Changing Flows: Sociotechnical Tinkering for Adaptive Water Management

Barbara Quimby, Claire M. Nichols, Margaret V. du Bray, Alida Cantor, Julia C. Bausch, Amber Wutich, Clinton Williams, Sarah Porter, Weston M. Eaton, Kathryn Brasier

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Western United States is experiencing historic drought, increasing pressure on water management systems. Agricultural production that relies on surface water flows is therefore imperiled, requiring new innovations and partnerships in order to adapt and survive. In Arizona, some agriculture continues to rely on historic, low-tech irrigation infrastructure such as hand-dug open ditches that divert river water to flood fields. These ditch systems are managed through both formal ditch companies and informal associations. To address changing water availability and needs, ditch users regularly “tinker” with water infrastructure, experimenting and making changes beyond the original infrastructure plans. Such changes are informed and driven by local social relationships and realities of the physical infrastructure. These dynamics are critical to understanding the adaptive capacity and flexibility of the water system; however, they are challenging to recognize and record. In this paper, we apply the emerging conceptualization of sociotechnical tinkering to examine the adaptive management of irrigation ditches in the Verde Valley of Arizona. We find evidence that water users frequently tinker with their water delivery and monitoring infrastructure to respond to and anticipate changes in water availability. Viewed through the lens of sociotechnical tinkering, these interactions are understood as the material manifestations of situated practice and actor agency within a water management system. This case study contributes to literature on adaptive environmental management and the hydrosocial cycle.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)421-431
Number of pages11
JournalEnvironmental Management
Volume71
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2023

Keywords

  • Adaptive capacity
  • Agriculture
  • Ditch irrigation
  • Hydrosocial
  • Water infrastructure

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Global and Planetary Change
  • Ecology
  • Pollution

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