Water and the South

Water resources and their management are often approached through the knowledge and principles established in the developed countries of the temperate zone. Yet the countries of the South, starting with the Mediterranean and Africa, offer us an extreme diversity of social and environmental situations that force us to significantly modify our points of view and question the validity of certain approaches that are too far removed from the reality on the ground.

Researchers working mainly in developing countries draw on their practical experience to reflect on the specific nature of hydrological and geochemical processes in very dry or very wet tropical regions, the consequences of anthropization and the challenges of sustainable water resource management.

A significant amount of time is devoted to critical analysis of scientific articles dealing with water resources and their management in the South.

Scientific objective:

Address the diversity of water resources (surface and underground) in non-temperate regions and their management:

1. Identify tropical/temperate hydrological differences :
   • geographical peculiarities :          

                  - major tropical river basins (Amazon, Congo, Niger, Mekong)

                   - arid and semi-arid zones

• singularities in processes (nature, intensity; time-space) 

2. Adapt observation protocols to these unique environments 

           - fundamental issues of spatial and temporal representativeness of observations,

            - limits of application of interpretation and modeling methods

            - cross-fertilization of approaches.

3. Imagine the consequences of these singularities for resource management (quantity, quality) now and in the future.

Teaching objective:

1. Acquire new knowledge about the hydrological specificities of southern regions:

- original processes (phenomena unknown in temperate zones, or taking on a different intensity in tropical environments),

- some major orders of magnitude, and uncertainties.

2. Develop a critical approach to data, field observations (particularly in view of the physical difficulties of instrumentation), and methods for interpreting and exploiting data.)

Take a critical look at the approaches usually developed in temperate zones and, more generally, step back from the limits of these approaches.

3. Integrate human, social, environmental and technical dimensions into a holistic vision of water resource management.

Knowledge of the various components of the hydrological cycle and their quantification methods.

Strong interest in water management issues in the South.

Critical thinking.

The written analysis of a scientific article, and its oral presentation, account for half of the final grade. The other half of the mark is based on answers to a series of questions cross-referenced with the contributions of the various researchers involved in the module.

Until last year, all courses were delivered in the traditional face-to-face format. From 2020/21 onwards, some courses will gradually be transformed into videos, which will be shown before the module begins. These videos will be assumed to have already been listened to, and will serve as the starting point for a question-and-answer exchange between teacher and students. This requires a greater personal investment than a gentle slumber at the back of the classroom.