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Demand management' and injustice in rural agricultural irrigation in western Colorado: an anatomy of ambivalence

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dc.contributor.authorMacIlroy, Kelsea E., author
dc.contributor.authorHempel, Lynn, advisor
dc.contributor.authorCarolan, Michael, committee member
dc.contributor.authorMalin, Stephanie, committee member
dc.contributor.authorKampf, Stephanie, committee member
dc.date.accessioned2023-01-21T01:25:14Z
dc.date.available2024-01-09T01:25:14Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.description.abstractThe Colorado River is overdrawn. Decisions made a century ago created an institutional framework allowing overuse while climate change has exacerbated it with increasing temperatures and reduced natural flows. 'Demand management', a key component of the 2019 Upper Basin Drought Contingency Plans, would utilize water conserved from consumptive use to create a 500,000 acre-foot storage pool, only used to protect the Upper Basin of the Colorado River in the event they were unable to meet water delivery obligation to the Lower Basin. Rural irrigators on Colorado's West Slope would be the prime contributors to such a program, but largely responded with ambivalence. Increasingly, collaborative water governance is cited as the best way to create change in water distribution. However, if rural irrigators respond with ambivalence, why would they participate voluntarily in such a program? Using a grounded theory approach, interviews and focus groups with 45 participants, and participant observation, I explore why rural irrigators were ambivalent towards a program that would, ostensibly, protect them in times of water shortage. Drawing from the concept of sociological ambivalence and the literatures of water justice, hydrosocial analysis, and rurality, I describe the symbolic and material landscape that shapes perceptions of 'demand management'. I argue irrigators were ambivalent because they understood the need for water conservation, but they also perceived injustice in terms of distribution, recognition, and representation. Since rural irrigators are the linchpin in any water conservation program that would address overuse in the Colorado River Basin, their perceptions of injustice must be addressed. Findings provide key insight into water governance as it relates to crafting effective water policy.
dc.format.mediumborn digital
dc.format.mediumdoctoral dissertations
dc.identifierMacIlroy_colostate_0053A_17538.pdf
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10217/236057
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherColorado State University. Libraries
dc.relation.ispartof2020-
dc.rightsCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
dc.subjectColorado River
dc.subjectirrigation
dc.subjectwater justice
dc.subjecthydrosocial
dc.subjectagriculture
dc.subjectrural sociology
dc.titleDemand management' and injustice in rural agricultural irrigation in western Colorado: an anatomy of ambivalence
dc.title.alternativeDemand management and injustice in rural agricultural irrigation in western Colorado: an anatomy of ambivalence
dc.typeText
dc.typeImage
dcterms.embargo.expires2024-01-09
dcterms.embargo.terms2024-01-09
dcterms.rights.dplaThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
thesis.degree.disciplineSociology
thesis.degree.grantorColorado State University
thesis.degree.levelDoctoral
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

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