The emergence of household-level water insecurity through socio-hydrological processes in the semi-arid region of Ceará, northeast Brazil

In the semi-arid region of Ceará, northeast Brazil, differential experiences of household water insecurity emerge through intertwined sociopolitical, hydrological, and technological processes. Household water security is broadly defined as access water of sufficient quality and quantity to live a good life. This paper presents ongoing research that integrates hydrological and meteorological data with qualitative social science methods to examine the relationship among local hydrological characteristics, water management strategies, and the emergence of local experiences of water (in)security in rural communities in the Cearense semi-arid region.

The Cearense semi-arid region faces significant challenges related to socioeconomic inequality and reliable water access. It is characterized by highly politicized water management, irregular inter and intra-annual rainfall rates, crystalline soils, and high evapotranspiration rates. Poor, rural households rely primarily on rain-fed subsistence farming and livestock raising. Local access to land, water, and physical infrastructure depends on decisions and policies that span the microlevel (i.e., individual and household levels) and macrolevel (e.g., community, municipal, state, and federal levels).

To elucidate the emergence of local experiences of water (in)security in the region, semi-structured interviews were conducted with regional water professionals and members of rural communities with different water management operations (i.e., community-based, water company-based, or government-based). Participant observation (e.g., collecting drinking water from the household cistern) and observation of local and regional water management meetings were also carried out. These methods were complemented by analysis of climate patterns and community-level hydrological characteristics, including the impacts of the most recent extensive drought (from 2012 to the present in many areas). Households use a variety of strategies to obtain drinking water and water for other household activities (e.g., washing clothes, watering plants, or supplying animals with water), which depend on access to household technologies (e.g., cisterns and in-house piped water) and water management of water sources (e.g., reservoirs, deep-wells, or rivers). The research highlights the heterogeneity of experiences of water access and management by rural communities, which is influenced by socio-hydrological relations involving differential access to water technologies, water management and public policies, and hydrological conditions across temporal, geographic, and social scales.