TY - JOUR
AU - Morehouse, Barbara
AB - Abstract The notion that water is an essential resource is now universally accepted and the concept will continue to play an important role in the years to come. But what kind of water are we considering and what values should be attributed to it in function of its origin, its quality and the needs of the person or people who are talking about it? The aim of this paper is to examine different kinds of water, from river water to tap water, rainwater to recycled water, and to analyse the value or values attached to each kind of water in terms of the function of the type of usage attributed to it in various spatio-temporal contexts. Non-market, Sustainability, Values, Water 1 Introduction The new gold of our age is water. This realization grows out of improved understanding of the diversity of demands that exist both implicitly and explicitly for water, and better understanding of the ways in which current water use policies and practices are diminishing the overall supplies available now and in the future. It also grows out of realization that a great many values have been omitted or only weakly represented in the typical market-based policies governing water management. In part the omission is due to extraordinary reliance on direct and indirect monetary valuations which may ignore cultural and ecological values which may lie outside monetary consideration. Omissions also result from unequal power relations regarding which particular values should take precedence, especially in situations where different values are in competition - for example, between market processes and civil society processes, or between preservation of in-stream flows for ecological benefits versus provision of water for urban or industrial uses. The questions of equity underlying many of these institutional and policy issues remain imperfectly addressed, if at all, within existing water policy in many places (Whitely, Ingram, & Perry, 2008). It is unlikely that the problem will be remedied until transformative changes in water governance and related policy processes occur. For such changes to occur more information is needed about the nature and range of non-market water values, as well as the histories and geographies of those values; better mechanisms for mediating competing or conflicting values, and institutional structures for assuring that values, once recognized in policy, are respected in water management processes. Given the biophysical, climatic, and social changes humanity faces today, incorporating much richer value sets into policies and actions are becoming ever more imperative. Contests over water and its values existed, of course, in antiquity, as well as throughout history. In Oriental Despotism: A Comparative Study of Total Power, Wittfogel provided a historical examination of such contests in the orient (Wittfogel, 1981; originally published 1957). Focusing on our contemporary times, Reisner (1986) and Worster (1985) have used some of Wittfogel's concepts about the roles of economic and political power to frame their historical studies of water issues in the western United States. How contests over water and its values have been and will continue to be managed depends on governance institutions, and the policies by which such institutions are expressed in everyday contexts (e.g., Lach, Ingram, & Rayner, 2005). The participation of private and public entities in the water sector also goes back into history. Indeed, from the beginning of water supply systems, the private sector has been deeply involved in water management. This has been the case in a number of cities around the world. In the case of London and Paris, for example, such involvement began in the 19th century (Goubert, 1986). Today efforts to expand private water markets, especially in urban areas remain strong, though many issues continue to arise (Saliba & Bush, 1987; World Bank/IFC, 1991). In other contexts, however, we can see a progressive evolution toward returning to municipal and public water management (Alcazar, Abdala, & Shirley, 2002). Recent examples of this change include Buenos Aires (Botton & Gouvello de, 2008) and, more recently, Paris. Notably, beyond such efforts to expand market-based water governance in municipal areas, another phenomenon is rapidly growing: the capture of water as a product, namely bottled water. While the marketing of water in containers is not at all new, the quantities of water extracted for domestic and international sales has sky rocketed. At the same time, the environmental impacts of these operations have escalated as well, causing in some cases serious structural and ecological damage as well as loss of access to the water itself (Glennon, 2002). Thus, in the contemporary world, water policy operating at local to national (and more recently international) levels plays a crucial role in establishing the rules and practices that determine who receives water, how much, from what sources, and at what quality for what purposes. In recent decades the World Bank has been among those advocating neoliberalist policies to reform the management of water, particularly in less-developed countries. This recent emphasis is largely based on the belief that many of the existing problems related to water in these areas arise from dominance of the bureaucratic state over market forces. Establishment of rational market-based institutions, in their view, provide the best means for solving problems of availability, quality and access. As articulated by observers of the process, neoliberal reform emphasizes privatization of the functions by which water is acquired, allocated, delivered, priced, and paid for. Critics of neoliberal water policies, including neo-Marxist critical theorists, find that the reforms have failed not only failed to deliver on promises, but have in some cases made things worse (see, e.g., Romero Lankao and Günther, this issue). We note that, in developed countries, as well as in other parts of the world, there has been a pronounced shift in the past several decades to expanding water policy in a manner that allows for consideration not only of a broader range of human values, but also of ecological values. Increased concern about degradation of the environment and awareness of society's stewardship responsibilities has led to policy innovations requiring explicit consideration of such concerns in water policy. The European Water Framework Directive (European Commission, 2001) also requires consideration of human heritage values in water policy-making and implementation. In our changing world it is not surprising that, with globalization, technological progress, the hegemony of market-economy values, etc., we are confronting a values crisis. Value issues have prompted scientific controversies as researchers and scientists have sought to “redefine and anticipate tomorrow's values, and reflect on the direction these values may lead humanity” (Bindé, 2004). However, it remains very difficult to define values in part due to the different kinds of values and/or the points of view held by economists, anthropologists, sociologists, biophysical scientists, philosophers and others. Specifically, in this world where decisions are dominated by economics, it remains challenging to advocate for social, cultural, environmental, and ecosystem values, including those considered essential to achieving long-term social and ecological sustainability at all levels from local to global (Armstrong, 2006; World Commission on Environment & Development, 1987). The primary premise of this special issue is that widespread failure to recognize and integrate cultural, social, and environmental values of water - values that fall outside the calculus of traditional market valuation - into water governance poses a serious challenge to managing water resources equitably and sustainably. The pressures posed by climate change, environmental stresses, urban growth, and increasing imbalances between water demands and the suitability of available water to meet those demands escalate the problem over time, space, and social processes. As discussed in the next section, these challenges, which are occurring at all levels from global to local, reveal a need to move beyond exclusive reliance on exclusive notions of market efficiency, for market-based economic theories and typically fail to account for deeply held social and cultural values of water. Likewise, widely used non-market valuation methods such as contingent valuation are limited in their ability to fully capture non-quantifiable values. The papers in this special issue explore, from a variety of perspectives, actual and potential influences of non-market values of water on water governance and use. Our intent is to encourage greater consideration of and research on the influences of and roles played by non-market values at all levels from global water governance to quotidian decisions about what kind of water, and how much, to use for which purposes. We believe that it is only through explicit joining of scientific, economic and cultural knowledge about water that we can achieve levels of water governance that are culturally, socially, environmentally and economically equitable and sustainable. 2 A brief look at the historical background on valuing water Historically water allocation has been viewed as a classical problem of supply and demand (Hanemann, 2005; Hanley & Spash, 1993), with value being determined by market price. From a resource economics point of view, mathematical calculations based on the logic of rational markets have been seen as a way to optimize resource demand within the frame of its availability. Resource economists also recognize that water has other important attributes that must be accounted for, such as availability and access, and that this requires understanding factors such as what kind of water is at stake, the source of that water, how much water is in question, when the water is to be provided and to what or whom, for what purposes, and under what conditions (see, e.g., Farber, Costanza, & Wilson, 2002; Mitsch & Gosselink, 2000). The need for methods that could account for a broader range of values emerged as early as the mid-1800s but it was only in the 1970s that specific techniques were developed for measuring such values (Hanemann, 2005). The valuation methods commonly used today range from cost-benefit analysis to revealed preference, option valuation, contingent valuation, and non-market valuation meta-analysis (see, e.g., Bark, this issue; Boyer & Polasky, 2004; Calvo-Mendieta et al., this issue; Champ, Bishop, Brown, & McCollum, 1997; Costanza et al., 2000; Hanley & Spash, 1993). More recently, Smith and Pattanayak (2002) have provided important insights into how various values, including those of water come to be expressed through institutions, human decisions, and behaviors. While the more traditional rational-actor methods of economics remain very useful in many contexts, the chorus of voices has been growing for integration of a broader range of ecological and social values of water. The variety of non-market values of water that might be included in policy and decision processes is very large; however, the context specific nature of such values means that a relatively small subset will dominate in any given discourse. At broader scales, nevertheless, it is possible to articulate some general goals. As Morehouse (this issue) notes, for example, Gleick (1998: p. 574) defines seven general values-inspired criteria for assuring sustainable water governance and use: public health, ecosystem health, water quality that supports intended use, the long-term renewability of fresh water, support for collection and data on water resource availability and making such data accessible, existence of effective institutions to prevent/resolve water conflicts, and democratic water governance that encompasses planning, decision processes, and direct participation of those whose interests are at stake. Garrido and Ingram (2011) are among those who have been looking at issues of equity across the world, and Arnold (2008) has explored values of water from the perspective of a moral economy. Armstrong (2006) and Miller (2008) are among those who have tackled questions of environmental ethics and water. 3 Defining values of water How water comes defined depends who is doing the defining, the context, and the entities involved. Thus water may be considered as a symbolic element, a resource, a commercial product, a service. Each perspective will attribute different kinds of values to the water, but there will also be many interconnections between the perspective and the particular values attributed to the water in question. The interconnections established, in turn, serve to build norms and references that influence decisions made from individual to higher levels of social organization. Considered as a resource for life, water thus becomes an object enfolding a multiplicity of interests and a broad diversity of values. These interests and values vary and change across cultures, communities, states, space and time. Here, we emphasize the broad diversity of values associated with water and the evolution of these values in a world that is in perpetual motion. Depending on the form they take, relations between human beings and water vary according to spatial and temporal dynamics expressed, among other things, through landscapes, seasons, cultures, symbols, practices and techniques. This paper considers the multiple ways in which water is perceived, be it as a liquid, a solid or a gas. The paper is framed around the notion that, depending individual perspectives, cultural backgrounds, usages or situations, specific values are attributed to water; these values are friable and apt to evolve differently over time in specific geographical areas. Thus, rain, spring water, river water, tap water and bottled water are examined. Also explored in this paper is the representation of water using colors, which introduces new values that differ depending on the position taken by those describing the resource. Each paper included in this special issue contributes further understanding not only of the many values of water, but also of the ways in which non-market values of water may be framed and analysed. 4 Alternative perspectives on values of water When people talk about water they talk about a specific idea that they associate with a vital need, a memory, a daily action, a belief, a landscape. The omnipresence of water, paradoxically revealed by its absence, has encouraged people, from ancient times, to attribute to it one or more specific values that become hierarchized and evolve over time. Water, whether visible or invisible, present or absent, is one of the essential elements of our existence, both real and imaginary (Morali, 1997). Water, which quenches humanity's thirst, sates the earth. What we regard as simple metaphors, the pre-scientific mind thinks of concretely: the earth really does drink water. In the middle of the 18th century, Fabricius thought of water as nourishing both the earth and the air and thus that it stood as the greatest elementary material value (Bachelard, 1942). Within the abundant literature on the spiritual, mythical and symbolic aspects of water lies the work of the philosopher Gaston Bachelard. In L’eau et les rêves (1942), Bachelard demonstrates the multiple axes through which water comes to be symbolized, as well as divergences between symbolic constructs. Thus clear, springtime water is opposed to dark, troubled water; running water an expression of life, is opposed to stagnant water, redolent of death. With their seductive reflections, these different constructions of water evoke thoughts of image-absorbing mirrors, death-bringing flows. From these varied symbolic values are born aquatic divinities that are both present in and absent from the collective imagination and that are pregnant with meaning in the rhythms of human life. According to Eliade (1949), “in short, we could say that water symbolizes the totality of virtualities: fons and origo, the matrix of all possibilities of existence. […] In cosmogony, in myth, in ritual, in iconography, different types of waters fulfil the same function, whatever the structure of the cultural ensembles in which they are to be found: they precede all form and support all creation. However, water is not always a source of regeneration; it can also represent a threat of dilution, of annihilation. That water can take different forms while retaining its substantial character means that it can be deformed, transformed and reformed. Thus, the universal symbolism of water takes on a variety of forms depending on specific societies and their cultural configurations. Durand (1998) describes four essential approaches to aquatic symbolism: “seeding and fecund water; medical water, a miraculous source or eternal life-giving drink; lustral and baptismal water; and, lastly, flood water washing away sin and regenerating the human race.” This original water symbolism is timeless, but its multiform character means that it can be inscribed in a temporal dimension. 5 Collecting water from the sky: rainwater Rain symbolizes celestial influences, incarnated by divinities such as Tlaloc, the Aztec god of rain and vegetation; the Mayan god, Chac; the Berber god, Anzar; or Zeus, Lord of the Sky in Greek mythology. Divinities are invoked to fecundate the soil and render the earth fertile. Ritual dances, prayers and ceremonies have been dedicated to rain by communities living in the semi-arid or arid regions of the American South-West from pre-historic times. Essential for growing corn, as well as for health and welfare, water is at the heart of Amerindian culture. “Anything that Hopis do, it's for the rain; in any kind of dances, even your social dances, they still have pray for rain or a good summer or a god days ahead… it's all connected,” explains a Hopi Indian. Water is omnipresent, the object of multiple representations taking the form of drawings, carvings on day-to-day objects and artisanal items, it is also referred to in family names. Clouds, lightening, snow, rainbows or animals such as birds, frogs and snakes are all used to symbolize water, rendering it present even when it is in fact absent. In Kabilia, in northern Algeria, rites are celebrated to encourage rainfall. While men organize sacrifices and share meat around the community […], women and children take part in the tislit buwanzar (fiancée of the rain), a celebration centred on the village tala, or fountain (Lacoste-Dujardin, 2007). When it is absent, rain leaves little room for life, either vegetable or animal; at the other extreme, it becomes deadly when it is over-abundant and invasive, submerging everything in its path, a destructive source of ravaging floods. For Mircéa Eliade: “Almost all traditional flood stories are linked to the idea of absorbing humanity and instituting a new era, thus ushering in a new humanity […] Humanity disappears periodically in a deluge or flood due to its ‘sins’ […] It never perishes definitively, but reappears in a new form, facing the same destiny, awaiting the return of the same catastrophe which will reabsorb it in the flood.” (Eliade, 1949). However, when flooding is expected, in the monsoon season, for example, it is often a source of fertility rather than destruction. In the Sahel, after the ground has been gorged with water and nourished by the sludge left by the inundation, it is common to plant Waalo, or sorghum crops in the major bed of the Senegal River. Elsewhere, collecting flowing water, channelling it into canals and then storing it makes it possible to irrigate crops and plots of land, as well as to water gardens when there is insufficient rainfall. Different techniques for collecting rainwater are used (Lancaster, 2005); gutters and storage tanks are installed in homes and public buildings to collect water mainly destined for external purposes such as watering the garden or washing the car. The gradual development of these techniques is part of the transformation of rain into a new resource. Dissociated from any natural cycle, water becomes a resource available independently of the rhythm of precipitation and can be integrated into technical systems ranging from storage facilities to adduction networks, a process which raises new problems, particularly in terms of health and management issues (de Gouvello & Deutsch, 2009). In the Atacama Desert in Chile and the Namib in South Africa, when the vital resource is trapped to the clouds, nets are installed to capture them and collect the precious (Mantell, 2006). In France, rainwater was used as early as the 18th century, as Diderot and D’Alembert explain in their Encyclopedia: “When springs and river water are unavailable, people have collect rainwater in tanks; it is lighter, and impregnated with saltpetre from the air; it is more fecund and purer” (Diderot & D’Alembert, 1751). Today, water which flows from roofs is particularly collected by people in Australia; for over 12% of people living in Adelaide, rainwater is the principal source of drinking water, a phenomenon which does not seem to have any untoward health implications. 6 From the origins … spring water Emerging from the bowels of the earth, spring water conveys lasting symbolic virtues and powers which all individuals appropriate by drinking it, splashing themselves with it, or bathing in it. It is the primary symbol of birth: “bursting from the spring, water fecundates seeds. The spring is a form of irresistible, continuous birth” (Bachelard, 1942). Flowing water, emerging from the depths of the earth, symbolizes the creative powers of Nature, its virginity, its purity and its freshness: “gushing water is the very image of health, be it spiritual or material” (Hidiroglou, 1994). Consequently, springs are imbued with powerful symbolism, their sacred character echoing human existence. For Pierre Grimal, “spring water is one of the elements from which the soul of the world is formed, the soul which fills all things, and whose material body is animated by the divine spirit […]. It circulates in the secret canals of the earth, like blood in the conduits of the body” (Grimal, 1985). Flowing water animates all individuals, cradling them with its music, rejoining and nourishing the streams, torrents and rivers. Sometimes captured before having had a chance to become part of a stream, to flow into the sea, it is hidden away in pipes and adduction networks, notably in order to provide drinking water. This is true of the sources of the Rosoir and the Sainte Foy taped by the Chief Engineer Darcy to supply water to the city of Dijon in 1832. Meanwhile, from the early 20th century, springs were presented as sources of youth. They were recognized for particular virtues rendered sacred by the values attributed to them: they were miraculous, they had the power to heal, they purified, and many were impregnated with symbolic values. Those symbolic values were transformed into market values by agro-food companies which collect and bottle spring water and, consequently not only sell the precious liquid but also the symbolism and imaginary content associated with it. 7 An expression of nature: river water In Genesis, four heavenly rivers irrigate the world, thereby spreading and supporting life (Genesis, 2, 10–14). Whether in the form of streams, torrents, or rivers, water flows in a meandering fashion providing the matrix of specific ecosystems. Untrammelled in its natural state, it is channelled into canals and collected in view of developing human activities which alter balances and change our perception of the landscape (Zube, 1987). The presence of water in the landscape, its rate of flow, and its quality are essential factors in the very definition of what a river is, both from a geophysical, environmental and aesthetic point of view and from the perspective of the kind of representations it generates (Bethemon, 1999; Burmil, Daniel, & Hetherington, 1999). And, inscribed in a dynamic process, “water courses occupy a privileged place in myths, because they represent the world actualizing itself over time” (Servier, 1990). Thus, rivers convey specific values associated with the functions attributed to them in various historical periods, with the geographical areas it traverses, the reaches considered, with lived experiences, and with different points of view (Bravard & Magny, 2002). For example, in the Middle Ages, quantitative and qualitative water needs, which varied according to type of artisanal industry considered, influenced the way in which urban activities were organized “Dyers always set up their workshops on different canals to tanners. This is a logical approach in that when tannin oxidizes it releases dyes into the water which can stain sheets and canvases. On the other hand, in Troyes, Rouen and Paris, furriers, tawers and leather finishers often position themselves upstream of dyers” (Guillerme, 1983). Rivers were used not only to wash and rinse clothes, but also to discharge waste. Urban rivers were used as sewers for liquid wastes of all kinds and even some solid matter. From the 16th to the 18th centuries in Paris, waters became stagnant, encouraging the putrefaction of the urban milieu and the spread of disease and epidemics. Cleaning up the city became an essential task and flowing water, which was sometimes conveyed to the city from over a hundred kilometers away by adduction systems, was one of the most efficient ways, applied in the 19th century, of re-injecting life into buried water courses. Covering over river courses was another effective technique, which was applied to certain water courses encompassed within the engineered water networks. This was the case of the Bièvre, a small urban tributary of the Seine, along the banks of which Rabelais habitually took bucolic strolls. The river, inhabited by beavers, whence its name doubtless derives, powered numerous grain mills and was cold enough to be used as to refrigerate food stuffs. But the intensification of artisanal and industrial activities starting in the 13th century led to the river's formerly crystal clear water becoming polluted, eventually transforming it into an open-air sewer, a receptacle for washerwomen's waste water, as well as entrails, offal and other detritus from the butcher's table. In the 19th century, a decision was made to cover the foul-smelling Bièvre in order to hide the putrid water and transform it into a sewer channel. But now, in the early 21st century, the reconquest of nature is in fashion, and bringing the river back to life has become a political priority. The project to reopen a part of its course bears witness to a desire to revalorise water courses which, today, are seen as sources of aesthetic pleasure and biodiversity, and are increasingly used for leisure purposes. The river was thus transformed from a highly polluted, hidden, “dead” water course into a technical object, a source of flowing water once again providing a worthy home for the flora and fauna once associated with it. Bark, in this issue, discusses a project, using a benefits transfer approach, to ascertain non-market values of riparian vegetation along a river in the desert landscape of Tucson, Arizona, USA. In this process of regeneration, water once again becomes an essential element, a symbol of nature and purity in the heart of the city. This ambitious project, carried out on behalf of local people anxious to renew their links to nature by means of the restored river, is a way of providing new meaning and identity to a geographical area, of recreating social ties by taming nature. J.-P. Haghe, in this issue, extends questions of values beyond those of humans by asking whether “the value of a waterfall can be analysed solely from the point of view of its contribution to human wellbeing, or should that value also be recognized as being intrinsic and non-anthropocentric?” Chronologically and geographically, upstream and downstream, rivers fulfil a succession of juxtaposed functions, as well as a number of competing uses and interests. The values attributed to water evolve not only with the forms it takes but also with the changes in the uses to which it is put and with the entities involved. Where river flows are slowed or interrupted by drought, access to water in downstream reservoirs, or dams, becomes problematical for users located upstream of such installations. Engineering techniques may be applied to alleviate the lack of water, but this does not resolve the problem of conflicts over use where equitable distribution of the resource may be impeded by tense geopolitical contexts. Depending on whether it is appropriated by certain parties, or misappropriated from others, and depending on the value attributed to it, water becomes a positive or negative catalyst in terms of human relations, revealing multiple issues and interests which interact with each other at multiple levels. This is notably the case with regard to how water is shared at the regional level between agricultural development and urban needs, and at the international level between adjoining countries whose surface or groundwater resources are divided by international boundaries, as is the case for example with regard to the Tigris and the Euphrates. Other examples include transfers of water between river catchment areas, such as those envisaged between the Rhône in France and Barcelona in Spain (Lacoste, 2001), and in the Central Arizona Project (CAP), which channels water from the Colorado River to cities, including Phoenix and Tucson in Arizona, and to agricultural and other large users. Beyond issues of water availability, the question of water quality is no less pressing. The example of the Ganges is particularly germane: known for being extremely polluted, it is nevertheless a holy river used by Hindus to celebrate purification rites, which themselves generate further pollution. Religious and sacred values close to nature and respectful of earth, fire, water and space, are more important than the physico-chemical quality of water, whose decline causes real health and environmental risks (Le Bihan, 2000). In this case, symbolic values are paramount, pushing all others to the margins. In such contexts, water governance becomes an even more complicated endeavor involving the need to address multiple demands and expectations. Market-based economic interests may predominate, but resolution of conflict often requires devising means to integrate non-market values. Morehouse, in this issue, explores examples of the use of public trust doctrine in the US legal system to assert a place for non-market values in water law and policies, especially at the state level and considers commonalities with European notions of heritage-based water management. Calvo-Mendieta et al, in this issue, discuss efforts to develop a theoretical platform for integrating patrimonial values of water into economic analyses. 8 From the adduction network to the tap Before water was conveyed to every story of their apartment buildings, people had to go to the well, the river or the public fountain to satisfy their vital water needs. The function of the first water adduction systems was to transport large volumes of water to the cities to evacuate the urban waste that accumulated in ditches and gutters and caused disease and epidemics. Conveying water to cities made it possible to combat epidemics and purify public spaces, rendering them more salubrious. Water adduction networks also supplied fountains and water jets, ostentatious decorations that gave cities an air of opulence and wealth. In 1806, Napoleon signed a decree stating that “water must now flow continuously in the Capital”, thus contributing to Paris's plans to become the world's most beautiful city, a city, like Rome, adorned with oneiric fountains day and night (Beaumont-Maillet, 1991). Street fountains were installed along the network in order to supply local people. Thus, like the system Henry Darcy designed for Dijon, water adduction networks made it possible not only to clean the city and to embellish it with fountains, but also to provide water via street fountains, water public gardens and provide a fire service (Darcy, 1856). The development of close-knit networks later made it possible to convey water to apartment buildings and improve hygiene standards and living conditions. However, these developments took did not alter the way in which people thought about fountains located in the heart of their villages or urban neighbourhoods, whose role, now more ornamental than utilitarian, was and remains part of an approach to town planning, the purpose of which is to improve our quality of life. For Bachelard (1942), fountains play an important symbolic role. According to the philosopher, “anonymous water knows all my secrets. The same memory emerges from all fountains”. As well as providing well-being and comfort, being connected to the network and having a tap at home is a way of accessing modernity. Indeed, today, access to hot and cold running water is taken for granted in developed countries and in megalopolises around the world. However, when problems occur, when the water no longer flows as usual, when nothing happens when you turn the tap, then water suddenly acquires a more pronounced value. In effect, when it is absorbed in daily gestures, tap water is not the object of any particular concern. But when it is no longer available or when its quality is poor, we are obliged to reinvest a value in a resource formerly considered inexhaustible and available on a permanent basis. Faced with this reality, some people react by calling into question the responsibility of those charged with water management, without always taking into account the place of tap water in the more general natural cycle. Nevertheless, the question of the origin of water, which implies beliefs and perceptions concerning its quality, is of central importance. Thus, a Parisian couple who believed that they were drinking spring water1 began to praise its taste, unaware that they were in fact drinking treated river water. The example of a Korean couple living in Paris demonstrates the importance of cultural practices: accustomed to boiling water before using it, they were unwilling to trust in the quality of the water coming out of their taps. They preferred either to boil it or buy bottled water. Thus, some prefer spring water, mountain water, mineral water, table water, or filtered or distilled water, while others opt for bottled water or even tap water, depending on the value they attribute to its quality and purity based on experiences concerning its taste and their knowledge of the resource. Romero and G. Günther, in this issue, explore efforts in Mexico and Argentina to introduce privatization of water systems as a means of improving access to potable water supplies, and identify some of the reasons why private participation has neither fulfilled its promoters’ expectations nor improved the multiple dimensions of urban water systems in the two areas. 9 The colors of water An examination of the colors attributed to water by scientists, consumers and technicians shows how its characteristics vary depending on the level of knowledge, and the sensorial or aesthetic perceptions of the person talking about it. Water is naturally colorless, but it seems to take on various hues in different lights, for example, the color of the sky reflected on its surface, and to change in tone depending on its depth, or the particles it contains. Thus, water is blue when the sky is blue, greyish when the sky is cloudy, or blue-green depending on its depth and clarity. Given that 75% of the Earth's surface is covered in water, Planet Earth, seen from space, is indeed blue. The Huang He, or Yellow River, is so called because it is said to be particularly rich in silt; meanwhile, the Red Sea gets its name from the presence of millions of micro-organisms or algae which give it that color. Moreover, from the Roman period until the 11th century, white water, or water rich in limestone deposits recalled the white robes of Druids, while red or ferruginous water symbolized war. The intrinsic quality of water, sometimes sacralized and symbolized by specific colors, makes it possible to differentiate several types of water according to its property, origin or function, as the following list demonstrates: Blue is the color chosen to represent flowing water. Whether surface water or groundwater, sweet water or salt water, spring water, water from adduction systems, sea water or rainwater, blue is a color code used by everyone from kindergarten children to cartographers. This kind of water is a natural resource that can be collected, used or employed as a receptacle. The color white is used to indicate waste water from the paper-making industry, households or dairy processing plants; this kind of polluted water cannot be re-used. Bubbling or fast-flowing rivers are also sometimes referred to as “white”, notably in the phrase “white water rafting”. For hydrologists, this kind of water evaporates, thus returning to the atmosphere. Grey water or domestic waste water has relatively little polluted content; it includes water from sinks and wash basins, water used for washing clothes and crockery, and water used in baths and showers. (It does not include toilet water.) Thus, after its initial use, grey water is often recycled, after having been treated in a purification plant or used for irrigation purposes, to water lawns and gardens, for washing, and in the transport of industrial materials. Black water, or used sanitary water, is used in toilets, or, more generally, in household, industrial, artisanal or agricultural activities. This type of water contains pollutants of various kinds including faecal matter, organic products and chemical products. Black water draining into sewers cannot be directly reused; rather it has to be well treated before being returned to the natural environment. Purple water is waste water which, after being treated, is reused and redistributed in specific networks to water golf courses, gardens and parks. Purple is the color of the pipes used in networks designed for this purpose, specifically in Arizona. Green water is water directly absorbed by vegetation; it does not flow and is not used for irrigation. It is different from virtual water, or from water required for the manufacture of products which are not designed to be consumed in situ but, rather, are destined for export (Allan, 2003). Due to its links with such products, green water is a new economic value relevant to geopolitical issues overseen by international bodies. Colorless water is, unlike turbid water, transparent. When water is colorless, odorless and insipid, it is appreciated, to be considered to be worthy of consumption, and to be free, as Brillat-Savarin (1825) explained, of health risks – regardless of its origin. 10 Of the diversity of the values of water As we have seen, water, associated with some with religious and aesthetic references, as well as with myths and virtues, is perceived by others according to its physico-chemical properties, its availability, the way in which it is distributed, and its quality. The values associated with water are inscribed in individual and collective dynamics, are formed and transformed, come together, move apart and are transmitted across people and generations. Everyone, depending on their individual point of view, their cultural background, or depending on their specific on spatio-temporal contexts and dynamics, attaches specific values water. These values are influenced by their particular interests, uses and beliefs (Zube, 1987). Furthermore, “the activation of values induces behaviors” which change perpetually (Euzen, 2010; Schwartz Shalom, 2006). As Wateau (this issue), using examples from multiple contexts, illustrates that attention to the diversity of values water and the complexity of societies is essential to try to achieve a more sustainable world. And, in the same way, Austin and Drye (this issue) detail “how the myriad interests in the water and river, particularly those of Native Americans whose ancestral lands border the river, are expressed and incorporated into decision making about dam operations.” Symbolic values, use values and technical values are mobilized, enter into various configurations, and overlap and replace one another. In the process, the complexity and diversity of values attached to water are revealed. Furthermore, when the resource is appropriated and technical approaches are developed, the value of water changes in nature. This is notably the case for water which falls from the sky or which flows over the ground: once recuperated and stored, the water acquires a market value in that it satisfies needs not met by an absent resource or by a resource that fails to meet expected a priori criteria. 11 Non-market values of water A provocative range of questions about the roles of non-market water values emerge from the papers in this issue. The first three papers examine cultural and social factors involved in the valuation of water. Wateau explores several examples where local water governance practices treat economic factors as subsidiary to sociocultural values. In such contexts, she suggests, preservation of at least some elements of their historical heritage may offer possibilities for sustainability into the future. Haghe's exploration of the values attributed to Gimel Falls in France provides insights into the spatial transformations of such landscapes over time, together with related social, economic, and political changes in values of water. He observes that, while aesthetic and economic values persist, the ascendance of ecological values has changed the way values are attributed to the waterfall. He observes that “the ecosystem has acquired a moral value” in which the waterfall becomes both “an element of an approach to an ecology of the built environment and an element of the landscape.” This shift involves elements of social power at work, with power brokers appropriating values in a way that transforms life into commodity, a process akin to encouraging market fetishization. Austin and Drye's paper provides a transitional perspective bridging from the above themes to the non-market economics and more formal policy themes of the last three papers. Focusing on the experiences of the Southern Paiute Consortium (SPC) in US, the authors reveal the challenges associated with trying to assert a place for Native American traditional values in consultation procedures followed by governmental entities. In this example, pressure to improve regulation of water flows from the dam to improve inner-canyon ecologies actually opened a door for consideration of tribal cultural values. The authors emphasize, however, that despite 20 years of effort, the SPC has achieved only minimal success, and that this is unlikely to changes unless significant changes are made in the dam's adaptive management program. The three following papers address questions concerning non-market values of water from economic and policy analysis perspectives. Calvo-Mendieta et al. discuss efforts to expand non-market economic theories and applications to incorporate heritage values of water. France has made a concerted effort to define heritage rights (“patrimoine” in French) as part of an initiative to endow regional and local entities with more control over water management. The authors argue that market-based, political, and social values are interdependent and must all be factored into definitions of the values of water. In her study of the value added by riparian vegetation to housing values in the desert city of Tucson, Arizona, Bark uses contingent valuation to demonstrate that, in fact, proximity to riparian areas add considerably to home values. The study suggests that, despite the attractiveness of many areas of the arid U.S. southwest to residents, green areas carry their own value set, one that lies somewhat beyond traditional market values for residential real estate. Romero Lankao and Günther take a political-economic perspective to explore the impacts of neo-liberalization of water management on Mexico City and Buenos Aires. Privatization of water management in these two cities and accompanying changes in state regulation, the authors argue, neither fulfilled promoters’ expectations nor, more critically, the management of the water systems themselves. As the authors note, important non-market values remain unaddressed, particularly overexploitation and pollution of water. These and other value-based issues, such as unequal access to water and fragmented/weak institutions, cannot be resolved through privatization alone; more aggressive, integrated and accountable political and policy measures are required. Morehouse concludes this special issue with an exploration of U.S. public trust doctrine as an avenue for asserting and protecting non-market values of water. Noting that, although some successful cases have been litigated - largely in state court systems - the doctrine remains a weak tool for achieving broad-scale protection of such values. In part this is due to the fact that water governance resides for the most part at the state level, with some large river compacts governing multi-state rivers. Property rights institutions also a pose considerable barrier. She suggests that consideration be given to bring French concepts of heritage-based management of water to the formulation of stronger legal mechanisms for asserting important social and environmental values of water within our existing political-judicial structures. Together, these papers reflect the need for intensified efforts to devise not only new and better analytical tools for non-market valuation, but also innovative institutions that have the flexibility and responsiveness required to balance and rebalance competing values and needs over both time and space. Footnotes 1 The city of Paris is supplied by both spring and river water (the Seine and the Marne) treated with a view to meeting standards for human consumption. References L. Alcazar , M. Abdala, M. 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Google Scholar OpenURL Placeholder Text WorldCat © 2011 Policy and Society Associates (APSS) This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model)
TI - Special issue introduction Water: What values?
JO - Policy & Society
DO - 10.1016/j.polsoc.2011.10.005
DA - 2011-12-01
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/oxford-university-press/special-issue-introduction-water-what-values-VRTtntH0ez
SP - 237
EP - 247
VL - 30
IS - 4
DP - DeepDyve
ER -