Abstract ID: 3.12543 | Not reviewed | Requested as: Talk | TBA | TBA

Mountain areas such as the Alpine region are confronted with periodic water scarcity as a result of climatic changes and simultaneously intensifying forms of water use. In this context the question arises as to how to deal with a shortage of water resources. In the European context, the prevailing opinion is that technical solutions can provide a remedy. By involving interest groups, economic water management is being reframed as ‘water governance’, with the potential to resolve conflicts over water use. However, existing research has largely overlooked how specific forms of natural resource utilisation are not only shaped by social structures, but also the extent to which these forms of utilisation in turn structure social order. The interaction between society and water thus leads to “hydro-social configurations”, and it is evident that including additional stakeholders in water use issues will have limited impact on conflict resolution. On the contrary, conflicts are intensifying due to dwindling water resources.

Accordingly, my PhD project aims to extend previous technical analyses of water supply and its institutional management with an in-depth analysis of the interplay between society and water resources in the Alpine region. To this end, I apply the concept of “water culture”, which has its origins in socio-ecological urban research. This concept takes account of the complexity of the matter by encompassing technical, legal and economic aspects of water as well as the social practice of water use and thus helps to explain underlying causes for natural as well as societal problems.

The utility of the “water culture” concept will be demonstrated through a case study I am conducting in the French department of Haute-Savoie (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region): the legal dispute over the construction of a retention basin in the municipality of La Clusaz, which for politicians represents the safeguarding of the water supply for the population and winter tourism and which for environmental associations stands for a massive intervention in the ecosystem. The application of the “water culture” concept reveals that the attribution of differing meanings to water has contributed to the escalation of this conflict.