This paper examines the emergence of a new logic of water management in dev
eloping cities. We argue that water provision is characterised by two large
ly disconnected circuits of water supply. Formally organised distribution n
etworks provide a publicly subsidised service to higher-income users, while
an informal system of water vendors provides a more expensive supply to ma
rginalised communities. A new style of water management is now challenging
the productionist logic that has created and maintained these dual networks
. The case study of water privatisation in the city of Cochabamba, Bolivia,
illustrates how this emerging logic is reconfiguring the management of urb
an water networks with a shift from large supply options towards greater co
nsideration of user needs and extension of the network to unconnected commu
nities. The productionist logic is in a period of profound transition as ef
forts are being made to mesh together more effectively the formal and infor
mal networks. While: this process is highly contested, many of the central
assumptions of the productionist logic are challenged and new opportunities
for a more socially inclusionary and environmentally sensitive style of wa
ter management are emerging.