Whose Limit? Water and Democracy in a Green Californian Desert

Abstract

Groundwater governance in Cuyama valley unites in a nutshell the structural dilemmas ofneoliberal environmental governance: a weak state, powerful corporations, a population called to participate but not to decide and a limited vital resource. Creating institutions of self-governance in the conflictual domain of groundwater use draws local actors into the centerof  political struggles and strategies, as the State of California avoids to govern or limit, groundwater use purportedlyfor fear of getting embroiled in costly and lengthy lawsuits with private agroindustry. The SGMA process shows the power of property and money in thepolitical game of sustainable resource governance, but it also confronts powerful actors with objectivizing satellite measurements, that point to absolute limits and challenge the growth myth. The institution building for groundwatergovernance in Cuyama presents similar paradoxes and dilemmas as the attempts onthe international level to create national self-governance mechanisms for mitigating climate change.@font-face{font-family:"Cambria Math";panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:roman;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face{font-family:NSimSun;panose-1:2 1 6 9 3 1 1 1 1 1;mso-font-alt:"Microsoft YaHei";mso-font-charset:134;mso-generic-font-family:modern;mso-font-pitch:fixed;mso-font-signature:3 680460288 22 0 262145 0;}@font-face{font-family:"\@NSimSun";mso-font-charset:134;mso-generic-font-family:modern;mso-font-pitch:fixed;mso-font-signature:3 680460288 22 0 262145 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal{mso-style-unhide:no;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;mso-hyphenate:none;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;mso-fareast-font-family:NSimSun;mso-font-kerning:.5pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:AR-SA;}.MsoChpDefault{mso-style-type:export-only;mso-default-props:yes;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}div.WordSection1{page:WordSection1;}