Paper short abstract:

When people migrate from communities water equality may change for those left behind. This paper surveys the literature and examines these (in)equalities in terms of ownership, access, and wider impacts of migration including remittances and changes in gendered labour patterns.

Paper long abstract:

Substantial outmigration from rural communities can have impacts on access to and use of water by households. 'Fractured waters' examines these impacts from the perspective of water availability, access and use at both the agriculture and household level. Building on a synthesis review of both migration and rural water supply literatures the paper establishes key interconnections between changing social conditions in 'home communities' as a result of outmigration and the way water supplies are managed for both productive and reproductive uses. Drawing on the work of a range of authors on equality and water access, agricultural transformation and rural development in Asia, Africa and Latin America the paper will argue that resulting changes in water management may have consequences for inequalities with knock-on impacts for health, livelihood security and gender relations. Avoiding an overly-linear view of rural transformation 'Fractured Waters' suggests that the impacts resulting from outmigration can be classified into four general types: 1) stresses caused as a result of changes in labour power availability; 2) changes in power relations over decision making affecting water equality; 3) Additional resource pressures caused by increased demand for resources in the context of changing use patterns (especially in agriculture); and 4) changes in wider environmental (catchment) management affecting the wider resource management context as a result of outmigration.