Spilling Blood over Water? The Cose of Ethiopia 269
resources has developed that depends on the scarcity or abundance of water,
the labour expended to exploit it and the ability to add value to it (for exam-
ple, by storing it for sale during times of scarcity). As Hogg explains:
"... surface water, such as a river, natural depression or pools after
rain is regarded as a gift of God and free for ail to use. Water that has
been contained in a dam, cistern or pond made by man or which is
found in a well dug by man is regarded to varying degrees as the prop-
erty of an individual or his sub-clan. Deep wells are generally the
property of a sub-clan. Shallower wells are normally the property of
extended families. Individuals and lineages own ponds (hara).
Nowadays individual ownership of ponds appears to predominate.
Often a group of individuals will come together to dig and maintain a
pond. Birkeda are built and owned by well-off individuals, who sell
the water in the dry season. A person will excavate a birkeda in his
own clan territ~ry."~~Participating in these complex water alliances is increasingly imponant to
guarantee rights to access water. Contributing to water alliances, therefore, is
essential to sustain livelihoods. Some suggest that water alliances are of more
importance and value today than are the blood relations that formed the
basis of pastoral institutions in the past.85 Water, it would appear, may now
run thicker than blood.
On an annual basis and at a national level Ethiopia has sufficient water to
meet the demands of its people. However, because of its variable spatial and
temporal distribution, water in Ethiopia is scarce. During 2001, Ethiopia expe-
rienced both excessive flooding, particularly in regions of the south-west
where over 10 000 people were displaced, and continuing drought in the
south-east, particularly the Somali region. In addition, individuals and dif-
ferent groups within society have varying entitlements to water and abilities
to 'capture' and protect water sources from other potential users. Therefore
a situation often exists where water may be abundant for one group or indi-
vidual and at the same time be scarce for another.
Some have described water as a renewable res~urce.~ However, water can
also be considered a non-renewable resource in Ethiopia. The country expe-
riences highly variable rainfall throughout the year and between years,
including successive years of drought. Ethiopia relies almost totally on rain-
fall as the source for replenishing water supplies, but lacks the capacity to
store rainfall or harness it before it flows into neighbouring countries.
It is apparent that on an annual basis water in Ethiopia is a non-renewable
resource whose distribution is highly uneven. Alternating abundance and scarci-
ty of water in Ethiopia is the outcome of unpredictable interactions between
many factors that are not exclusively 'climatic' or 'ecological'. Thus, their impact
is also likely to stretch beyond mere biological or ecological fluctuations.