"Keeping" the link with water: a spatial division by watershed sector tested by the perception of residents

Abstract

In the south of France, the Gardons watershed, characteristic of Mediterranean environments, contains a diversity of issues from upstream to downstream that can be understood according to specific sectors defined. The first sector is a mountainous and little urbanized zone, sheltering a part of the Cevennes National Park. The second sector is made up of plains with a strong urbanization and industrial activities around the agglomeration of Ales. The last sector is made up of garrigues, essentially tourist and agricultural, with a relative urbanization from the Gorges du Gardon to the Rhône. How can different spatial contexts, centered on the question of water, orient the representations and practices of the societies there? This division gives a socioecological definition of the watershed, which presupposes particular relations to water for the residents. Thus, the question arises of the adequacy between a discourse carried by the institutions and its perception by the populations. To determine this, we decided to carry out a survey among the residents of this space, about their perception of water as a resource and an environment