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Abstract

Water is essential for all life, but dominant technocratic and utilitarian management paradigms tend to reduce it to a mere commodity or object of scientific enquiry, commonly symbolized by its molecular formula, H₂O. Such reductionist paradigms constrain the recognition of water’s profound ecological, cultural, and spiritual significance, while minimizing the emotional, affective, and relational ways of understanding water as it is lived and experienced within specific contexts of management and governance. This dissertation forges new ways of being with water, guided by collective responsibility, reciprocity, and stewardship. As such, it invites a reimagining of water management as a practice that integrates material and non-material dimensions. Attentive to these possibilities, this dissertation contributes to the literature in three key ways: First, it develops the concept of water's "non-material dimensions," drawing on literature from water resources management, anthropological studies of water, and Indigenous water geographies. In so doing, the dissertation advocates for a framework that centres on more holistic perspectives and inclusive engagements, aiming to foster deeper connections between people and water. These conceptual contributions are grounded in the lived water realities of research participants in Yucatán, Mexico, where participants' understandings of water reflect relational, spiritual, and cultural dimensions often overlooked in dominant approaches. Second, the dissertation outlines a transformative storytelling methodology rooted in participatory and place-based research practices. This methodology is applied in communities in south-central Yucatán, where cenotes (Ts'ono'oto'ob) are central to local water culture and identity. Through community-based storytelling workshops, the dissertation traces how the methodology enabled participants to engage with water on their own terms, revitalising ancestral and personal knowledge and relationships with underground water bodies. Third, and finally, the empirics from Yucatán, Mexico, highlight how relational connections with water, place, and community can inform and inspire more inclusive and contextually grounded approaches to water, with implications for day-to-day water management as well as broader water-society and governance concerns. Through experiential engagement, participants reframe water as an agentic entity worthy of care, respect, and protection. This shift is reflected in the gradual transformation of participants into Ja'Kanules (Water Guardians) committed to shaping just, sustainable, and resilient water futures.