France’s EPTBs: a successful system for even-handed water management
The good management of water and earth, with their associated resources, leads the way to effective economic, social and ecological well-being in the long term. It is essential, therefore, that the public authorities should give serious consideration to water management. One of the main difficulties in this field arises from the institutional geography: there is no immediate relationship between the geography of public policy and that of the water basin. In 2003, France’s individual water basin organizations, known as the EPTBs, were recognized as having operational responsibility for water management under the environmental code. The EPTBs’ specific actions can be summarized under three headings: adapting projects to meet the different needs of each territory; planning ability; and ensuring that “governance” (i.e. organisation and operation) is effected democratically.