ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Water
Sec. Water and Human Systems
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frwa.2025.1614847
This article is part of the Research TopicParticipatory and Just Governance: Empowering Local and Indigenous CommunitiesView all articles
The Razuhuillca Micro-Watershed in Dispute: Hydromorphological Dynamics and Territorial Resistance to Mining Concessions in the Peruvian Andes
Provisionally accepted
Manuel Mendoza Colos1*
Bruno Kadafi Cardenas Morales1*
Boris Marleo Quintero Ramos1
Fernando Gari Huayhua Lévano1Santos Clemente Herrera Díaz1Solón Dante Carhuallanqui Ibarra1Yodel Cheldo Huari Salazar1
Saríah Fanny Oré Gálvez1Nilomarc Garcia Carrasco2Yirme Yohu Gómez Ccochachi1Jorge Luis Lozano Rodríguez1- 1National Autonomous University of Huanta, Huanta, Peru
- 2INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE INNOVACIÓN AGRARIA., AYACUCHO, Peru
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The Razuhuillca micro-watershed, located in the Andean province of Huanta (Peru), illustrates the convergence of hydro-territorial fragility and socio-environmental conflict. Through a mixed-methods approach-combining quantitative morphometric analysis using GIS and DEMs with qualitative semistructured interviews coded in Atlas.ti-this study reveals how strategic headwater zones for water recharge overlap with both legal and illegal mining activities. These extractive pressures compromise hydrological regulation and generate spatial, cultural, and political tensions.Local communities perceive water as a sacred and relational element, and invoke Apu Razuhuillca as a territorial guardian beyond state legality. Narratives of affective territoriality, institutional distrust, and autonomous resistance-such as community patrols and demands for protection-highlight the emergence of bottom-up governance in response to extractive threats. In this context, water is not merely a resource but a symbol of identity, care, and territorial legitimacy.The findings underscore the need for a sociohydrological approach that integrates ecological indicators, spatial risk, and lived experiences. The Razuhuillca micro-watershed stands as a threatened yet defended socio-ecosystem, where technical, cultural, and political dimensions of water governance intersect.
Keywords: morphometry, Andean micro-watershed, water governance, GIS, Mining concessions, socio-environmental conflict
Received: 19 Apr 2025; Accepted: 27 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Mendoza Colos, Cardenas Morales, Quintero Ramos, Huayhua Lévano, Herrera Díaz, Carhuallanqui Ibarra, Huari Salazar, Oré Gálvez, Garcia Carrasco, Gómez Ccochachi and Lozano Rodríguez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Manuel Mendoza Colos, National Autonomous University of Huanta, Huanta, Peru
Bruno Kadafi Cardenas Morales, National Autonomous University of Huanta, Huanta, Peru
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