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016005698
ISBN: 978-0-415-72358-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-85760-2 (ebk)
Typeset in Times
by Saxon Graphics Ltd, Derby
Thank you to Dr Jodie George for authoring and for providing feedback and discussion in relation to the overall book.
Many thanks to Dr Kris Clarke for hosting us in Fresno and assisting us with accessing participants. Many thanks to the participants from the Riverland in South Australia, the Renmark Irrigation Trust, Australia and the participants from Central California, USA.
We acknowledge the International Journal of Water Resources Development for permission to use Bryant, L. and George, J., 2016. Examining uncertainty and trust among irrigators and regulatory bodies in the Murray-Darling basin. International Journal of Water Resources Development, 32(1), pp.102-115.
Thank you to Dr Bridget Garnham for your assistance and support, to Katerina Bryant and Mathew Drogemuller for assistance with referencing and editing.
The South Australia data was collected as part of an Australian Research Council Grant and Central Californian data collection was funded by the University of South Australia.
1
The poetics and politics of water and communities
Water has been a subject of cultural thought and representation over centuries across diverse continents. It is used and represented in art, philosophy, religion and literature. Past and contemporary depictions and imaginaries of water, its surfaces and reflections, its depth and underworlds, have shaped ways of living with, and dreaming about, rivers, oceans, streams, rain, snow and ice. The Muse de LOrangerie in Paris became one such place for dreaming when, after World War I, Monet donated to the state his canvases of lakes and water lilies in order to create a place of repose in a bustling city. These canvases continue to fill the curvaceous walls of the museum, reminding of us of gentle and lavish waves, and as such capture common metaphoric meanings of water as renewing, calming and cleansing. There are also many compelling examples of water, art and depictions of human and non-human well-being found in past and contemporary Australian Indigenous art. Paintings on rock and canvas hold cultural stories, which are woven into images of place, with the most recurring being spiral lines representing running water, circular forms recording the presence of water holes and Rainbow Serpents who reside in waterholes to regenerate land. Together these depictions form a map but also a spiritual place a story of the dreaming.