Fragile moral economies: Water norms, transfers, and enforcement in 64 colonias on the U.S.-Mexico border

We investigate how a moral economy for water operates in colonia communities, peri-urban neighborhoods lacking political power and basic infrastructure, on the U.S. border with Mexico. Using a Community-Based Participant Observation (CBPO) approach in 64 colonias across California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, we interviewed 239 residents (including 64 trained participant-observers) and systematically coded their responses with respect to three elements of a moral economy: shared understandings of justice; normative economic practices; and mechanisms of social pressure. Our results indicated a robust shared moral value around the right to water, reflected in examples of people sharing water with those in need and through mutual aid practices. However, there was limited evidence of a sense of mutual responsibility for each other’s water, the predominant view being that external actors (local government, utilities, NGOs) are responsible for water provision. These factors, and the scant evidence of reliable social pressure mechanisms among community members, lead us to characterize the situation as a fragile moral economy: shared moral values and conditional practices exist, but reciprocity might not be sustained in the face of increased environmental, social, or political challenges. We discuss the implications of this for policy and call for longitudinal research to capture the infrequent enforcement dynamics necessary to sustain a robust moral economy for water in rural colonia communities.