Water demand management: an alternative to conventional water resources. The experience of the Gironde

In the Gironde (a sub-division of France), half of the water needs (150 Hm(3)/an), all uses included, and all of the drinking water needs (120 Hm(3)/an) are met by deep underground water resources that are overexploited locally. The solutions proposed in the nineties to reduce this type of water withdrawals were only based on the creation of new production and recycling facilities for an investment of about (sic) 150 000 000. The water planning and management scheme (SAGE), approved in 2003, favoured another strategy consisting in controlling water demand before increasing the water supply by creating new facilities. The statutory document, the SAGE, is based on technical, awareness-raising and economic tools to aid the public operators (the state and government bodies), the economic stakeholders and the general public. After less than 4 years toof implementation, the first results demonstrate the efficiency of the idea and confirm the interest of the operation to economise water and control consumption, even if water savings are dispersed and widespread, requiring a specific methodological approach.