France's water policy: The interest and limits of river contracts

Abstract

France established river contracts in 1981 to control pollution and flooding, manage hydraulic structures, and raise stakeholder awareness. Greater decentralization in the country, followed by European Union (EU) water obligations, has encouraged contractual arrangements of this kind. River contracts include 5-year study and works programs that allow towns, industrial companies, and farmers to pool their resources and set common objectives at the watershed scale. The state subsidizes some of the projects, thereby encouraging local players to commit themselves more to managing water resources. The results, however, fall short of the environmental objectives initially targeted by public authorities, suggesting that river contracts never replace fines and other coercive instruments.