The Achievement of a Decentralized Water Management Through Stakeholder Participation: An Example from the Drôme River Catchment Area in France (1981–2008)

International audienceDifferent water Acts (e.g., the European Water Framework Directive) and stakeholders involved in aquatic affairs have promoted integrated river basin management (IRBM) over recent decades. However, few studies have provided feedback on these policies. The aim of the current article is to fill this gap by exploring how local newspapers reflect the implementation of a broad public participation within a catchment of France known for its innovation with regard to this domain. The media coverage of a water management strategy in the Drôme watershed from 1981 to 2008 was investigated using a content analysis and a geographic information system (GIS). We sought to determine what public participation and decentralized decision-making can be in practice. The results showed that this policy was integrated because of its social perspective, the high number of involved stakeholders, the willingness to handle water issues, and the local scale suitable for participation. We emphasized the prominence of the watershed scale guaranteed by the local water authority. This area was also characterized by compromise, arrangements, and power dynamics on a fine scale. We examined the most politically engaged writings regarding water management, which topics each group emphasized, and how the groups agreed and disagreed on issues based on their values and context. The temporal pattern of participation implementation was progressive but worked by fits and starts

L'homme et la Loire

National audienceAnalysis of relation between man and river: three features : river development, water resources management, spatial mapping by water.A partie de ces données contradictoires sur le débit dont la liste pourrait être plus longue, l'analyse des relations entre les hommes et le fleuve, peut se ramener à trois thèmes portant sur l'aménagement du cours, la gestion de la ressource en eau et la structuration de l'espace par l'eau. De l'un à l'autre de ces thèmes, se pose le problème de l'impact de ces activités sur l'écologie du système Loire

Originalit\ue9, potentialit\ue9s et limites de l'agricolture dans le Nord-Sinai

Vengono analizzate le dinamiche evolutive legate all'irrigazione nella penisola del Sina

Les inondations en Camargue d’octobre 1993 et janvier 1994

article rédigé en mars 1994International audienc

De l'e'chec d' un projet a'\ua0 l' e'mergence d' un territoire : La valle'e du Sourou (Burkina Faso)

The issues of the territorial development project based on irrigation in the Sourou Valley (Burkina Faso) are discussed regarding: the historical evolution and the role in the national development policies, the weak and the strong points of the project, its impact on the territorial system, some key issues of the present situation (selfsuffiency vs marketing, communitarianism vs liberalism, ecological issues, health conditions) and some scenarios of evolution, taking into consideration some international, national and local variables

Une approche régionale de la typologie morphologique des cours d'eau. Application de la méthode " morphorégions " au bassin de la Loire et perspectives pour le bassin du Rhône (France)

Classification of river morphology is but one of the many components to be accounted for in establishing a global, long-term approach to river management. In the proposed method, homogeneous regions are delineated on the basis of factors that determine drainage structure : longitudunal profiles and valley side slopes, channel forms and valley characteristics, drainage density and stream size. These criteria have been hierarchically classified to enable changes of scale from the individual river segment to the drainage basin. The regionalization process, based primarily on the interpretation of thematic and topographic maps, is verified through field work and statistical analysis. The method is presented in the light of results obtained on the Loire basin, and is currently being applied to the Rhône basin. / La mise en oeuvre de modèles de gestion patrimoniale des cours d'eau implique une approche globale dont la typologie établie sur des bases morphologiques ne constitue qu'une composante. La méthode établit un partage de l'espace sur la base de régions homogènes au plan des facteurs commandant le dispositif hydrologique : pentes longitudinales et transversales, relations entre le cours d'eau et la vallée, densité de drainage. Les critères permettant cette régionalisation ont été hiérarchisés de façon à permettre le changement d'échelle entre les cours d'eau élémentaires et la totalité du bassin fluvial. Les résultats obtenus sur la base d'une analyse sur cartes ont été contrôlés sur le terrain avant de faire l'objet d'une validation quantitative. La méthode définie sur le bassin de la Loire est actuellement reprise sur le bassin du Rhône français

L'eau est-elle un element structurant de l'espace? Existe-t-il une geographie de l'eau et quelle pourrait en etre la specificite? Quelle peut-etre la place des geographes dans la gestion de l'eau?

Tavola rotonda sulla ruolo dell'acqua nella strutturazione territoriale, tenuta in occasione del 2\ub0 seminario europeo di geografia dell'acqu