Anne Rivière-Honegger

Perception of braided river landscapes: implications for public participation and sustainable management.

Over the past century, the ecologically-diverse, braided Magra River in Italy has narrowed, incised, and lost many gravel bars due to the riparian vegetation encroachment following the decrease in bedload supply and channel degradation. Motivated by the European Water Framework Directive, river scientists and managers are beginning to plan projects to conserve and restore these dynamic mosaics of rare habitats and processes. To support this objective, a study was conducted to assess how braided rivers are perceived by different social groups in the area. In June, 2006, 127 people were surveyed using a photo-questionnaire consisting of ten photographs that depicted riverscapes with different proportions of water, vegetation, and bed material. Respondents were asked to score each photograph in terms of aesthetic value, beneficial uses, and river management needs. Results showed that the photographs depicting gravel bars were perceived as less aesthetically pleasing, so therefore they need an active management. However, these perceptions differed amongst groups of participants, reflecting their interests and objectives. This paper identifies a distance between scientific and popular attitudes and discusses implications for public participation, support for braided river restoration policy, and environmental education.

Traditional Water Management in the Mediterranean: Authorized Union Associations in Languedoc-Roussillon

The history and activities of the traditional nineteenth century landowner associations, called authorized union associations (assocations syndicales autorisees, or ASAs) provide a dynamic example of local water governance in the French Mediterranean region of Languedoc-Roussillon. These associations provide fertile ground for testing the European Water Framework Directive (WFD), which calls for decisions to be made “at a level as close as possible to the place in which water is used.” ASAs own their infrastructure, hold collective water rights, and are responsible for maintaining gravity-based irrigation systems. Still largely made up of farmers concerned with water for agriculture, the ASAs gradually are expanding to provide services to the community to meet the demands of population growth and urban development. This multi-functionality gives the associations a role as legitimate stakeholders in integrated water management at the watershed level.