Comprehensive Notes on the Influence of Large Mining in Peru

Milagros Sosa
Rutgerd Boelens
Margreet Zwarteveen
- Affiliations:
- Milagros Sosa and Rutgerd Boelens: Water Resources Management Group, Environmental Science Department, Wageningen University, Netherlands.
- Rutgerd Boelens: Centre for Latin American Research and Documentation (CEDLA), University of Amsterdam, Netherlands; Department of Geography, Planning, and International Development Studies, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands.
- Margreet Zwarteveen: Department of Geography, Planning and International Development Studies, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands; Water Governance Group, UN-IHE Institute for Water Education, Delft, Netherlands.

Research funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO/WOTRO) as part of the International Water Justice alliance.
Thankful to Bartolomé de Las Casas Andean Studies Centre for fieldwork support.

Foreign investment in the mining sector has transformed Peru's economy since the 1990s due to rising world-market ore prices.
Large-scale mining has become a significant economic activity in Peru, specifically through projects in Apurimac (33%), Arequipa (16.4%), and Cajamarca (16.2%) with a total investment of $58.346 billion (MEM 2016).
Major controversies exist regarding mining's social and environmental impacts, particularly concerning community resource degeneration and dispossession of crucial resources like water and land.
Large-scale mining alters both the quantity and quality of water through open-pit mining operations and affects water governance, often positioning mining companies as de facto water managers.

Impact of mining interventions on water resources and community livelihoods.
Reconfiguration of customary and formal water control arrangements.
Contradictions of formalizing water tenure relations:
- Can provide security to some users but may irreparably erode existing management arrangements.
The article focuses on the Las Bambas mining project in Apurimac, which illustrates these complexities.

Fieldwork conducted between 2010-2011 with follow-ups until 2016.
Involves participatory observation, interviews, community assemblies, and literature review.
Conducted 52 interviews with community members, government officials, mining representatives, and NGO workers.
Research challenges include community distrust and political sensitivity due to existing tensions between local populations and the mining company.

Understanding local governance and legal demands regarding water resources in Peru is crucial for examining water management practices.
Water Access: Historically tied to local practices, rights, customs, and community control.
Formalization processes aimed at including communities' customary rights often lead to conflicts with national-level policies that do not consider local systems adequately.
Communities have retained some autonomy in managing resources, but formalization has transformed their rights into legal norms that may overlook local histories and cultural significances.

The Apurimac region, marked by a rugged landscape, is economically challenged with a high rate of rural poverty.
Two-thirds of its population is rural and mostly Quechua-speaking.
Economic struggles characterized by a lack of effective public services result in limited agricultural productivity.
Local economies depend on livestock and small-scale agriculture, and existing water sources are often under stress.

The Las Bambas copper ore was discovered in 1911 and has experienced several ownership changes, eventually being acquired by MMG Limited.
This project prompted community displacements (e.g., Fuerabamba), and the overarching influence of the mining company created tensions over resource control and water rights.
The mining company obtained water permits for industrial and domestic purposes, which were drawn from local rivers and creeks, contributing to increased resource competition.

Water Resources Law 29338 (2009): Affirms water as publicly owned, outlining a regulation framework for permits and licenses managed by local authorities.
Despite formal acknowledgment of communities' rights to local water sources, the reliance on technical studies for formalization creates inequities based on economic and political power dynamics.
Costs of formalization (up to $7000) are prohibitive for many impoverished communities.
The mining company often plays a significant role in financing and facilitating the formalization process, skewing local power balances.

Documented struggles over water access, such as the disputes involving the Choaquere community and surrounding communities, highlight existing traditional management and sharing practices.
Communities continue working around legal recognitions and rights that are often not formally respected or acknowledged.

Existing water allocation practices face challenges when formal legal status is claimed by the mining company or by community members influenced by it, often leading to diminished access for other users.
Community leaders express concerns over their water use being overlooked by external entities when permits for water usage are granted.

The formalization of water rights around mining operations leads to a new normative hierarchy, largely benefiting communities aligned with mining interests while sidelining others.
Customary rights erode as formalization prioritizes technical evaluations and economic considerations.
Local knowledge of water management risks being lost in the process of state-sanctioned formalization.
The necessity of recognizing local governance systems must be addressed to counter the adverse impacts of mining and promote equitable water use and management practices.

(a long list of references is provided with complete citations to support the arguments and findings presented in the study.)