The issues of quantitative water management have now reached the top of the political agenda, both at national and local level. In an attempt to meet the challenges of sustainably modifying the availability and distribution of freshwater resources, the institutional, legislative and regulatory frameworks are currently undergoing major transformation. These changes are having a direct impact on the institutions that regulate water management, and on the practices of a wide range of stakeholders with potentially very different interests, resources and strategies. These tensions arise in a socio-economic context in which, in some areas, questions of use and resource sharing are becoming increasingly polarised. The direct cause and consequence of these tensions is water management at territorial level.

The aim of this thesis is to study the governance mechanisms of water management at local level. Case studies at departmental (or sub-departmental) level will serve as a basis for a qualitative analysis of the operation of water governance structures. The aim is to analyse the interplay between stakeholders inside and outside water management structures (CLE in particular), the influence of stakeholders and their trajectories in these arenas, the role of the various documents and regulations (SAGE, PTGE, etc.) in the conduct of public water management policy, and the conduct of negotiations and the construction of agreements. The research will be based on social science methods (interviews, observations, documentary work).