Mehta, L., Veldwisch, G.J. and Franco, J. (2012). “Introduction to the Special Issue: Water Grabbing? Focus on the (Re)appropriation of Finite Water Resources.” Water Alternatives 5(2): 193–207.
The introduction to the special issue that brought water into the land-grab debate. The authors define water grabbing as “a situation where powerful actors are able to take control of, or reallocate to their own benefits, water resources already used by local communities or feeding aquatic ecosystems” on which livelihoods depend (p. 197). They trace it through hydropower, mining, biofuels and water-sector privatization, and show how narratives of “unused” or “marginal” land and water justify reallocation. The wiki takes from it the frame for water secured at a source and allocated downstream while the source community bears the cost.