Water, Conflict, and Security: A Conceptual Minefield

Approaches to water planning and international arrangements for water conflict resolution are conditioned by the context in which water resources are discussed and by the priorities that emerge from such discussions. This chapter analyzes the consequences of linking water to security issues, and the paradigmatic influence of competing notions of security on water policy directions. I develop a generic model of what constitutes any notion of security: what is to be protected, from what dangers, by what means, and by whom. This template is used as an analytical device to consider three distinct versions of environmental security: (1) prevention of environmental conflicts, (2) food security, and (3) ecological security. The central argument is that these diverse conceptions drive water discourses in divergent directions, and establish goals that are not easily compatible with one another. Pursuing one type of security is likely to compromise other types.