Raconter la crise : les extrêmes hydrologiques au prisme de la presse locale (Drôme)

Abstract

The first Water resources development and management plan (Schéma d’aménagement et de gestion des eaux) approved in France in 1997 and the Riverprize awarded in 2005 established the Drôme catchment an internationally recognized model for integrative and participatory river management. However, at the local watershed scale, various stakeholders express their disappointment at the difficulties of managing extreme hydrologic events, such as droughts or floods. The 1981 and 2008 editions of two local weekly newspapers were analyzed with the goal of studying attitudes toward the river, hydrological extremes and crisis management. Quantitative content analysis of 1103 articles reveal how the crisis creates and structures “water territories”. The results highlight the spatial and temporal discrepancies that exist between the positive (inter)national influence of watershed management and the diversity of public perceptions based on local specificities and different types of stakeholders. Despite well-known biases, newspapers appear as a useful source for the investigation of the local stakeholders in their daily surroundings.

Keywords

• crisis
• drought
• flood
• attitudes
• content analysis
• local newspapers