Cultural diversity and water management: Lessons from a Mazahua Region of the State of Mexico

Abstract

The indigenous people of Mexico have generated diverse cultures of water from the historic relationship with nature that have established within their territories, which includes various elements such as knowledge, social organization, symbols, practices, rituals, etc.. and so have their own view of the water,
which often conflicts with the logic of government institutions who design public policies for water management in their territories. Based on the above, this paper aims to establish cultural differences regarding the view that indigenous and mestizo societies have on the vital liquid. I refer to the case of Mazahua communities Mexico State that is geographically part of the hydraulic system Cutzamala, to show that while the design for water varies from society to society, this does not mean they can not be created together management plans, water projects or policies for managing this resource. This
paper considers that taking into account the cosmological representations of indigenous peoples, canbe a factor of complementarity and cooperation to develop a more balanced approach to the use and conservation of water and that intercultural dialogue between actors in conflict, is the best way to achieve such a proposal