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Environmental Perceptions of Surface Water Quality and Management: a tool to strengthen public
participation in the search for solutions to the imbalance of water in nature.
A study applied in Chiapas’s Río Fogótico Microbasin
Mara Cristina Benez, Ciram/ EPAGRI: Researcher, Rod. Admar Gonzaga, 1.347, Itacorubi, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brasil, CEP 88034-901, Tel: 55 48 96237593, [email protected]
Edith F. Kauffer Michel, CIESAS-Sureste: Reseacher/teacher, Carretera San Cristóbal-Chamula km 3.5, Barrio La Quinta San Martín, San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, México, CP 29289, Tel: 52 967-67491-00 , [email protected]; [email protected]
The study of environmental perceptions can expose
interesting perspectives of the imbalance of water
in nature related to historical, social, cultural and
biophysical context of the study population. The
main objective of this study was to assess the
perceptions of surface water quality and
management in the Fogótico River watershed in San
Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico from the
perspective of different social groups. A secondary
objective consisted in analyzing the differences of
perceptions according to social groups, identifying
the factors that influence these perceptions and
considering the potential contribution of perception
studies for watershed management.
The social groups were defined according to the
nature of their daily activities or work related to
water quality - i.e., “political”, “institutional” and
“water user”. The research was carried out using
qualitative tools.
Chiapas´s Rio Fogótico microbasin: different perceptions, values and attitudes related to water quality and management
Aspects revealed by the research
The research revealed the different aspects of the
imbalance of nature in the watershed in terms of the
problems and solutions, with a prevalence of a
critical attitude toward the actions of others. Added
to that, the research identified aspects that influence
perceptions, such as the worldview and the location
of the stakeholders in the watershed. The differences
in perception between social groups also helped to
identify their relationship to the deficient or
disjointed actions of water authorities, the legal
framework, community organization and gender
issues that influence perceptions of the imbalance of
water in nature.
Chiapas´s Rio Fogótico microbasin: different perceptions, values and attitudes related to water quality and management
CONCLUSION
Table. Categories emerged during the process of analyzing the information obtained from the
social groups from their way of perceiving the problems relating to water
Categories/
Social groups
Water quality
Sources of contamination
Solutions and
responsibilities
Water users
Perception by the senses.
Influence of environment
physical ambient.
Heterogeneous perceptions
within group as following
cultural aspects.
Visual perception. Direct
experience of the person in
the environment. More
specifically vision/ view.
More localized.
Specific actions to the
location in the basin.
Indigenous worldview.
Socioeconomic
conditions
Political
Institutional
Access to information
Evidence of cognitive
indirectly obtained from other
process. Homogeneous
people or media. Perceive
perceptions within group and
more elements of the water
in relation to the institutional
problem. Generalized and
group.
expanded vision.
Shared actions of the
society
Access to information
Evidence of cognitive
indirectly obtained from other
process. Homogeneous
people or media. Perceive
Centralized actions.
perceptions within group and more elements of the water
Technical alternatives.
in relation to the political
problem. Generalized and
group.
expanded vision.
Work activity.
The study indicated the importance of having an open mind in observing
the values and processes that influence environmental perceptions and
consequently influence the success of watershed management in the
search for solutions to the imbalance of water in nature. The results also
lead us to reflect on the fact that a watershed management model should
be developed by adaptating national guidelines at the local level and
learning from decision making through participatory processes, which
necessarily must include those involved. We conclude with a reflection on
the potential contribution of environmental perception studies for river
watershed management and public participation in the search for
solutions to the imbalance of water in nature.
Aditional details:
1. BENEZ, M. C. ; KAUFFER, E. F. ; MORAES, D. S. ; ÁLVAREZ, G. G. . El estudio de las
percepciones de la gestión de la calidad del agua, una herramienta para fortalecer la participación pública
en la microcuenca del río Fogótico, en San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas.. Región y Sociedad, v. XXII,
p. 73-104, 2010.
2. BENEZ, M. C. ; KAUFFER, E. F. ; ÁLVAREZ, G. G. . Percepciones ambientales de la calidad del agua
superficial en la microcuenca del río Fogótico, Chiapas.. Frontera Norte, v. 22, p. 129-158, 2010.
3. BENEZ, M. C. ; KAUFFER, E. F..Percepciones y cosmovisiones en torno a la calidad del agua de los
manantiales en una comunidad indígena: El Crucero, municipio de San Juan Chamula, Chiapas. Culturas
del agua y cosmovisión india en un contexto de diversidad cultural / Daniel Murillo Licea. Jiutepec, Mor. :
Instituto Mexicano de Tenología del Agua, 2012.