Paper short abstract:

Climate change and water are issues of increasing concern in Peru. This paper explores different socio-material practices, technologies and terminologies in the politics of climate effects and water management. It discusses how water is made multiple and how we can understand this multiplicity.

Paper long abstract:

Water scarcity and water conflicts are reported in Peruvian newspapers on a daily basis, and the urge for 'a new water culture' is articulated both by state and non-state actors. Seeing water as nature-culture, this paper discusses socio-material practices, technologies and terminologies used in the production of drinking water, and in the distribution of irrigation water, in Colca Valley in Southern Peru, where water and climate are issues of daily concern. In the politics of water, there is a multiplicity of actors - both institutional (state, civil society, NGOs), nonhumans (springs, mountains, saints), water bodies (dams, reserves, intakes, channels, tubes) and control mechanisms (valves, measuring devices, and documents) - which make up a complex web of relations. Moreover, the classification of different kinds of water produces multiple waters, defined by source, trajectory, use, qualities, and state regulations. The state administration is working to promulgate the new water law, which intends to encompass the new complexities of climate change, mining companies, and urban human consumption. The need for securing safe drinking water, as well as 'the harvesting' of irrigation water, and the necessity of formal water licenses, is increasingly becoming connected to global climate change. This paper will discuss how knowledge about water and climate is articulated by different actors, and how relations of power and control in water management are being negotiated. Furthermore, I will explore how technologies and terminologies of water are mobilized and transformed in encounters with material climate effects and discourses, and how water is practiced and made multiple.