Changes in the patterns of use and appropriation of water resources in the western region of the Province of Mendoza, Argentina(in Spanish).

Changes in productiveactivities that have occurred in the last two decades in the Western

region of the Province of Córdoba,Argentina, have had consequences on the access

to water by different social actors. To analyze how these changes occurred and what

aretheir consequences, a triangulation methodology was used, combining quantitative

and qualitative techniques. Four different types of water were distinguished, depending

on the uses that farmers assigned to it. Following this classification, the types of water

used for production (specially market-oriented products), have been the most disputed

and over which the most conflicts were observed. The paper suggests that the changes

that have taken place in the last two decades, have increased the vulnerability and

constraints of those social actors with a more limited capital structure.