Preparing public participation at the catchment level : Comparison of three methodologies applied to the Hérault river basin

Public participation in water resources management has increasingly been recommended to increase the effectiveness and the acceptability of proposed water management projects and plans. Different levels of public participation are possible depending on the governance context. This paper reports on the practical implementation of three different methodologies in the Hérault river catchment (France). The analysis of public view points, carried out using a quantitative opinion survey and focus groups, reveals important information needs which have to be fulfilled for any further consultation to be efficient. A complementary analysis of stakeholders' opinions, carried out through semi-structured interviews also highlights the need to construct a common knowledge base between stakeholders, expert and scientists. This is seen as a prerequisite to implementing more elaborated forms of participation.