ABSTRACT

We are facing a global water crisis exacerbated by hydro-climatic extremes related to climate change. Water scarcity is expected to increasingly affect indigenous and marginalized populations. Supporting the sovereignty of indigenous and rural populations to create water secure futures through place-based knowledge, local management, and Community-based Adaptation (CBA) measures may help tackle this crisis. Zapotec communities in Oaxaca, Mexico have self-organized for collective action to use Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) to address water scarcity, resulting in a perceived increase of groundwater availability. Treating groundwater as a common-pool resource (CPR) within a sociohydrological system, the objectives of this paper are two-fold: (1) to explore how MAR may be implemented as a CBA measure, and (2) to understand what factors triggered and/or enabled the widespread implementation of MAR by Zapotec indigenous communities in the Valles Centrales of Oaxaca, Mexico. In doing so, we aim to get a better understanding of local processes while also furthering theories that relate to CBA, CPR, and sociohydrology. This paper was born from the desire of the Zapotec community members to share their experience and lessons learned so other drought-vulnerable communities might benefit.

摘要

我们正面临着因与气候变化相关的极端水文气候而加剧的全球水危机。预计水资源短缺将越来越多地影响土著和边缘化人口。通过基于地方的知识、本地管理和基于社区的适应 (CBA) 措施，支持土著和农村人口的主权，以创造水安全的未来可能有助于解决这场危机。墨西哥瓦哈卡的 Zapotec 社区自发组织起来采取集体行动，使用管理含水层补给 (MAR) 来解决水资源短缺问题，从而明显增加了地下水的可用性。将地下水作为社会水文系统内的公共池资源 (CPR) 处理，本文的目标有两个：(1) 探讨如何将 MAR 作为 CBA 措施实施，墨西哥瓦哈卡的中央山谷。在此过程中，我们的目标是更好地了解当地过程，同时推进与 CBA、CPR 和社会水文学相关的理论。本文源于 Zapotec 社区成员分享他们的经验和教训的愿望，以便其他易受干旱影响的社区可能受益。