The thesis is part of the ANR BlueState project, which aims to analyze how states regulate and oversee access to and use of freshwater, as well as to study the main factors influencing the adoption or rejection of water resource preservation policies and ecosystem protection.

In the French territorial administration the role of prefects in water management is central, yet relatively poorly understood. They carry out traditional responsibilities related to authorizing installations, infrastructure, works, and activities that could impact water resources and ecosystems, overseeing compliance, and prioritizing water use during drought periods. Prefects arbitrate between multiple political, administrative, economic, and social demands, often contradictory.

However, climate change and the growing social tensions around water are increasingly challenging their decisions on water and environmental matters. Recent institutional and legislative developments have created conditions for a trend toward the "prefecturalization" of water management.

The thesis aims to analyze the evolving role of prefects and the socio-political variables that underlie their decisions in the field of water, specifically taking into account their career trajectory, professional ethos, the institutional dynamics that directly affect them, the growing social conflicts around water, and the local political contexts in which they operate. The thesis project will include a comparative analysis of water management measures by prefects in 3 or 4 territories (to be defined).

To facilitate the analysis of the various factors influencing prefectural decisions and to better understand the different management policies in territories with distinct hydrological, economic, or sociocultural conditions, the thesis will adopt a resolutely interdisciplinary approach.

Key words: Political science, sociology of public action, governance, water management, environmental policies