The Landscaping of a Contentious Productive Region: Irrigation District 024 Ciénega de Chapala, Michoacán, Mexico

Abstract

The creation of irrigation districts responds to the consolidation of water policy in the country, where the federal government stands as the primary governmental authority in the management of water in Mexico. In the region of Ciénega de Chapala, Michoacán, the Irrigation District 024 was set up by unequal relations between landlords, laborers and indigenous communities towards the access to resources as land and water. After the drying of the Ciénega de Chapala, these unequal relationships were the basis to configure new power relations between the State, as owner of the property, and the people engaged in fishing and agriculture.