Des inondations barrées ?

Abstract

This article considers questions associated with exposure to the risk of flooding in places characterized by large dams from two perspectives: temporal and spatial. Often, dams can limit small and medium-sized floods but are unable to control large floods. How do people perceive the impact of large dams on the frequency and seriousness of floods? To what extent do dams impact peoples’ awareness of their vulnerability to floods? Are these vulnerabilities mitigated or enhanced by dams that have the effect of limiting the impact of floods? To consider questions of hydro-social resilience with respect to these vulnerabilities, the authors examine a series of studies on French river basins. These studies focus on four different areas: one marked by large hydroelectric dams (Dordogne basin), one by large reservoirs (Seine basin), one by the decommissioning of dams (Sélune basin), and yet another by water-supply dams (the Vilaine basin).

Keywords

• flood
• dam
• risk public perception
• vulnerability
• planning