The shifting territorialities of the Rhone River's transboundary governance : A historical analysis of the evolution of the functions, uses and spatiality of river basin governance

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The shifting territorialities of the Rhone River's transboundary governance : A historical analysis of the evolution of the functions,

uses and spatiality of river basin governance

BRETHAUT, Christian, PFLIEGER, Géraldine

Abstract

The Rhone River has long been regarded upon its productive capacities. Shared between two Nation-States, Switzerland and France, the River has been a major development factor for the two countries and the regions situated along its banks. The Swiss part of the Rhone is characterised by the great diversity of its uses. It flows from the Rhone glacier through the agriculture plains of Valais, into the Lake Geneva and then through the city of Geneva. The River has always produced numerous goods and services. It is mainly used for agriculture in its upper part and for hydropower production in Geneva where management of the Rhone is delegated to a semi-public company, the SIG (Services Industriels de Genève). The River has long been canalised and its natural flow massively modified. On the French side, since the 1933, the CNR (Compagnie Nationale du Rhone) is in charge of the river management from the Swiss border to the Mediterranean Sea. The company has three missions: hydropower production, navigation and irrigation. Later on, in a post-war context, the French central State canalised the River considering the Rhone first [...]

BRETHAUT, Christian, PFLIEGER, Géraldine. The shifting territorialities of the Rhone River's transboundary governance : A historical analysis of the evolution of the functions, uses and spatiality of river basin governance. In: 7th ECPR General Conference : Pannel Who wants to be part of IWRM? The politics of scale in basins and catchment, Bordeaux (France), 4-7 Septembre, 2013

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http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:29570

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The  shi'ing  territoriali/es  of  the  Rhone   River’s  transboundary  governance    

A  historical  analysis  of  the  evolu/on  of  the   func/ons,  uses  and  spa/ality  of  river  basin  

governance    

Chris/an  Bréthaut  &  Géraldine  Pflieger  

UNIGE  –  Ins/tute  of  Environmental  Sciences   Group  Policy,  Environment  and  Territories  

chris/[email protected]  /  geraldine.pfl[email protected]  

7^th  ECPR  General  Conference  

Sciences  Po,  Bordeaux,  4-­‐7  September  2013   4  September  2013  :  Panel  S56P417  

Context  

-­‐  A  river  shared  between   Switzerland  and  France   -­‐  The  Rhone  has  long  been  

considered  as  a  major  

development  factor:  irriga/on   and  hydropower  uses  of  

water  

-­‐  River  management  operated   by  a  small  number  of  actors   from  Lake  Geneva  to  the   Mediterranean  Sea  

-­‐  Industrial  Services  of  Geneva   -­‐  Compagnie  Na/onale  du  

Rhône  

Aim  of  the  paper  

-­‐  Since  the  beginning  of  the  2000’s:  a  shi'  in  the  management  of  the   River  and  its  spa/ality  due  to  the  emergence  of  new  water  

management  perspec/ves  

-­‐  This  communica/on  aims  to  discuss  the  issues  related  to  the  

transboundary  governance  of  the  River  when  its  flow  is  historically  

governed  through  hydropower  produc/on  

Research  ques/ons  

1.  To  what  extent  have  the  spa/al  boundaries  of   the  management  of  the  river  evolved  since  the   19th  century?    

2.   What  is  the  impact  of  these  various  

territoriali/es  on  uses  and  users,  both  in  terms   of  inclusion  and  exclusion?    

3.   And  reciprocally,  to  what  extent  has  the  

emergence  of  new  uses,  and  users,  challenged   the  territorial  governance  of  the  river?    

Analysis  of  three  periods  through  the  lens  of   four  analy/cal  variables:  

1.   Mono  /  Mul/  func/onal  regula/ons   2.   Inclusion  /  Exclusion  of  users  

3.   Private  /  Public  actors  involvement   4.   Spa/ality  

4  analy/cal  variables  

•  Priority  sedng  on  a  small  number  of  water  uses  

–  Agriculture  purposes  upstream  from  Lake  Geneva  

–  Hydropower  produc/on  from  Geneva  to  the  Mediterranean  Sea  

•  The  Rhone  as  an  industrial  tool  of  produc/on  (Pritchard,  2011)  

•  Geneva:  infrastructures  to  control  lake’s  levels  and  to  exploit  the  energy  produced   by  water    

•  Canton  of  Geneva  delegates  the  management  of  the  Rhone  to  the  Industrial   Services  of  Geneva:  concession  contract  

•  In  France,  a  concession  contract  is  granted  to  CNR  in  1934  for  the  management  of   the  Rhone  

•  Main  missions:  produc/on  of  electricity  /  irriga/on  /  naviga/on  

•  Phase  1  =    

–  No  considera/on  for  the  transboundary  or  river  basin  scale  of  governance   –  Weak  involvement  of  public  authori/es  beyond  their  regulatory  

responsibili/es  and  concession  contracts  

Phase  1:  1870-­‐1970  

Phase  2:  1970-­‐2000  

•  Since  the  seven/es,  growth  of  nuclear  produc/on  and  new  role  of  public   administra/on  in  the  field  of  environmental  preserva/on  

•  In  France,  new  type  of  operator:  Electricité  de  France  à  the  CNR  lost  its   monopoly  posi/on  

•  Nuclear  security  as  a  key  issue  à  The  role  of  public  actors  focused  on  an   opera/onal  level  

•  Important  room  for  manœuvre  to  private  actors  and  a  great  number  of  bilateral   agreement  regarding  water  exchanges  

•  Management  of  rivalries  depending  essen/ally  on  private  law  agreements   between  electricity  producers  

•  Phase  2  =    

-  Transboundary  coordina/on  is  strengthened  but  remained  focused  on   hydropower  and  opera/onal  issues  

-  Emergence  of  transboundary  and  mul/func/onal  agreements  even  if  the  

transboundary  collabora/on  remains  focused  on  the  func/oning  of  one  sector  

Phase  3:  2000-­‐ongoing  

•  Early  2000,  increase  of  water  management  complexity  due  to  the  growing  amount   of  uses  which  were  not  previously  recognised  

•  New  water  management  policies  following  the  reinforcement  of  environmental   legisla/on  in  Switzerland,  France  and  EU  and  orientated  towards  the  river  basin   unit  and  a  beker  protec/on  of  ecosystems  

–  New  legisla/ons  (LEMA  2006  /  Loi  Grenelle  II  /  Water  Framework  Direc/ve)  and  new  policy   instruments  (SDAGE)  

•  Increase  of  heterogeneous  uses  and  rivalries  combined  to  the  development  of   legal  framework  imply  a  return  of  central  State  in  the  centre  of  the  stage  

•  Phase  3  =  

–  Public  actors  try  to  find  new  ins/tu/onal  mechanisms  able  to  beker  frame   transboundary  governance  

–  High  poli/cal  level  nego/a/ons  contras/ng  with  the  self-­‐management   procedures  and  arrangements  between  private  actors  

Synthesis  

  Mono  /  Mul1   func1onal  

regula1ons Included  /  Excluded  users Private  or  Public  actors  involvement Spa1ality

Phase  1  

1870-­‐1970 Mono  func/onal   regula/on

Included:  

 Hydroelectricity  producers      

Excluded:  

Environmental  organisa/ons      

Absent:  

Nuclear  Energy  Producer

Switzerland:  

Public  actors  as  manager  and   regulator  

Management  at  the  basin  scale   in  France  only  (through  CNR  

concession)  

No  transboundary  agreements France:    

Private  actors  and  self-­‐management

Phase  2   1970-­‐2000

Mul/func/onal   regula/on  of  few  

water  uses

Included:  

Hydroelectricity  producers   Nuclear  Energy  producer  

Excluded  (but  emerging):  

Public  administra/ons  responsible   for  environmental  preserva/on

Switzerland:  

Public  actors  as  regulator  /  Semi   public  actors  as  manager

Transboundary  agreements   exis/ng  on  a  sectorial  basis France:  

Private  actors  and  self-­‐management

Phase  3   2000-­‐ongoing

Mul/func/onal   regula/on  of   heterogeneous  and  

complex  rivalries

Included:  

Hydroelectricity  producers   Nuclear  Energy  Producers   Public  administra/ons  in  charge  

of  environmental  preserva/on      

Excluded  (but  emerging):  

Environmental  organisa/ons

Switzerland:  

Public  actors  as  regulator  and   manager  (for  environmental  issues)  /  

Semi  public  actors  as  manager Akempt  to  define  new   transboundary  ins/tu/onal   mechanisms  between  public  

authori/es France:  

Private  actors  as  manager  /  Public   actors  with  reinforced  regulatory   power  in  energy  and  environmental  

fields

Answer  to  the  research  ques/ons  (1)  

1.  To  what  extent  have  the  spa1al  boundaries  of  the  management  of  the  river   evolved  since  the  19th  century?    

-­‐  The  descrip/on  of  the  different  phases  shows  that  spa/ality  of  river  management   tends  to  evolve  from  monofunc/onal  spaces  of  regula/on  to  mul/func/onal  and  a   transboundary  regulatory  space  at  the  river  basin  scale  in  line  with  IWRM  concept   -­‐  This  shi'  is  influenced  by  the  emergence  of  new  uses  and  heterogeneous  rivalries    

2.  What  is  the  impact  of  these  various  territoriali1es  on  uses  and  users,  both  in   terms  of  inclusion  and  exclusion?    

-  The  evolu/on  of  river  governance  territoriality  implies  the  inclusion  of  different   uses  

-  New  poli/cal  agenda  in  rela/on  to  IWRM  tends  …    

-  …  to  reinforce  the  inclusion  of  heterogeneous  uses  and  rivalries  among  users     -  …  to  manage  the  interdependencies  between  upstream  and  downstream  

Answer  to  the  research  ques/ons  (2)  

3.  And  reciprocally,  to  what  extent  has  the  emergence  of  new  uses,  and  users,   challenged  the  territorial  governance  of  the  river?    

-  Inclusion  of  new  water  uses  had  a  heavy  impact  on  the  governance  of  the  river   à  Increase  of  heterogeneous  rivalries  through  the  inclusion  of  new  water  uses   driven  by  the  local  and  na/onal  public  authori/es  

-  The  third  phase  illustrates  a  need  for  greater  responsibility  of  the  public  sector   and  shows  the  akempt  of  public  authori/es  to  redefine  a  common  policy  

regulatory  space  through  a  new  transboundary  perimeter   -  The  transboundary  scale  …  

-  …  as  an  opera/onal  space  

-  …  but  also  as  a  new  poli/cal  arena  characterised  by  the  confronta/on  of   different  poli/cal  agendas  and  regulatory  framework  objec/ves  

Conclusion  

-  This  case  illustrates    

-  how  the  redefini/on  of  the  spa/ality  of  river  governance  induces  power  games  between  actors  at   different  scales  and  intersectoral  tensions  and  rivalries  

-  how  Rhone  River  governance  moves  from  monofunc1onal  regula1on  to  mul1func1onal   regula1on  of  heterogeneous  and  complex  rivalries  

-  Finally,  the  third  phase  shows  an  increase  of  complexity…    

-  …  a  more  fragmented  ins/tu/onal  sedng   -  …  an  increase  of  involved  actors  

-  …  mul/ple  scales  of  interven/on  

-  …  number  of  overlapping  ini/a/ves  from  different  ins/tu/onal  levels    

à  Global  coherence  of  river  governance  (and  subsequently  of  its  level  of  integra/on)   can  be  poten/ally  diminished  (due  to  blurring  of  roles  and  func/ons,  coordina/on   problems,  overlapping  and  some/mes  counterproduc/ve  ini/a/ves)  

-  A  ques/on  for  the  concept  of  IWRM  …  

THANK  YOU  FOR  YOUR  ATTENTION  

[email protected]  /  geraldine.pfl[email protected]   hYp://www.unige.ch/environnement/polet/index_en.html  

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