• Water governance that in general gives more weight to representatives of economic interests than to environmental ones
• A hierarchy as regards water uses in case of water scarcity that favours drinking
and service water supplies
• Contrasting initiatives which try to better take into account drought in all sectors
13.3.1 Water Governance Gives More Weight
to Representatives of Economic Interests Than
to Environmental Ones
Together with traditional water users (water supply, industries, etc.) the agricultural
sector relies upon water rights that it holds from the past. It is thus hard to take these
rights and to redistribute them among new sectors as nature-related ones.
More precisely, due to the relative importance of the agricultural sector in the
regional economy of the studied regions, the agriculture production influences
water governance. The governance of drought and water scarcity reserves an
important listening ear towards representatives of agricultural sectors in all the
regions. Moreover, this economic sector proved to be well organized and to operate
with a high level of interactive capacities in all the regions.
One can notice that multilevel interactions are quite varied between the regions
studied. In most cases, water authorities have taken the lead in drought resilience
management, but the involvement of other stakeholders is not balanced: environmental NGOs find it difficult to make their voices heard, due to the focus on
agriculture and economic development (tourism, urbanization, etc.).
However in some regions like the ones studied in the Netherlands, it is worth
noting that agriculture is not always ranked at the highest priority level. In that
country, part of surface water needs to be flushed to prevent salt intrusion in the
low-lying western parts of the country, which implies a lower availability for
agricultural use in the east part, and within the displacement chain, which outlines
the priorities of competing water uses during dry periods, agricultural production
has a low priority. This hierarchy between sectors must thus be analysed through
the lenses of geographical and sociopolitical context.
It has been pointed out in the nature cross-cutting chapter that in each region, the
water system has been modified in the past, either for purposes of flood protection
or freshwater delivery or agricultural efficiency or all at the same time. All of these
interventions had side effects on other services of the water system that were often
not recognized when the interventions took place. These modifications question the
level of ‘naturality’ to be taken into account which does not help to reallocate water
rights to ‘nature-related stakes’.
13 Towards a Drought Policy in North-West European Regions?
251
• A hierarchy as regards water uses in case of water scarcity that favours drinking
and service water supplies
• Contrasting initiatives which try to better take into account drought in all sectors
13.3.1 Water Governance Gives More Weight
to Representatives of Economic Interests Than
to Environmental Ones
Together with traditional water users (water supply, industries, etc.) the agricultural
sector relies upon water rights that it holds from the past. It is thus hard to take these
rights and to redistribute them among new sectors as nature-related ones.
More precisely, due to the relative importance of the agricultural sector in the
regional economy of the studied regions, the agriculture production influences
water governance. The governance of drought and water scarcity reserves an
important listening ear towards representatives of agricultural sectors in all the
regions. Moreover, this economic sector proved to be well organized and to operate
with a high level of interactive capacities in all the regions.
One can notice that multilevel interactions are quite varied between the regions
studied. In most cases, water authorities have taken the lead in drought resilience
management, but the involvement of other stakeholders is not balanced: environmental NGOs find it difficult to make their voices heard, due to the focus on
agriculture and economic development (tourism, urbanization, etc.).
However in some regions like the ones studied in the Netherlands, it is worth
noting that agriculture is not always ranked at the highest priority level. In that
country, part of surface water needs to be flushed to prevent salt intrusion in the
low-lying western parts of the country, which implies a lower availability for
agricultural use in the east part, and within the displacement chain, which outlines
the priorities of competing water uses during dry periods, agricultural production
has a low priority. This hierarchy between sectors must thus be analysed through
the lenses of geographical and sociopolitical context.
It has been pointed out in the nature cross-cutting chapter that in each region, the
water system has been modified in the past, either for purposes of flood protection
or freshwater delivery or agricultural efficiency or all at the same time. All of these
interventions had side effects on other services of the water system that were often
not recognized when the interventions took place. These modifications question the
level of ‘naturality’ to be taken into account which does not help to reallocate water
rights to ‘nature-related stakes’.
13 Towards a Drought Policy in North-West European Regions?
251