Regulatory issues and challenges in water management

Water is at the heart of multiple and contradictory issues, visions and interests. The articulation of these different elements raises the question of integrated management (IWRM) and regulation (particularly by public policies), the balance between collective and private values, and decision-making processes concerning collective issues - in short, governance. Decentralization, water and sanitation services, basin management, the European Framework Directive and financial circuits illustrate, in particular, different facets of governance.

The aim of this module is to enable students, whatever their background and previous specialization, to grasp the complexity of water-related issues and the multiplicity of players involved, as well as the difficulties posed by regulation, both because of this multiplicity and because of the fluid nature of water and the interaction between scales that it generates. This focus on issues and players should make students aware that, regardless of the 'water profession' they choose - technical or more institutional - they will be confronted with the need to understand the interplay of players and their different interests.

Hourly volumes* :

            CM: 24

            TD : 3

            TP :  

            Terrain :

Continuous examination

Introduction to integrated water management and governanceF. Molle

This course introduces IWRM and the 3 collective values it promotes through a historical retrospective of the 'hydraulic mission' and the emergence of three 'contestations'. It shows the interconnectivity of users and ecosystems, the variety of externalities produced and propagated through the hydrological cycle, and the necessity and complexity of coordination or regulation. A role-playing game on water allocation in times of deficit between different types of farmers in a small irrigated system illustrates the diversity of criteria/values/mechanisms that can be considered to manage resource scarcity.

The module introduces the 3 archetypes of coordination (state, market, community) and the question of governance through a critical review of the various definitions found in the literature, detailing in particular what falls within the remit of the state and what does not. The case of the Mekong river basin is used to illustrate the nature of decision-making processes and the links between governance and the distribution of power at different scales.

Players and financial circuits in the French water sectorS. Richard

Based on a fictitious case study inspired by real-life experience, this course presents French institutions and players in the water sector, their actions and interactions, their skills and the financial circuits they mobilize. Its aim is to provide a general knowledge and understanding of the institutional complexity and multiplicity of water players in France.

Organization and management principles of water and wastewater services C. Lejars

 This course focuses on the small water cycle. It presents the players involved in the small water cycle and introduces the management principles of drinking water and wastewater services. Through the history of water services in France, it emphasizes the concepts of service delegation and inter-communality. It analyzes the major developments in the organization and management of these services in France.

Water management put to the test by the WFD and decentralizationS. Ghiotti

This course is divided into two parts. I) Implementation of the 2000 Water Framework Directive (WFD) is based on a number of texts and documents that ensure its "translation" and application within EU member countries. In France, the SDAGE, the Programme de Mesure and the Plan de Gestion are all examples, and we will be analyzing their content, objectives and how they are drawn up by the so-called water stakeholders. Putting the French case into perspective with other European examples will enable us to grasp the diversity of situations and responses to achieve "good ecological status" for water bodies. II) The WFD and other European directives published since (flooding, groundwater, sea, etc.) have profoundly changed water management and governance in France. Their implementation has been accompanied by a transfer of powers from the State to local authorities, which has accelerated in France over the last ten years. This decentralization involves infrastructure, new powers and new obligations. Three areas in particular are concerned: territorial policies (SAGE and river contracts), the role of inter-municipalities in the management of the large water cycle, and the historic regional development companies focused on irrigation issues. Particular emphasis will be placed on the modalities and conditions of transfer and management of these "tools", the social and spatial issues associated with them, and the recomposition of the networks of players involved. Taking the example of the regional scale, this second part of the course will be based on the viewing of a film and the reading of short articles from the specialized press. These will enable us to clearly identify the players, issues, problems, scales and projects proposed to achieve the quantitative and qualitative objectives that are the real challenges for local areas.

Closure' and watershed governanceF. Molle

The combined overexploitation of surface and groundwater leads to a process of "closure", where runoff is no longer sufficient (at least for part of the year) to satisfy needs, particularly environmental needs, and aquifers are exploited far beyond their "safe yield". This is a universal phenomenon, and one of great importance: the aim of this course is to understand both its causes (for what political reasons do societies systematically overexploit their resources) and its consequences. Numerous examples illustrate the difficulties of managing a system that tends towards a zero-sum game, and whose users are in direct competition. In particular, it shows the limits, and even the negative impacts, of conventional technical solutions such as micro-irrigation or wastewater reuse.