Indigenous Water Management

Culture

Indigenous knowledge derives much of its value from contextualized firsthand life experience, rather than from capital. Therefore, ritual is often intricately woven into indigenous water uses. For example, in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, the making of the “sakau” drink is a central part of an impassioned ritual that involves the grinding of a root that is a relative to the common pepper plant to produce a muddy-looking drink that has a relaxing effect. Interestingly, the clearing of forests in watersheds to grow the plant for distribution to Europe has created erosion and social problems that grassroots conservationists are now trying to tackle.

Access

In many areas, water has been treated as a “common pool resource,” or “commons,” and use has been typically guided by cultural beliefs and social norms. For example, in some rural areas outside Cluj, Romania, despite the increasing encroachment of the global market, neighbors do not run water pipes to homes, as it is assumed that water on someone else's property is available for all to share at no cost.

Sharing water does not mean a lack of organization in its use. Globally, water sources have sometimes been segregated, with different sources reserved for certain levels of society for certain types of purposes (e.g., drinking vs. nondrinking). Water use was often governed or mediated by spiritual and ceremonial leaders in the community. The supernatural penalties expected to follow from violation of expected practices (inappropriate use of certain water, pollution of water, etc.) served to enforce local norms.

Depending on social structures, water can be more or less controlled by families, clans, tribes, and/or ruling elites. In such cases, payment can be required for access to water, especially for commercial purposes (e.g., for livestock), although water for basic household needs may be free. In mobile pastoral cultures, social and familial networks have been very important to negotiating access to water sources. Women are often the traditional collectors and primary users of water, so issues that shape indigenous water uses often affect them disproportionately (see the first photo).

Although what are perceived as indigenous or local methods are often contrasted with what are viewed as Western methods, the distinction is often not that clear-cut. Extant indigenous cultures are not isolated from the surrounding societies, Western and otherwise, and they often incorporate knowledge and technologies of practical benefit. For example, the second photograph shows how on the rural unelectrified island of Fefan, in Chuuk State, Federated States of Micronesia, modern polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes have taken the place of tree trunks to bring water by gravity from traditional dug-out springs lined with stone and a modern piece of tin. The hand-dug-out, near-surface groundwater lining with stone and gravity-fed approach is local, but the tin cover and PVC pipe are not.

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