Les maîtres de l’eau

The erstwhile kingdom of Murcia lies at the centre of Spain’s arid zone. Agrarian activities there are largely dependent on irrigation, the infrastructure for which was developed following the recovery of the 16th century. Rather than the physical ways in which the sharing of water resources worked,...

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Main Author: Guy Lemeunier
Format: Article
Language:Spanish
Published: Casa de Velázquez 2006-11-01
Series:Mélanges de la Casa de Velázquez
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/mcv/2079
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author Guy Lemeunier
author_facet Guy Lemeunier
author_sort Guy Lemeunier
collection DOAJ
description The erstwhile kingdom of Murcia lies at the centre of Spain’s arid zone. Agrarian activities there are largely dependent on irrigation, the infrastructure for which was developed following the recovery of the 16th century. Rather than the physical ways in which the sharing of water resources worked, this article examines the legal, political and social framework of water sharing and the way it evolved. Outside the principal river valleys, ownership of water was generally separate from ownership of land, albeit there were intermediate formulae also. However, the evidence shows that in the course of the modern age the tendency towards concentration was even more marked in the case of water rights than in the case of land ownership. Local political authorities saw their decision-making powers circumscribed in the face of irrigators’ associations and the lobbies of the water « masters ». Fragmentation of resource management hindered the transition to large-scale water management essential to agricultural progress.
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publisher Casa de Velázquez
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series Mélanges de la Casa de Velázquez
spelling doaj-art-7ffe93cbbd634c23bc0e6757bd6dbcc72025-08-20T03:16:28ZspaCasa de VelázquezMélanges de la Casa de Velázquez0076-230X2173-13062006-11-013628310510.4000/mcv.2079Les maîtres de l’eauGuy LemeunierThe erstwhile kingdom of Murcia lies at the centre of Spain’s arid zone. Agrarian activities there are largely dependent on irrigation, the infrastructure for which was developed following the recovery of the 16th century. Rather than the physical ways in which the sharing of water resources worked, this article examines the legal, political and social framework of water sharing and the way it evolved. Outside the principal river valleys, ownership of water was generally separate from ownership of land, albeit there were intermediate formulae also. However, the evidence shows that in the course of the modern age the tendency towards concentration was even more marked in the case of water rights than in the case of land ownership. Local political authorities saw their decision-making powers circumscribed in the face of irrigators’ associations and the lobbies of the water « masters ». Fragmentation of resource management hindered the transition to large-scale water management essential to agricultural progress.https://journals.openedition.org/mcv/2079IrrigationCommunities of IrrigatorsLarge Water WorksOligarchiesSmall Water WorksWater Rights
spellingShingle Guy Lemeunier
Les maîtres de l’eau
Mélanges de la Casa de Velázquez
Irrigation
Communities of Irrigators
Large Water Works
Oligarchies
Small Water Works
Water Rights
title Les maîtres de l’eau
title_full Les maîtres de l’eau
title_fullStr Les maîtres de l’eau
title_full_unstemmed Les maîtres de l’eau
title_short Les maîtres de l’eau
title_sort les maitres de l eau
topic Irrigation
Communities of Irrigators
Large Water Works
Oligarchies
Small Water Works
Water Rights
url https://journals.openedition.org/mcv/2079
work_keys_str_mv AT guylemeunier lesmaitresdeleau