NORMES DE QUALITE DE L'EAU : HISTOIRE ET PROSPECTIVE

14 pInternational audienceDans le domaine de la santé publique, puis dans celui de la protection des milieux aquatiques, les progrès des connaissances scientifiques ont conduit à une prolifération de normes de qualité d'autant plus incompréhensibles pour le public que celui-ci, longtemps écarté des cercles décisionnels, est resté attaché à des critères esthétiques et organoleptiques pour juger de cette qualité. De plus, les différents types de normes possibles s'entrechoquent et peuvent avoir des effets pervers. Il s'agit des obligations de moyens techniques, et des obligations de résultats à atteindre, comprenant des normes d'émission et des normes " d'immission ". Les gouvernements mettent en œuvre ces normes avec plusieurs types d'outils de politique publique : réglementation, incitation économique, planification. La rationalité décisionnelle se déploie ainsi dans un paysage très complexe. Mais la persistance de la logique du génie sanitaire, et de la tradition connexe de naturaliser le risque pour l'éliminer, conduit à une impasse, ne serait-ce qu'à cause des demandes incohérentes du public. Il est d'autant plus urgent de passer à une démarche de génie de l'environnement, où un processus d'apprentissage collectif des qualités d'eau nécessaires pour divers usages et pour la tenabilité des écosystèmes, rendant possible une ouverture démocratique, peut permettre de développer une gestion socialisée des ressources et des risques. Abstract In the field of public health, as well as in that of protection of aquatic environments, the progress of scientific knowledge has led to a proliferation of quality standards which are incomprehensible to the general public. The latter, having long been kept outside decision-making circles, has continued to use aesthetic and organoleptic criteria to assess this quality. Moreover, many different types of possible standards are conflicting and may have unintended effects. There are standards for the processes to be used and standards for the results to be achieved, which can be split into emission standards and immission standards. Over the 20th century, these standards have been implemented with new policy tools beyond traditional command-and-control: economic incentives and planning This creates a very complex landscape for the development of the rationality of integrated water management. But the persistence of sanitary engineering culture and the related tradition of eliminating the risk, leads to a deadlock, due to the incoherent demands from the general public. It is needed to move towards an environmental engineering approach, where a procedure of social learning of water qualities required for various uses and for conserving ecosystems, making democratic discussion possible, would allow for integrated management of resources and risks

Transboundary River Basin Management in Europe

human development, water, sanitation

The Three Ages of Engineering for the Water Industry

This paper attempts to stimulate the reflection on water policies and economic dimensions, by the presentation of a broad review of the interaction of society and technology in the field of water industry, all the way from its inception in the second half of the 19th century. After presenting the context in which this research was done, and in particular the issues at stake in the E.U. Water Framework Directive, we cover progressively the three eras or ages of technologies and engineering for water industry: civil, chemical/sanitary, and environmental. Then we develop some of the features of environmental engineering needed today for a sustainable water management, like public involvement, and a conception of demand side management based on a better balance between supply and demand side. We finally address the issue of third world cities, because they may also be the future of our water industry if we cannot maintain the overall confidence which European urbanites had developed towards their local water industry

SHAPING a NEW LUSO SPANISH CONVENTION

In 1998, Portugal and Spain signed, at Albufeira, a Convention to regulate access to their common rivers. Most of them have their upstream basins in Spain and flow into Portugal. A growing water demand in Spain had much reduced their flows into Portugal. The Portuguese priority in the Convention was to assure stream flows for the Alqueva dam, located on the Guadiana River. This paper discusses the functioning of the Albufeira Convention and makes proposals for its revision. The bilateral Commission has hardly operated. In 2005, the exceptional dry year regime has been activated by Spain only on the Duero/Douro River. The Water Framework Directive, the Berlin Rules, Water Markets and the Catalan Voting Rules might help to a revised Convention aiming at better protecting the common rivers.Albufeira Convention, Water Framework Directive, Berlin Rules, Water Markets, Catalan Voting Rules

Evaluation of sustainability of sewerage systems in metropolitan areas. The case of Greater Paris: Economic analysis of the Milan wastewater treatment system : sustainability issues

Etude commandée par la municipalité de Milan, Italie. L'agglomération de Milan a mis aux normes son système d'épuration . Ne disposant pas d'une entité institutionnelle de gestion intégrée de l'eau - assainissement, elle s'interroge sur les mesures qu'elle devra prendre rapidement pour faire face aux défis de la Directive cadre sur l'eau de 2000 (restauration du bon état écologique des eaux). Une étude de la durabilité économique, environnementale, sociale et institutionnelle du système d'assainThe study performed on behalf of the municipal administration of Milano has the aim of providing a comparative assessment of the evolution of metropolitan sewerage systems face to the challenge posed by the 2000 E.U. Wastewater Framework Directive. It is fundamental that the case studies analyse the technological, economic, management and institutional consequences arising from the shift from an approach dominated by point-source emission standards to restoration of water bodies to a good ecological status. How are other metropolitan areas in Europe facing the new challenge of integrated management at the watershed scale ? The present report analyses the sustainability of the sewerage system developed in the Greater Paris using the methodological framework of the “3E” model developed within the Water21 project (economic, environmental and ethic assessment). : • an assessment of the actual performance face to the environmental challenge and of what is eventually needed in order to meet environmental policy requirements; • an assessment of the viability of the management system with particular regard on the capacity to set aside adequate financial resources for financing investment and keeping assets value over time. • an assessment of the outcomes in terms of affordability and social consensus. The sustainability of the institutional framework is addressed as well.De nouveaux systèmes d'assainissement épuration s'organisent en Europe pour répondre aux défis de la Directive cadre sur l'eau (DCE) publiée au J.O. de l'U.E en décembre 2000. La Directive opère un changement radical : il ne s'agit plus de se conformer à des normes de rejets en aval des systèmes d'épuration mais de restaurer, à l'horizon 2015, le bon état écologique de toutes les eaux superficielles et des eaux souterraines. La Directive suscite ainsi le développement d'une gestion intégrée des ressources en eau à l'échelle des bassins versants. La municipalité de Milan, afin de gérer au mieux l'évolution de son assainissement dans le contexte de la DCE, a demandé à plusieurs équipes de recherche européennes une évaluation des systèmes d'assainissement épuration en place dans quelques grandes agglomérations de leurs pays respectifs. L'analyse du cas de l'Ile-de-France fait l'objet du présent rapport. L'équipe de recherche française a utilisé la méthodologie dite des « 3 E » développée à l'occasion des recherches « Water 21 » : la durabilité des projets d'assainissement épuration développés dans l'agglomération parisienne y est ainsi analysée sur les plans économiques, écologiques et « éthiques et sociaux ». Une quatrième dimension, celle de la gouvernance est aussi abordée

Las políticas del agua en Europa a partir de la directiva marco del agua

[ES] Adoptada en Octubre de 2000 y publicada en Diciembre del mismo año, la Directiva Marco del Agua (DMA, 2000/60 EC) es ciertamente una pieza de legislación muy ambiciosa. Porque no es únicamente la primera vez que la Unión Europea asume el objetivo de la mejora del medio acuático sino que, en el fondo, busca propiciar una política sostenible del agua. El presente artículo pretende dar una definición más precisa del concepto de política sostenible del agua para, posteriormente aplicarla al caso particular de los servicios de agua y de las infraestructuras hidráulicas. En una segunda parte del artículo, se tratará de demostrar cómo la DMA empuja a los países europeos miembros, y muy especialmente a los mediterráneos, hacia una política del agua desde la perspectiva de la gestión de la demanda, en lo que bien podría llamarse la “tercera edad” de la industria del agua.Barraqué, B. (2003). Las políticas del agua en Europa a partir de la directiva marco del agua. Ingeniería del agua. 10(3):281-292. https://doi.org/10.4995/ia.2003.2586OJS281292103Allan, T. 2000. The middle East water question, hydropolitics and the global economy. London, Tauris, 2000.Arrojo, P. 1999. El agua a debate desde la Universidad, Hacia una nueva cultura del agua. Actes du 1er congrès ibérique sur l'aménagement et la gestion des eaux. Fundación Fernando el Católico, Zaragoza, 1999.Barraqué, B. 2000a. Assessing the efficiency of economic instruments: reforming the French Agences de l'Eau. Market based instruments for environmental management. Andersen M.S. & Sprenger R.U. Edward Elgar, 2000.Barraqué, B. 2000b. Are hydrodinosaurs sustainable? the case of the Rhone-to-Barcelona water transfer', in Vlachos Evan, and Correia F.N., Shared water systems and transboundary issues, with special emphasis on the iberian pen-insula. Luso-American Foundation and Colorado State University, Lisbon, 2000.Barraqué, B. 1998. 'Europäisches Antwort auf John Briscoes Bewertung der Deutschen Wasserwirtschaft'. GWF Was-ser-Abwasser, 139(6), 1998.Barraqué, B. 1995. Les politiques de l'eau en Europe, La Découverte. Coll. Recherches, 1995.Barbier, J.M. et al. 2000. Evolution des consommations d'eau. Dossier in TSM - Génie Urbain - Génie Rural, periodical of the AGHTM, n°2, 2000. Incl. A paper by Sophie Cambon Grau on water savings by the large consumers in Paris.Correia, F.N. 1998. Eurowater, Institutions for / Selected issues in / Water resources management in Europe. Balkema, Vol. I and II, 1998.Dickinson, M.A. 2000. Water conservation in the United States: a decade of progress. In Antonio Estevan & Victor Viñuales, La efficiencia del agua en las ciudades, Bakeaz y Fundacion Ecologia y Desarrollo, 2000.European Union Commission, Regional Policy Directorate. 2000. Toward a strategic and sustainable management of water resources, study n°31. Publications office of the Commission, Luxemburg, 2000.Hilding, R.T. & Johanssson, I. How to cope with degrading groundwater quality in Europe, proceedings of the interna-tional seminar in Johannesberg Sweden, FRN report, n°98:4, Stockholm, 1998.Llamas, R.M.; Fornés, J.M.; Hernandez, N.; Martinez, L. 2001. Aguas subterraneas: retos y oportunidades. Madrid, Fundacion Marcelino Botin & Mundi Prensa, 2001.Maver, I. 2000. Glasgow, Town and city histories, Edinburgh University Press, 2000.Moss, T. 2000. Unearthing water flows, uncovering social relations: Introducing new waste water technologies in Berlin. Journal of Urban Technology, Vol. 7 n°1, 2000.Okun, D.A. 1996. From cholera to cancer to cryptosporidiosis. Journal of Environmental engineering, June 1996Okun, D.A.; Craun, G.; Edzwald, J.; Gilbert, J.; Rose, J.B.1997. New-York city: to filter or not to filter? Journal of the American water works association, 89(3) March1997.Richardson, J. 1997. EU water policy: uncertain agendas, shifting networks and complex coalitions, in Environmental politics, 3(4), 1997.Tarr, J. 1996. The search for the ultimate sink, urban pollution in historical perspective, Akron University Press, Ohio, 1996.Van Humbeeck, P. 1998. An assessment of the distributive effects of the wastewater charge and drinking-water tariffs reform on households in the Flanders Region in Belgium. Report of the SERV (Sociaal-Economische Raad Van Vlandern), may 1998.Vergés, J.C. 2001. El saqueo del agua en España, Barcelona. La Tempestad, 2001.Zérah, M.H. 1997. Inconstances de la distribution d'eau dans les villes du tiers-monde: le cas de Delhi. Flux, cahiers scientifiques internationaux Réseaux et Territoires 30. October--December, 5-1

Eau des Villes et Eau des Champs

L’article présente et discute les approches d’incitation économique des agriculteurs à réduire l’emploi d’intrants dans et autour des périmètres de captage d’eau à potabiliser. Ces approches sont qualifiées de « paiements pour services écosystémiques » aux États-Unis, et d’accords coopératifs entre collectivités distributrices d’eau et agriculteurs dans un travail comparatif sur trois pays européens. Ce tour d’horizon conduit à chercher à comprendre la spécificité française dans ce domaine, à partir de douze études de cas de tentatives d’accords coopératifs, resituées dans le double contexte de la protection des captages d’une part, et des mesures agro-environnementales d’autre part. Seul le cas de la Plaine du Saulce (Auxerre) est discuté en profondeur, avec ses acquis et ses limites.Drawing on the EVEC research project, the paper presents and discusses economic incentives on farmers to reduce nitrates and pesticides use in and around potable water resources. United States’ payments for ecosystems services are presented first, and then cooperative agreements between water utilities and farmers are discussed in three European countries. Then the French particular situation is analysed through a method which was developed along 12 case studies of arrangements attempts, placed in their particular context of regulatory well-head protection, and of agri-environmental measures. Only one case (Plaine du Saulce, Auxerre) is analysed in detail with its achievements and limitations

Sustainable water services and interaction with water resources in Europe and in Brazil

International audienceThe increasing interaction between large cities and nature makes "urban water" an issue: water resources and water services - including public water supply, sewage collection and treatment, and in large cities, storm water control -, which had become separate issues thanks to the process of water transport and treatment technologies, are now increasingly interfering with each other. We cannot take nature for granted anymore, and we need to protect water resources, if only to reduce the long term cost of transporting and treating water. In this paper, we compare the historical development of water industry technologies in European and Brazilian metropolitan areas, in their socio-economic and political context, tracing it through three "ages" of water technology and services which developed under civil engineering, sanitary engineering, and environmental engineering perspectives: the "quantity of water" and civil engineering paradigm was developed on the assumption that water should be drawn from natural environments far from the cities; in the "water quality" and chemical/sanitation engineering paradigm, water treatment was invented and allowed cities to take water from rivers closer to them and treat it, but also to reduce sewer discharge impacts; finally, the environmental engineering paradigm proposes to overcome the supply side perspective, by introducing demand side management, water conservation, water allocation flexibilisation, and an integrated approach to water services, water resources management, and land use policies