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Towards a new drinking water governance in France? From Europe to local scale

Author(s): Aurélie Roussary
ROUSSARY Aurélie Phd Student Centre d’Etude et Recherche Technique Organisation Pouvoir (CERTOP) Université Toulouse le Mirail Maison de la Recherche 5 allées Antonio Machado 31058 Toulouse Cedex roussary@univ-tlse2.fr (33)5 61 50 36 51 / (33)6 77

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Poster:

Session: OS5f Governance of water quality

AbstractIn France, if quality of distributed waters globally improved for 20 years, thanks to improving and generalization of

treatment technique, quality of ground and superficial waters did not stop degrading. But, the European Water

Framework Directive (WFD) imposes, on the horizon 2015, the good ecological status of water. In a requirement of

means is so added a requirement of concrete efficiency of devices. Concurrently, the territorialisation of the water

policy saw itself strengthened by an institutional context which promotes the subsiduarity principle as a pledge of

public policies effectiveness.
If the necessity of rethinking the national water policy is presented as imperative, the

institutionalization and the concrete implementation of change is more problematic.
What are the territorial

governance forms of drinking water which are outlined through the arbitrations between : sanitary requirement,

implying the reassurance of the supplies (qualitatively and quantitatively), environmental pressure and cost control

(rationalization of infrastructures, maintain of a socially acceptable price of drinking water) ?
We notice two logics

which can have varied modalities of coordination. They emanate from the analysis of parliamentary works, from

debates of the Water law and from empirical researches : a logic of river basin, to reinforce the status of the Water

Agencies and their financing capacity ; and a logic of local government (Departmentalisation), based on an

intensification of the role of “departement " (departmental funds, departmental syndicate of drinking water supply).

“Departement” is presented as the relevant scale of management to conciliate the stakes relative to drinking water

and territory.
Those logics fit into a long term process, implying various scales of management (national-regional-

local), engage the implication (administrative, technical and financial), the responsibility and the partnership between

multiple actors of the public and private sphere. We make the hypothesis that stakes heterogeneousness draws new

forms of drinking water territorial governance that we want to describe and analysis. At the same time, we attend a

tightening of political choices on sanitary questions and an assertion of the kingly missions of delegated State

services. This is to reach objectives defined by the law. The third hypothesis is this situation leads to a dissolution of

environmental stake in the local and sanitary stakes.
We suggest putting a more specific glance on three levels of

public action structuralization (national, regional and local) in conservation of drinking water resource.
Two points

have to be underline. First of all, each axis cannot be analyzed outside global political, institutional and organizational

frame in which it joins. Furthermore, following the example of WFD elaboration process, filtering processes in

decision exist within, but also between, each level of governance, both by ascending and descending transfers. That

is why these three approaches are complementary.
A transversal analysis of this multi-level approach has to allow

understanding the variety, complexity and redefining of drinking water resource management. Through this research,

we intend to seize tensions between stability and social change at various scales of implementation of health-

environment public policies.

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Towards a new drinking water governance in France? From Europe to local scale