The Hydro-social Cycle of Urban Rivers: Waterscape Transformations to the Hydro Landscape of San Luis Potosí, México

Abstract

This exploratory study analyses the transformations of the three main urban rivers within the Metropolitan Area of San Luis Potosí: Rio Santiago, Rio Españita and Rio Paisanos. From a hydro-social perspective, the analysis focuses on the physical transformations of the rivers and their relationship with urban sprawl and on the meaning and interaction changes between society and the hydric resource. For the study, an interpretive mapping exercise was conducted; it overlapped layers with historical, socio-demographic, geographic and hydrological information. Additionally, interviews were administered to key informants, and secondary sources were reviewed. These methods allowed reconstructing the transformations in the rivers to understand the logics employed, resulting space and water uses, and the types of water derived from the dialectic interaction nature-society. The major findings of the research indicate that all three rivers have been diverted to benefit urban growth. Furthermore, the social bond with rivers as natural elements and sources of life has been broken. Nowadays, riverbeds are perceived as sources of pollution and insecurity, more useful as urban elements than as natural landscape components. This perception shift explains the reason why river courses are currently fragmented, physically and symbolically.