Paper short abstract:

The paper explores how indicators deployed to manage water resources are indicative of social relations. It studies the manner indicators shape specific hydrosocial cycles while hiding the political work they actually perform. This is investigated through a case study located in southwestern France.

Paper long abstract:

The many methods scientists deploy to assess "environmental flows" worldwide or the manner the World Bank conceives them usually fall into the "integrated water resources management" (IWRM) paradigm that became hegemonic in the 1990s. They portray river systems as being driven by anonymous and a-temporal forces, as if identifying actors behind such forces did not matter, nor did it matter when they took decisions resulting in the current environmental state, nor what benefit they made out of it.

The proposed paper critically explores the discourses and practices involved in the definition, promotion, design and use of indicators to manage water resources. It analyzes the manner indicators contribute to shape specific hydrosocial cycles, i.e. specific combinations of water, power and financial flows. The paper highlights the ability of indicators to erase history and naturalize rationales, while they are the product of specific compromises, of particular combinations of negotiated norms and scientifically produced nature. These issues are investigated through an empirical analysis of a specific indicator, the "Minimum Flow Requirements" (MFR) and its associated biophysical models, developed and used in the South-West of France. The MFR is shown to be an instrument regulating power and financial relations of heterogeneous actors. It has actively contributed to naturalize water scarcity, despite the contingency of its construction.