Cross-cutting Perspective Freshwater

Abstract

International audience ; This chapter explores the links between drought governance and the vulnerability of freshwater for drinking water supply, with a focus on drought adaptation. The public awareness of drought and water scarcity risks in such a flood-prone region is still low. However, the fact that fresh water availability for drinking water supply is threatened not only by a decrease in water availability, related to climate variability and climate change, but also due to the increase in water demand, related to population and economic growth, this issue can potentially motivate the introduction of drought and water scarcity risks into the public and political agenda. Even if the northwestern European countries in this study have similar climatic settings, other aspects of their contexts can be quite contrasting in each pilot case. Depending on where the freshwater reservoir is placed, upstream or downstream within the catchment, different levels and scales are mobilized to tackle water management challenges. The priority hierarchy of water uses in case of drought can also be surprisingly different in neighboring countries. Even if some actions, as the expansion of spatial water networks connectivity, have started to improve the robustness of drinking water systems, the solutions that require a paradigm shift to a most systemic strategy including water demand control remain out of the agenda and could greatly improve the resilience of the region to drought and water scarcity risk.