Contested Waters: Resilience and Local Knowledge in the Vembanad Wetland, South India

Abstract (English)

The paper explores how water and communities are connected in the Vembanad Lake and Kuttanad region of Kerala, India, live and manage water in changing ecological and social conditions. It focuses on the Thanneermukkom Bund, a barrier built to stop saltwater from entering farming areas, and how this structure has affected resource-dependent communities. While the bund has supported agriculture and farmers to increase the rice productivity, it has also caused serious problems for fishers and the Lake’s ecology by disrupting the natural tidal continuity of sea and freshwaters. This has affected fish migration and breeding, increased water pollution and led to conflicts between farmers and fishers. A qualitative approach was applied through interviews with state agencies, scientists, and resource-dependent communities. The paper shows how state science-led water management perceives water as something that can be controlled through engineering and large infrastructures. The state official overlooks the everyday experiences and deep knowledge held by people who live with the waters of Vembanad Lake and Kuttanad. The study looks at how fishers and farmers have their ways of understanding water flows, salinity and the health of the Lake, which often clash with scientific or bureaucratic definitions of what is “resilient” or “sustainable.” The paper traces how the idea of “resilience” has become popular in policies about climate change and wetland management in the region. However, resilience is often defined in narrow technical terms, focusing on flood control or infrastructure rather than on the well-being of communities and ecosystems. In contrast, many community-based actions, such as setting up fish sanctuaries and relaying of clam beds, show that communities understand the ecology of the Lake. The actions are not just about coping with the changes created by state science, but about protecting shared relationships with water and life. The case of the Thanneermukkom Bund illustrates how water infrastructures are not neutral or technical fixes, but political devices that reconfigure access, power, and ecological flows. This study highlights the need to rethink dominant models of water governance by engaging more seriously with local knowledge, hydrosocial understandings, and the lived experience of environmental change.