What do we know about local conflicts with water components?

When discussing water as a component in conflict, most researchers have concentrated on international issues such as river basin management, fishing rights etc. Many observers have recently remarked that the risk of water-related conflict is inversely related to scale; the smaller the setting, the greater the likelihood of conflict. As in the case of international conflict, it is unclear whether water per se is the source of intra-state conflict, or whether conflict results from the way water is managed, politically and economically. Lack of freshwater can be an element in conflicts with water components, particularly if the social system is unable to handle the distributional issues. The paper discusses intra-state conflicts with water components and proposes a categorisation. Local conflicts, related to water, are for example water-usage conflicts between pastoralists and agriculturalists and/or between different ethnic communities, conflicts involving different parties (water companies, communities, water vendors etc.) in service delivery, urban and peri-urban conflicts between communities over water access and usage etc. Intra-state conflicts with water components are most certainly underreported and there is a lack of data. Because of their low intensity they are not included in data gathering and do not figure in conflict databases. Conflicts are common in relation to water interventions, often in connection to large infrastructure projects such as dams and city water delivery and management. The paper identifies areas for further research and discusses whether this type of conflicts could be incorporated in existing conflict datasets. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]