Using the case study of the Telugu Ganga Canalin India, this paper examines the process of policy making and the role of political choices in sharing scarce water resource.

Aimed at young people, this booklet presents key points from the 2006 Human Development Report on water scarcity and its effects on human life. The report is user-friendly, using photographs and illustrations, stories from young people, basic data on the health effects of poor-quality water, and examples of efforts to bring water to poor communities.

Many water resources in Mexico run through indigenous areas. Mexican governments have often made management decisions on the basis of perceived economic needs, rather than concern for the people and ecosystems involved. This trend continues today, despite recent agreements with indigenous groups over water use.Up to 10 percent of Mexico’s population are indigenous
people. They are reliant on water resources running through their territories
and face major challenges as a result of government management policies. Research

This thesis documents as well as questions how the presence of large mining operations in Andean regions of Peru alters social and natural landscapes. Taking conflicts over water as a useful entry-point for the analysis, it explores and unravels the dilemmas and challenges faced by the main conflicting actors: rural communities and mining companies. Through an in-depth analysis of how the actors navigate these challenges, focusing on those related to water, the thesis sets out to understand what happens with water in contexts of mineral extraction.

This thesis is about peasant and indigenous struggles for water rights in the Ecuadorian Highlands. It is based on the following main research question: How have peasant and indigenous communities developed multi-scalar political agency in water governance to gain and maintain their water access and related rights in the Ecuadorian Highlands since the 1980s? To answer this question, this thesis analyses the histories and relationships between organized water users, water reforms and non-governmental development organisations (NGOs) active in the Ecuadorian irrigation sector.

One of the measures that can help developing countries in meeting Target 10 of the Millennium Development Goals – halving the number of people without access to water and adequate sanitation by 2015 – is through a water sector reform. In this research the Malaysian water sector reform is assessed by answering the following questions: • How can we understand and explain the policy process of the reform? • To what extent have the outputs of the reform contributed to the realization of the reform’s objectives?

This thesis is the result of a multidisciplinary research which tries to explain water injustices and the threats to water rights access and control experienced by indigenous peasants of the Peruvian Andes. It attempts to contribute to the analysis of the interactions between ethnicity and gender, and to understand how these form an intrinsic part of the contemporary ethno-politics of water. It also critically analyses the role of state interventions and international financial aid programmes in irrigation development and peasant communities.

This report has three objectives: 1. To synthesise and analyse the current water resources management policy environment as it pertains to engaging community structures in development planning, 2. To describe and comparatively analyse the social, structural and operational characteristics of traditional water management institutions around the country, 3. Drawing upon these findings, to analyse the principal opportunities and challenges of using community institutions within formal water rights management structures.

cum laude graduation (with distinction)