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The Social Science of Water: Beyond Hydrology with Trevor Birkenholtz

Professor Trevor Birkenholtz (Penn State University) joins Veena Srinivasan to explore the political ecology of water in India.

Mar 3, 2026

In this episode of the Water Data Podcast, Professor Trevor Birkenholtz (Penn State University) joins Veena Srinivasan to explore the political ecology of water in India.

Trevor Birkenholtz is a political ecologist and development geographer with regional interests in South Asia and the United States. His empirical interests are in water-supply development, water infrastructure, wetlands and the politics of environmental change.

 



This conversation explores how water systems are shaped not just by engineering, but by power, history, caste, labor, and policy decisions. How do subtle reservoir rule changes dispossess farmers? And why is urban “drinking water” often an industrial demand?

The discussion also reflects on the role of qualitative research in understanding water systems, and the need to translate critical scholarship into practical design and policy reform.

Suggested Readings:

  1. Trevor Birkenholtz: Google Scholar
  2. T.K. Rudel, L. Schneider, M. Uriarte, B.L. Turner, R. DeFries, D. Lawrence, J. Geoghegan, S. Hecht, A. Ickowitz, E.F. Lambin, T. Birkenholtz, S. Baptista, & R. Grau, Agricultural intensification and changes in cultivated areas, 1970–2005, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 106 (49) 20675-20680, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0812540106 (2009)
  3. BIRKENHOLTZ, T. (2009), Groundwater governmentality: hegemony and technologies of resistance in Rajasthan’s (India) groundwater governance. Geographical Journal, 175: 208-220. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4959.2009.00327
  4. Trevor Birkenholtz (2017): Assessing India’s drip-irrigation boom: efficiency, climate change and groundwater policy, Water International, DOI: 10.1080/02508060.2017.1351910https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/25148486221100386
  6. Birkenholtz, T. (2016). Dispossessing irrigators: Water grabbing, supply-side growth and farmer resistance in India. Geoforum, 69, 94–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2015.12.014
  7. Birkenholtz, T. (2023). Geographies of big water infrastructure: Contemporary insights and future research opportunities. Geography Compass. https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12718
  8. Birkenholtz, T. (2009). Irrigated landscapes, produced scarcity, and adaptive social institutions in Rajasthan, India. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 99(1), 118–137. https://doi.org/10.1080/00045600802459093
  9. Misquitta, K., & Birkenholtz, T. (2020). Drip irrigation as a socio-technical configuration: Policy design and technological choice in Western India. South Asian Water Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2020.1858696
  10. Misquitta, K., & Birkenholtz, T. (2020). Drip irrigation as a socio-technical configuration: Policy design and technological choice in Western India. South Asian Water Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2020.1858696
  11. Birkenholtz, T. (2023). Infrastructuring drip irrigation: The gendered assembly of farmers, laborers and state subsidy programs. Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 6(1), 132-152. 

The Water Data Podcast is a talk show on the science, systems, and stories of water hosted by Veena Srinivasan.

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Recording by Vraj Acharya and Nabina Chakraborty

Video editing by Vraj Acharya 

Graphics and artwork by Kanishka Goyal and Aparna Nambiar

Audio mixing and mastering by Vijay Doiphode

Podcast production and management by Nabina Chakraborty and Pavan Srinath

 

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