Sharing Water Between Nature and Humans: Environmental Flows and the Politics of Quantification - INRAE - Institut national de recherche pour l’agriculture, l’alimentation et l’environnement
Journal Articles Water alternatives Year : 2024

Sharing Water Between Nature and Humans: Environmental Flows and the Politics of Quantification

Abstract

In 2008 the French government launched its Quantitative Water Management policy initiative, as part of which the Rhone-Mediterranee Corse Water Agency undertook studies to ascertain monthly environmental flows at key sub-basin control points and the corresponding 'allowable [water] withdrawals'. Despite simplification, uncertainties, and insufficient data, the studies produced environmental-flow (e-flow) targets endowed with the power of allocating water between humans and nature. We analyse the fluctuation of the e-flow target at Point T6 in the Tet river basin, in the South of France, and show that, rather than an objective, quantitative ecological threshold dictated by science, it can be seen as a boundary number that embodies imaginaries, values, ideologies and interests. Science, but also law, appear to be selectively mobilized, massaged or contested. As a 'slider', the e-flow target reflects the state's political will and/or capacity to impose change and a reduction in water abstraction. Although the e-flow at Point T6 so far failed to play its role as a 'boundary number' and to achieve a settlement, it both exposed the limits of the pre-existing status quo and reshuffled the cards, legitimizing in particular the entry of environmental actors.
Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
Sharing_Water_Between_Nature_and_Humans_Environmental_Flows_and_the_Politics_of_Quantification_2024.pdf (800.15 Ko) Télécharger le fichier
Origin Publisher files allowed on an open archive
Licence

Dates and versions

hal-04651116 , version 1 (17-07-2024)

Licence

Identifiers

  • HAL Id : hal-04651116 , version 1
  • WOS : 001250825100014

Cite

François Molle, Anne-Laure Collard. Sharing Water Between Nature and Humans: Environmental Flows and the Politics of Quantification. Water alternatives, 2024, 17 (2), pp.510-532. ⟨hal-04651116⟩
29 View
2 Download

Share

More