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Drought and exceptional laws in Spain: the official water discourse

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  • Julia Urquijo
  • Lucia De Stefano
  • Abel La Calle

Abstract

Only recently securitization research is exploring which mechanisms are used to securitize the water discourse and how securitization affects decision-making processes. In this context, legal texts convey messages and shape public actions, but have been rarely considered in the analysis of water securitization. Moreover, security is usually meant as the absence of violent conflict, while discourse securitization can exist also where there are only vaguely defined threats to the society. This may be the case of water scarcity associated with drought. This paper undertakes a policy frame analysis of nine exceptional laws passed in Spain during the 2005–2008 drought, to address the following questions: To what extent and how can the water discourse in legal texts be securitized? and What are the consequences of that securitization? The analysis shows that securitization is achieved using both linguistic and institutional mechanisms. Dry spells are presented as exceptional situations and using alarmist terms, even if drought is inherent to Spain’s Mediterranean climate. The sense of urgency is used to fast-track the approval of measures that could be part of ordinary water planning. The securitization of the water discourse contributes to consolidate an existing water paradigm, which, in the case of Spain, is based on State-subsidized, technical and legal measures addressing water scarcity (real or exaggerated). It is an example of a “creeping” securitization of the water discourse, meant as the dramatization of otherwise natural circumstances to spur projects and investments conceived for other purposes. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Julia Urquijo & Lucia De Stefano & Abel La Calle, 2015. "Drought and exceptional laws in Spain: the official water discourse," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 273-292, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ieaple:v:15:y:2015:i:3:p:273-292
    DOI: 10.1007/s10784-015-9275-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Teodoro Estrela & Elisa Vargas, 2012. "Drought Management Plans in the European Union. The Case of Spain," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 26(6), pages 1537-1553, April.
    2. Itay Fischhendler, 2015. "The securitization of water discourse: theoretical foundations, research gaps and objectives of the special issue," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 245-255, September.
    3. Eran Feitelson & Abdelrahman Tamimi & Gad Rosenthal, 2012. "Climate change and security in the Israeli–Palestinian context," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 49(1), pages 241-257, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Julia Urquijo & Lucia De Stefano, 2016. "Perception of Drought and Local Responses by Farmers: A Perspective from the Jucar River Basin, Spain," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(2), pages 577-591, January.
    2. López Gunn, Elena & Rica, Marta & Zorrilla-Miras, Pedro & Vay, Laura & Mayor, Beatriz & Pagano, Alessandro & Altamirano, Monica & Giordano, Rafaelle, 2021. "The natural assurance value of nature-based solutions: A layered institutional analysis of socio ecological systems for long term climate resilient transformation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    3. Regina Lafuente & Ernesto Ganuza & Pilar Paneque, 2020. "Social Resistance to the Hydrological Transition in Southern Spain: Public Support for the Building of New Reservoirs," Resources, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-17, February.
    4. Joyeeta Gupta & Aarti Gupta & Courtney Vegelin, 2022. "Equity, justice and the SDGs: lessons learnt from two decades of INEA scholarship," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 393-409, June.
    5. Araceli Martin-Candilejo & Francisco J. Martin-Carrasco & Ana Iglesias & Luis Garrote, 2023. "Heading into the Unknown? Exploring Sustainable Drought Management in the Mediterranean Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-18, December.
    6. Jesús Vargas & Pilar Paneque, 2019. "Challenges for the Integration of Water Resource and Drought-Risk Management in Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-16, January.
    7. Naho Mirumachi & Margot Hurlbert, 2022. "Reflecting on twenty years of international agreements concerning water governance: insights and key learning," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 317-332, June.
    8. Julia Urquijo & Lucia De Stefano, 2016. "Perception of Drought and Local Responses by Farmers: A Perspective from the Jucar River Basin, Spain," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(2), pages 577-591, January.

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