Desalination and the Reproduction of Water Injustices in the San Andres Island Water Crisis

Caribbean islands are particularly vulnerable to extreme events like droughts, co-occurring with groundwater pollution, water inequalities, and weak governance. Consequently, many island communities that rely on tourism are experiencing ongoing and deepening water crises. Technical solutions like desalination are regularly employed throughout the Caribbean, yet water crises persist despite these mitigation strategies. This research focuses on San Andres, a Colombian Caribbean Island. Following the 2016 water crisis, residents saw the crisis as social: pre-existing social inequalities led to differential water access, quantity, and distribution during the crisis. In contrast, organisational leaders attributed the water crisis to a natural hazard (drought or, more broadly, climate change), even if they recognised disproportional distribution. Interviews revealed strong support from all participants for the use of desalination to address the crisis, despite the inequities that characterise the implementation of this strategy. We argue that San Andres is moving towards technological water dependence, disconnected from traditional local forms of collecting water and rendering islanders less able to control the resource. We posit that there is a connection between injustice, desalination, and water crises. When a water crisis occurs, it often reveals pre-existing injustices in the social system. Instead of resolving the injustices, desalination, which is often seen as the main solution to the crisis, perpetuates and reinforces them. The result is a cycle of crises that persist over time.

Automated summary

Caribbean islands are highly vulnerable to extreme events like droughts, groundwater pollution, water inequalities, and weak governance, which have caused ongoing and deepening water crises in many island communities dependent on tourism. Despite the implementation of technical solutions like desalination, water crises persist, highlighting pre-existing social inequalities and the connection between injustice, desalination, and the perpetuation of crises over time.