Citizen Participation and water management: leaders of neighborhood Committees in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua

This paper seeks to analyze public participation in water management through a survey applied to the leaders of neighborhood committees in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua. As part of the methodology, two variables -external and internal influences- and fourteen indicators were utilized. Results show that neighborhood committees, as a public participation structure, are in crisis. The structure shows both internal and external signs of breaking up: there are no clear mechanisms of summons or participation, nor are there any adecuate mechanisms capable of articulating demands and government authority, insofar as external political agents have been allowed to participate in internal management and committee issues. For this reason, the capacity of local neighborhood committees to make decisions regarding city water management is placed in doubt.