The politics of farming & water

CIVICS AND COMMERCEEpisode 4 — The Farming FamilyShow notesThe story in this episode is composite, drawn from real events. Identifying details are changed. Real-world events the story draws on, full citations, and further reading are below.REAL-WORLD EVENTS REFERENCED IN THIS EPISODEAustralia- Federal water plan for the Murray-Darling Basin (Water Act 2007 and Murray-Darling Basin Plan 2012), administered by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.- The Millennium Drought, the long Australian drought ending around 2010.- ABC Four Corners and Fairfax water theft investigations of July 2017 and the South Australian Royal Commission into the Murray-Darling Basin Plan (2018-2019).- First Nations water organising through Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations (MLDRIN) and Northern Basin Aboriginal Nations (NBAN).- Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder and the federal buyback program returning water from agriculture to environmental flows.- Inspector-General of Water Compliance, established as part of post-2017 reform.Bolivia- The Cochabamba water wars of 2000, a popular uprising against the privatisation of municipal water under Aguas del Tunari, a consortium led by Bechtel (United States) and Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux (France).- The role of the Coordinadora de Defensa del Agua y de la Vida, with participation of Aymara and Quechua communities and the Federación Departamental Cochabambina de Regantes (irrigators' federation).- The reversal of the privatisation contract on 10 April 2000.India- The Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save Narmada Movement), formed in the mid-1980s under the leadership of Medha Patkar and others.- The campaign against the Sardar Sarovar Dam and related projects on the Narmada River, and the displacement of Adivasi communities from the Narmada Valley.- The movement's contribution to the establishment of the World Commission on Dams (2000) and global thinking on dams, displacement, and Indigenous water rights.REFERENCES[1] National Farmers' Federation. https://nff.org.auNSW Irrigators' Council. https://www.nswic.org.au[2] Maude Barlow, Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 2007).Australian Conservation Foundation, "Murray-Darling Basin Reform." https://www.acf.org.au/healthy-riversWentworth Group of Concerned Scientists. https://wentworthgroup.org[3] Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations (MLDRIN). https://www.mldrin.org.auNorthern Basin Aboriginal Nations (NBAN). https://www.nban.org.au[4] Tyson Yunkaporta, Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World (Melbourne: The Text Publishing Company, 2019). https://www.textpublishing.com.au/books/sand-talk[5] Oscar Olivera with Tom Lewis, ¡Cochabamba! Water War in Bolivia (Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 2004).Jim Shultz and Melissa Crane Draper, eds., Dignity and Defiance: Stories from Bolivia's Challenge to Globalization (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008). https://content.ucpress.edu/chapters/11049.ch01.pdf[6] Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui, "Ch'ixinakax utxiwa: A Reflection on the Practices and Discourses of Decolonization," The South Atlantic Quarterly 111, no. 1 (2012): 95-109.[7] Narmada Bachao Andolan. http://www.narmada.orgSanjeev Khagram, Dams and Development: Transnational Struggles for Water and Power (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2004).Arundhati Roy, The Cost of Living (London: Flamingo, 1999).[8] Melbourne Water. https://www.melbournewater.com.auSydney Water. https://www.sydneywater.com.au[9] Water Act 2007 (Cth). https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2007A00137/latest/textMurray-Darling Basin Authority, "Basin Plan." https://www.mdba.gov.au/water-management/basin-planABC Four Corners, "Pumped: Who's Benefitting from the Billions Spent on the Murray-Darling?" (24 July 2017). https://www.abc.net.au/4corners/pumped/8727826Murray-Darling Basin Royal Commission, Report (Adelaide: Government of South Australia, 31 January 2019). https://www.mdbrc.sa.gov.au[10] Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder. https://www.dcceew.gov.au/water/cewoFURTHER READINGMaude Barlow, Blue Covenant (2007). Canadian water justice campaigner on water as a global commons and public good.Tyson Yunkaporta, Sand Talk (2019). Apalech scholar on Indigenous knowledge systems and how country, water, and ecological relationships are understood.Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui, Ch'ixinakax utxiwa (2010, English edition 2020). Bolivian Aymara sociologist on Indigenous political continuity and decolonisation.Oscar Olivera, ¡Cochabamba! Water War in Bolivia (2004). Firsthand account from the leader of the Coordinadora.Sanjeev Khagram, Dams and Development (2004). Transnational struggles over dams and water across India and beyond.Arundhati Roy, The Cost of Living (1999). Includes the essay "The Greater Common Good" on the Narmada Bachao Andolan.About the hostLiv Roe is a civic and political adviser based in Melbourne. She works with businesses, organisations, and individuals on the political and civic context of their work. Book a consultation at livroe.org. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit civicsandcommerce.substack.com