In recent years, the conceptual frameworks of the political ecology of water have provided a valuable heuristic tool that reconsiders the power relations that have been historically shaped by the use and appropriation of the resource. In this theoretical-methodological essay, we consider this approach useful for analysing rural reconfigurations, particularly in arid regions. We propose the multidimensional and trans-scale concept of hydrosocial rurality, combining the idea of water circulation with other conceptual tools related to agrarian social studies. First we expose our theoretical construction. In a second step, we use this new concept to describe how recent processes of land and water grabbing related to the expansion of the agribusiness model had a material, discursive and symbolic impact on the oases of the province of Mendoza in Argentina.