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Adour-Garonne Basin Management plan and program of measures for 2010-2015 A public debate. François SIMONET Budapest, 15th October 2008. The Adour-Garonne Basin. Administrative make-up of the area. 6 Regions 25 Departments 6,900 Communes 7 million inhabitants
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Adour-Garonne Basin Management plan and program • of measures for 2010-2015 A public debate François SIMONET Budapest, 15th October 2008
The Adour-Garonne Basin Administrative make-up of the area • 6 Regions • 25 Departments • 6,900 Communes • 7 million inhabitants • 7 sub-basins (120,000 km of rivers) • Very large underground water ressources • Total area of 118,000 sq. km - one-fifth of France
Objectives of the consultation • Water Framework Directive • Draft of the management plan2010 - 2015 (SDAGE) • Outline of the program of measuresfor 2010-2015 • A project requiring the involvementof one and all
All are involved Local Committees 500 Public 7,000,000 In concert : co construction Consultation : opinions Committee for the Basin : Water parliament 200 Water Forum 2,000
Consult the public Water is life. Let’s know your views! Become a WATER-CITIZEN
The context… • 14th article of the Water Framwork Directive (23/10/2000) • Aarhus convention (25/06/1998) (in application of 10th article of the Rio convention in 1992) • National Committee for the public debate in France (02/02/1995) • A national framework, a local network
The challenges... • To inform the public about water management and make them more aware of it • To encourage and help them to give their opinions • To provide them with a synthesis of the views and proposals put forward • To take into account the proposals in developing the projects
Awareness, information, mobilisation...... • Media campaigns (local and regional press, TV and radio, posters) and institutionnal campains • Local events : meetings and public debates • Travelling exhibition of the issues involved in water management (60 main towns) • Informing young people in a school context
For all to recognise... • A logo • A graphic charter
A questionnaire... Form an opinion
A web site... To inform To collect opinions
The balance-sheet... • 3,300,000 questionnaires distributed (into mail-boxes) • E-mailing (to 50,000 addresses) • 50,000 replies • 45,000 on paper • 5,000 by Internet
Who were the most to reply and on what topics ? • Men aged more than 36 • Retired people, employees and working class(the lowest rate of reply was from farmers and young people) • Drinking water and water economy headed the list, far ahead of environmental issues • Pesticides and industrial waste were the respondents' principal concerns
The difficulties of the exercise • Few precedents for such public consultations • Documents for water management very full in content, very technical and difficult to simplify (questionnaire very basic) • Almost incomprehensible to the non-initiated • General public hardly aware of water matters (notably among the young and country folk) • An incomplete idea of water’s environmental aspects: the main image was merely of water to drink
Some paths towards improvement • Make the public more aware of water concerns through an “ecologic” approach • Catch their interest from the youngest age and in the schools • Inform and communicate permanently, invent an appropriate new system of teaching • Form networks for receiving objective opinions, from institutioinal bodies and local groups, and take heed of them • Transcribe into understandable language