Vulnerability, Resilience, and Robustness to Urban Water Scarcity A Case from Cochabamba, Bolivia

1. Vulnerability, Resilience, and Robustness to Urban Water ScarcityA Case from Cochabamba, Bolivia Amber Wutich Postdoctoral Research Associate Global Institute of Sustainability Arizona State University

2. Presentation Format Part 1: Framework, Theory, and Hypotheses Part 2: Urban Water Scarcity in Ethnographic Context Part 3: Testing Relationships

3. What is “social vulnerability”?And how does it relate to resilience?

4. Vulnerability, Resilience, and Robustness Robustness the state (or capacity) of a system to absorb a stressor without adapting

5. Vulnerability, Resilience, and Robustness Resilience the state (or capacity) of a system that is able to adapt to a stressor Robustness the state (or capacity) of a system to absorb a stressor without adapting

6. Vulnerability, Resilience, and Robustness Vulnerability the state (or capacity) of a system that is unable to adapt to a stressor Resilience the state (or capacity) of a system that is able to adapt to a stressor Robustness the state (or capacity) of a system that can absorb a stressor without adapting

7. Advantages of the Framework • Integrated social & ecological approach • Nested scales • Surprise & transformation • Complex outcomes

8. What is urban water scarcity? What theories inform our understanding of it?

9. Livelihoods Theory Assets Economic assets Social assets Access Right to water Ability to obtain water

10. Case Study: Cochabamba, Bolivia Relief Map of Bolivia South America

11. Hydrology of the Cochabamba Valley From Stimson et al. 2001 Map depicting ground and surface water in the Cochabamba Valley.

12. The City of Cochabamba North side of Cochabamba South side of Cochabamba

13. Urban Water Scarcity in Villa Israel Households buy most of their water from delivery trucks at retail prices.

14. Water Vendor Routes CHURCH TAXI STOP SCHOOL MARKET MAIN INTERSECTION MAIN SOCCER FIELD X RIVERBED COMMUNITY ENTRANCE

15. Community Tap Stand System Ten tap stands distribute water from two small community wells.

16. Informal Water Exchange Networks Neighbors, friends, and family give each other water in a pinch.

17. Operationalization of Hypotheses Vulnerability Elimination of water tasks ASSETS Economic Well-being Household Water exchange system Resilience Water conservation Water delivery trucks ACCESS Robustness Adequate water (pppd) Tap stand system

18. Field Methods • 18 months of fieldwork (June 2003 to July 2005) • Bolivian-American collaboration • 4 months of participant-observation • 2 months of protocol development and testing • 5 two-month cycles of semi-structured interviews -- with 65 randomly-selected households in Villa Israel • 12 measures of water scarcity -- including instrumental participatory collection of quantitative data

19. Instrumental Participatory Collection of Quantitative Water Data

20. Results Vulnerability Elimination of water tasks ASSETS Economic Well-being Household r2=.18 p=.02 Water exchange system Resilience Water conservation r2=.11 p=.12 Water delivery trucks ACCESS r2=.09 p=.23 Robustness Adequate water (pppd) Tap stand system

21. Results ASSETS Economic Well-being B=-.39 p=.08 Household Water exchange system B=2.80 p=.06 Vulnerability Elimination of water tasks Water delivery trucks B=-.43 p=.05 ACCESS Tap stand system B=.11 p=.79 r2 = .18 p-value = .02

22. From Knowledge to Action in Villa Israel • Tap stand system • Economic well-being • Access to water delivery trucks • Participation in water exchanges **Local Collaborations, Scholars, & Values