This article analyses the transition from a very centralised state to a system of local governance that occurred in France during the second half of the XXth century in the field of water management. It clarifies further the situation of governance and characterises the resulting reorganisation of the public action. Then it points out various levels of public action and analyses their interactions in the case study of the Drôme River. It therefore discusses the role of some local autonomous places that produce public action. It ends by observing how and whether environmental policies and economic development can be integrated and at what scales.