Wednesday 2nd of july – 14:00
14:00
30 Years of Local Water Democracy, Issues and Current Context in the Face of Climate Change: The Case of the Drôme River Basin
AUTHORS
GIRARD Sabine, Adrien Mollaret
France
Short Abstract: The Local Water Commission of the Drôme River Basin, the first in France, is now thirty years old, which provides some perspective on the implementation of participatory and integrated water management policies in territories. How does this local democracy institution, responsible for strategic planning, resist or recompose itself in the face of renewed challenges from climate change and its effects on societies? The context is notably marked by scientific uncertainties, institutional inertias, and a growing demand for citizen involvement in public decision-making and elaboration. Based on this case study, followed over the long term through several research projects, we assess the advances, limits, and issues of the Local Water Commission from a democratic perspective. Then we explore two experiences of amplifying local participation, beyond the usual designated representatives, before specifically discussing the procedural challenges of democratizing territorial water management
14:20
The Talanoa laboratory in Aude: a participative approach to transformative adaptation of water uses in the face of climate change
AUTHORS
DORCHIES David, DEBOLINI Marta, GRAVELINE Nina, IMBESI Filippo, LE-GALLO Juliette, ORLANDO Kevin Bosirany
France
Short Abstract: In the Mediterranean region, climate change is considerably increasing the water requirements of crops, while water resources are becoming scarcer due to reduced and altered rainfall patterns, leading to more frequent and intense water crises. The Talanoa-Water project proposes to respond by combining dialogue between stakeholders to collectively develop transformative adaptation strategies, and modelling to assess the performance of these strategies. This experiment was carried out on the Aude Médiane et Aval, one of the most overexploited river basins in France. The co-construction of strategies for adapting the agricultural sector and water management to climate change was based on a series of participatory workshops involving more than a hundred participants representing the various stakeholders. They first drew up prospective scenarios for changes in the local economy, agricultural development and water use for four contexts based on socio-economic trajectories (SSPs). They then proposed adaptation strategies in the form of action packages for these different contexts. They also played an active part in developing the model representing hydrological, agronomic and economic dynamics, which is responsible for assessing the performance of the adaptation strategies proposed by the stakeholders. The dynamics of the stakeholders and the results of the ‘Audois’ laboratory are now widely re-used in the context of the Aude basin’s PTGE.
14:40
C3PO + Explore2 : an assessment of the effects of climate change on the sharing of water in the Durance watershed
AUTHORS
DUMOULIN Pascal, GARRIGOU Johan
France
Short Abstract: The SMAVD developed the C3PO model to assess the effects of climate change on the Durance water resource, socio-economic water uses and on the environment. The french national program Explore2 provides future river flows under climate change for more than 4000 points. The integration of this flow data into the C3PO tool made possible to carry out a simulation confronting today’s territory (current uses and management rules) with the future water resource projected by Explore2. The C3PO decision-making tool supports the work of the political Local Water Commission of Durance’s SAGE : it helps decision making on the future share of the Durance water and testing solutions for adaptation to the effects of climate change. This article presents a summary of the main methodological choices made to successfully carry out this first simulation : select possible hydrological futures ; define and validate relevant indicators of change with local stakeholders. The results based on the RCP8.5 scenario are presented for two levels of moderate (+2-3°C) and high (+4-5°C) warming level. They highlight the strain on multi-use water management due to the projected decline in water resources, particularly in the summer period : increase in the need for sustaining ecological flow by réservoirs ; increase in the duration and frequency of restrictions on agricultural uses in particular ; reduction of the hydroelectric production ; reduction of the summery filling rate of large reservoirs for tourism.
15:00
When drought invites itself to the land of plenty. Re-governing waters and lands in the Etang de l’Or watershed
AUTHORS
GHIOTTI Stéphane
France
Short Abstract: The Étang de l’Or watershed, developed over more than half a century around large-scale regional irrigation and tourism infrastructures, is now facing the emerging challenges of droughts and adapting to the effects of climate change. This paper will analyze, through the lens of ongoing debates surrounding the formulation of Water Planning and Management Schemes (called SAGE), how stakeholders and institutions within the watershed are addressing the need to incorporate this new dimension in a basin traditionally considered water-secure thanks to Rhône River resources.
15:20
A social metabolism approach to collective governance of groundwater: the case of Limaoua in south-east Tunisia
AUTHORS
HEMINGWAY Charlotte, HASSENFORDER Emeline, VENOT Jean-Philippe, CHRII Samia, MEKKI Insaf, MORARDET Sylvie
France
Short Abstract: Limaoua, a small agricultural region in Gabès governorate in south-east Tunisia, faces significant challenges related to groundwater degradation, both in terms of quantity and quality, as evidenced by the lowering of the water table and the increase in salinity. Since the 1970s, public policies have promoted the expansion of irrigated farming, transforming the agricultural landscape. Today, 24% of the cultivated land in Limaoua is irrigated. Perennial irrigated fruit plantations are expanding, largely driven by non-local agricultural investors cultivating olive trees, oranges and pomegranates. In response to the growing and looming groundwater crisis, the local administration has established in 2017 a safeguard perimeter prohibiting the drilling of new borewells. However, illegal borewells continue to be drilled, undermining these efforts. We propose a novel approach to collective governance that integrates the diverse social and economic stakeholders connected to groundwater resources. Through participatory methods and the social metabolism framework, we aim to foster awareness of the interdependencies among stakeholders sharing this common resource. Our approach also seeks to identify the social drivers of environmental pressures and collaboratively build scenarios for the sustainable use of natural resources. This initiative is important in a context marked by pronounced inequalities in access to land and agricultural resources.