responsibilities and resources. For some, the GEMAPI will bring more coherence
because it will allow good structures to be set up; for others, the municipalities
would be forced to take on too many duties without sufficient financial means to
implement the management measures. Considering the issue of drought adaptation,
here again, the rigidity of responsibilities regarding crisis management does not
allow flexibility in the implementation of drought adaptation measures.
6.4.4 Intensity: Awareness of Drought Issues Induced
by Climate Change Is Low
The intensity of activation of several levels and scales is important in the Vilaine
catchment for water management but not for the possible increase of drought
frequency or intensity due to climate change. At the catchment scale, IAV has a
strong impact in terms of preserving water supply and implementing some specific
measures. However, IAV does not yet have the capacity to propose solutions for
other water uses during drought periods. Furthermore, the low level of drought
awareness among most of the actors is an obstacle that precludes the enhancement
of the intensity with which levels and scales are recognized and implemented in
drought adaptation strategies.
The intensity of one actor, IAV, is maximally strong in the lower Vilaine River
area. It drives a network represented by all the representatives of water uses within
the catchment and succeeds in making people work together throughout the area.
This is mainly due to the coordination activity of the SAGE Vilaine, linking water
users and water managers at the entire catchment scale surrounding the IAV.
However, as the place of IAV remains too central, it can be interpreted also as
indicating a certain vulnerability of the network.
Regarding drought perceptions and goal ambitions, we observe that awareness has gradually increased, although the anticipation of drought events is only
effective in sensitive areas located on the eastern part of the catchment. Therefore,
this awareness does not directly concern the Arzal dam and its reservoir. Only
drought crisis management, based on critical observed low-flow conditions, is
planned and integrated within the dam management rules driven by IAV. We can
also emphasize that drought is seldom mentioned by stakeholders in relationship to
climate change impacts. Up to now, climate change has neither been discussed
within the LWC nor considered a threat to the sustainability of the production of the
freshwater resource in the whole catchment. Only recently, at the end of the DROP
project, has it received more attention in the management of freshwater in the Arzal
dam.
In France, strategy and instruments for water crisis management are well
defined at the State level. At the catchment scale, the SAGE regulation can provide
6 The Governance Context of Drought Policy and Pilot Measures …
129
because it will allow good structures to be set up; for others, the municipalities
would be forced to take on too many duties without sufficient financial means to
implement the management measures. Considering the issue of drought adaptation,
here again, the rigidity of responsibilities regarding crisis management does not
allow flexibility in the implementation of drought adaptation measures.
6.4.4 Intensity: Awareness of Drought Issues Induced
by Climate Change Is Low
The intensity of activation of several levels and scales is important in the Vilaine
catchment for water management but not for the possible increase of drought
frequency or intensity due to climate change. At the catchment scale, IAV has a
strong impact in terms of preserving water supply and implementing some specific
measures. However, IAV does not yet have the capacity to propose solutions for
other water uses during drought periods. Furthermore, the low level of drought
awareness among most of the actors is an obstacle that precludes the enhancement
of the intensity with which levels and scales are recognized and implemented in
drought adaptation strategies.
The intensity of one actor, IAV, is maximally strong in the lower Vilaine River
area. It drives a network represented by all the representatives of water uses within
the catchment and succeeds in making people work together throughout the area.
This is mainly due to the coordination activity of the SAGE Vilaine, linking water
users and water managers at the entire catchment scale surrounding the IAV.
However, as the place of IAV remains too central, it can be interpreted also as
indicating a certain vulnerability of the network.
Regarding drought perceptions and goal ambitions, we observe that awareness has gradually increased, although the anticipation of drought events is only
effective in sensitive areas located on the eastern part of the catchment. Therefore,
this awareness does not directly concern the Arzal dam and its reservoir. Only
drought crisis management, based on critical observed low-flow conditions, is
planned and integrated within the dam management rules driven by IAV. We can
also emphasize that drought is seldom mentioned by stakeholders in relationship to
climate change impacts. Up to now, climate change has neither been discussed
within the LWC nor considered a threat to the sustainability of the production of the
freshwater resource in the whole catchment. Only recently, at the end of the DROP
project, has it received more attention in the management of freshwater in the Arzal
dam.
In France, strategy and instruments for water crisis management are well
defined at the State level. At the catchment scale, the SAGE regulation can provide
6 The Governance Context of Drought Policy and Pilot Measures …
129