The public and private domain of the waters of the Tunuyán River: Litigation at the end of the 19th century in Mendoza (Argentina)

Abstract

The present work analyses the government interference, by means of the regulation of the waters of the Tunuyán River at the end of the nineteenth century and how it was shaped one of the three most important oases in Mendoza. The historical and problematic research on water litigation that laid the foundation for jurisprudence regarding the management, control and appropriation of the resource. In the analyzed cases, it is evident the importance of reconstructing the historical and social contexts of the litigants. In this way, it is proposed to generate a broader explanatory framework of the processes of appropriation of resources by local elites. For this we use both the document analysis and the official historical cartography. It is concluded that, although these litigations were presented as a discussion on the public and private domain of the waters, they tended to increase the institutionalization and state dominance of those waters, favoring the local elites which were part of the political power.