What the thesis argued

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A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of Warwick
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WATER POLITICS IN EL SALVADOR
Power, Water and Social Change in poor
communities of San José Villanueva

A thesis submitted to the University of Warwick for the
degree of Ph.D.
Carlos Salvador Zepeda Castillo

May 2015
Department of Politics and International Studies
DECLARATION
No portion of the work in this thesis has been submitted in support of an
application for another degree or qualification at this or any other university or
other institute of learning. The thesis is entirely my own work.
ABSTRACT
This dissertation explores how social power relations affect poor, vulnerable
people’s access to clean and sustainable water in El Salvador. It does so using an
in-depth case study of people living in seven socially deprived rural communities
of San José Villanueva, province of La Libertad, southern El Salvador.
Drawing on several strands of social and political theory, the research
conceptualises ‘power’ along three axes: on local/global, material/ideational and
structure/agency lines. Using El Salvador’s neoliberal transition as its socio-
historical backdrop, the research explores the power dynamics shown by water
actor groups in positions of hegemony, counter-hegemony and social exclusion.
The study shows how these water actors use strategies, tactics and actions along
the three power axes. The thesis assembles empirical evidence from academic
research; policy documents, media outlets and civil society sources; interviews
with policy makers; and poor people’s narratives. The research argues that the
current state of unequal power relations in water governance constitutes the
main factor shaping poor people’s water access outcomes today.
Five key knowledge contributions emerge from this enquiry. First, the thesis
handles the concept of ‘power’ as a tool to enrich the traditionally depoliticised
approaches regarding water access today in El Salvador. Second, the research
builds an innovative conceptual synthesis on power, an ‘axes of power approach’.
Third, the thesis provides new empirical evidence using an in-depth case study.
Fourth, the study fills an existing gap in country-specific water politics knowledge.
Finally, the research offers relevant knowledge in a key water governance period
for El Salvador as policy-makers negotiate the country’s first General Water Law
in its history.
CONTENTS
DEDICATION ............................................................................................................... 7
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... 11
LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... 14
LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... 15
1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 17
Brief Overview: Water, People & Power in El Salvador ....................................................... 20
The Core Research Question ............................................................................................... 41
The Core Argument ............................................................................................................. 43
Contribution to Knowledge ................................................................................................. 44
Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 47
2. HISTORICAL CONTEXT: WATER & POWER FLOWING FOR THE FEW .................. 77
Introduction: From Water Commons to Water Injustice .................................................... 77
Ungoverned Flows .............................................................................................................. 79
Misgoverned Flows: A State of Weak Water Governance................................................... 98
San José Villanueva: Thirsty for Water Justice .................................................................. 130
Conclusion: Colonising Water and People with Power...................................................... 140
3. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK: POWER THE MISSING LINK ............................... 144
Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 144
Starting point: People, Power & Water ............................................................................. 146
Defining ‘Sustainability’ and ‘Access to Clean Water’ ....................................................... 156
Defining ‘the poor’ and ‘the vulnerable’ and their relation to water ................................ 158
Synthesis ........................................................................................................................... 161
Development studies legacy viewpoints ........................................................................... 165
Politics centred viewpoints ............................................................................................... 167
Explaining water poverty: The need for better theories ................................................... 172
Starting premises .............................................................................................................. 175
Explaining Power along Three inter-related Axes.............................................................. 176
The Local/Global Power Axis ............................................................................................. 179
The Material/Ideational Power Axis .................................................................................. 186
Integrating the Axes of Power ........................................................................................... 203
4. MARGINAL COLLECTIVES: STRATEGIES OF RESILIENCE ................................... 207
Introduction: Poor people’s Power to Access Water ........................................................ 207
Who is who? A Profile of Marginal Collectives .................................................................. 209
Local/Global Axis: Institutional Maze Runners Seeking Water .......................................... 228
A Material-Ideational Axis: Dirty Water, Dirty World ........................................................ 236
Agency/Social Structure Axis: Water or Golf? ................................................................... 251
Conclusions: Winning Battles But Not The War ................................................................ 266
5. HEGEMONIC WATER ACTORS: STRATEGIES OF DOMINANCE ......................... 268
Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 268
Local/Global Axis of Power: Going Viral With Quantum Leaps ......................................... 269
I. Material/Ideational Axis of Power ............................................................................ 286
Agency/Social Structure Power Axis .................................................................................. 298
II. Findings and Conclusions ......................................................................................... 302
6. COUNTER-HEGEMONIC WATER ACTORS: STRATEGIES OF RESISTANCE .......... 304
Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 304
A Map of Social Actors ...................................................................................................... 315
Types of Social Practices ................................................................................................... 328
Agency/Social Structure Power Axis .................................................................................. 339
Local/Global Power Axis .................................................................................................... 345
Material/Ideational Power Axis ......................................................................................... 357
Conclusions: Power Interactions & Outcomes .................................................................. 362
7. CONCLUSION: WATER INJUSTICE BUILT BY POLITICAL STALEMATE ................ 367
Poor People’s Odyssey for Water Access: A Journey of Power ......................................... 368
Going Upstream: What this Thesis Researched ................................................................ 368
Reviewing the Findings: Power Relations Dam Poor People’s Water Access ..................... 372
How this research’s findings challenge pre-existing knowledge ....................................... 385
Lessons Learnt from the Research .................................................................................... 387
8. BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................... 394
LIST OF INTERVIEWS .......................................................................................................... 428
APPENDIX 1: Interviews and Workshops Methodology .................................................... 434
APPENDIX 2: National Water Forum Organisations .......................................................... 448
APPENDIX 3: ANDA’s FIHIDRO information denial ............................................................ 452
DEDICATION
“What makes the desert beautiful,” said the little prince, “is that somewhere it hides a
well.. . . ” (Saint-Exupéry, 1995, p. 66)
I dedicate this thesis to the communities of San José Villanueva who have so
tenaciously fought for clean water access, especially the women and children who
have spent untold hours collecting and using the waters of river Aquiquisquillo. So
many people from these communities gave me countless hours of hospitality,
guidance, trust to learn from them and to whom I am now so thankful. For their
leadership and proactive support, I would like to thank Sergio Elmer Alfaro, María
Alejandra Ramírez, Miguel Ángel Torres and Delmy Blanca Cruz. I am grateful to all the
members of the communities who agreed to open their doors to take part in this
research.
My thanks also go to all those organisations whose support funded this doctoral
project. My appreciation goes first and foremost to the Politics and International
Studies Department at the University of Warwick who awarded me with the Warwick
Postgraduate Research Scholarship (WPRS). Without such support this project quite
simply would not have happened. In addition, I would like to thank the Building Global
Democracy Programme and Global Research Priorities in Global Governance initiatives
for giving me the opportunity to complement my funding by becoming a Research
Assistant. I also thank the team at the Politics and International Studies Department
and the University of Warwick for providing me with the academic and logistical
support, which helped to make my PhD a reality.
For inspiring me and supporting me to embark on my PhD voyage, I would like to
sincerely thank the distinguished scholars that taught me to love the politics and ethics
of development and whose influence still ripples in my own work: Séverine Deneulin,
Kees Biekart, Des Gasper and Rachel Kurian. My thanks also go to my former alma
mater lecturers for their support and influence to believe another world is possible
with and for the poor: Lilian Vega, Julia Evelyn Martínez, S.J. Francisco Ibisate†, Aquiles
Montoya† and S.J. José María Tojeira at the University of Central America.
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Crucially, I owe my deepest thanks to my supervisor Professor Jan Aart Scholte for his
solidarity, patience and unflinching support. Through his professionalism and wisdom I
have learnt that doing research is above all an act of humanity, hence cultivating it is
an art that requires practice, lots of practice. I would also like to show my gratitude to
my second supervisor, Associate Professor Dominic Kelly, for his positive and friendly
support, helpful advice and careful critical insights throughout my studies.
I also would like to send my deepest thanks to the social activists working at ACUA and
ISF for their professional and personal support, and for connecting me with the
communities and in general for their expertise on water governance issues in La
Libertad. At ACUA, I am indebted to Ana Ella Gómez, Samuel Ventura, Walter
González, César Erazo, Edy Tejada, Carlos Vargas and Donatella Morales. At ISF, thanks
go to Bárbara Collado and Marcos San Juan, who also enlightened me on several key
aspects of this research.
In a similar vein, I would like to thank several people and organisations from
Salvadorean civil society who have devoted so much of their energies to achieving
water justice. This includes member organisations of the National Water Forum “Foro
del Agua” and their representatives at the time such as UNES under the leadership of
Ángel Ibarra and Carlos Flores, Xenia Marroquín from ASPRODE, Karen Ramírez from
PROVIDA, Edgardo Mira from CEICOM, Nayda Medrano and Edwin Trejo from CDC,
Beatriz Aguilar and many others.
Also from Salvadorean civil society, for their trust and for sharing their
multidisciplinary knowledge, I would like to thank: Leopoldo Dimas and José Andrés
Oliva from FUSADES, Marco Álvarez from CEDES, Raúl Artiga from SICA´s Climate
Change and Risk Management (CCAD), Roberto Rubio, Enrique Merlos, Claudia Ortiz,
Rommel Rodríguez and Vilma Vides de Melara from FUNDE, Luis Chávez from
ASIAGUA, Gabriela Melara from La Prensa Gráfica, Waldo Jiménez from ANEP and
Mauricio Chavarría from La Constancia/SAB Miller.
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To the international organisations, government and local government officials that
opened their doors to me, I appreciate their time and openness. Special thanks go to
Silvia Larios and René Ramos from the Ministry of the Environment and Natural
Resources (MARN), Alfonso Goitia from the Technical Unit of Presidential Secretariat,
Fréderick Benítez and Zoilo Castro from ANDA, to Pedro Durán Mayor of San José
Villanueva´s Municipality as well as Nelson Estrada (Inter-American Development Bank
-IDB), to Carolina Dreikorn and Nancy Argueta from UNDP El Salvador, Andrés
McKinley from Catholic Relief Services, Beatriz Yarza and Mónica Vásquez from AECID
and Alianza por el Agua, Lourdes Castro from Grupo Sur (Brussels), Lourdes Palacios
and Luis López from FMLN´s Environmental Commission, as well as my former
colleagues and friends from Oxfam: Manuel Muñiz, Candelaria Reyes, Anne Hild and
the rest of the team.
In particular, I would like to thank the warmth I received from my loved ones
throughout the process of doing my PhD. First and foremost, I would like to give my
deepest gratitude and dedicate the heart of this thesis to Deborah Ann Jenkins who
started this process as my girlfriend and half way through became my lovely wife. By
giving me much needed encouragement, love, strength and practical support when I
most needed it you helped make this research project a reality. You willingly sacrificed
time and effort reading, critiquing and challenging my endless stream of drafts with
inspiring intellectual insights and dragged me from my studies into the great outdoors,
filling life with laughs, lovely cups of tea and the greatest Welsh cakes on Earth (apart
from MIJ´s). For that and so much more Chelita, diolch yn fawr i ti fy nghariad.
Special and unique thanks also go to my beloved parents Carlos and Patricia, MIJ and
my sisters Natalia, Ana and Marta for their infinite ability to weave love and support
into all points of this PhD regardless of time and distance. I would like to especially
thank my mother and MIJ for inspiring me by providing examples of strength,
determination and positive energy in the darkest of times. Warm thanks also go to the
support of my dear friends, especially Katrine Steenland whose ideational
brainstorming shook up my thinking every time. I thank you Katti for our countless
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