Water Governance in the Context of IWRM: Switzerland - Climate Change and Water Governance: Adaptive Capacity in Chile and Switzerland - page 130

7.2.4.1 Adopting a Basin Approach

Notably there is no framework agreement, convention nor cooperative institution for the
Rhône basin as a whole. The River Rhône is the border between the cantons of Valais
and Vaud, and is therefore shared 50:50 by each canton. There are federal and cantonal
legislative clarifications for managing cross-cantonal waters (Ordinance on the Hydraulic
Engineering, 2007), and generally, the Federal State is responsible for those water
courses that flow across multiple cantons. However, the responsibility for implementa-
tion lies at the cantonal or commune level. The International Commission for the
Protection of Lake Geneva (CIPEL; www.cipel.org ) does provide a coordinating role for
environmental protection across different cantons (Geneva, Vaud and Valais) as well as
countries (Switzerland and France) affecting the quality of the Lake of Geneva.
In practice, issues of coordination amongst different communes over one basin
are particularly problematic in Valais (Clivaz and Reynard 2008 ) , since the com-
munes have a large degree of autonomy, while the canton has low financial capacity.
This decreases the canton's ability to implement federal legislation or a common
hydropower policy (Staatsrat 2008 ) across different communes (Clivaz and Reynard
2008 ). Since all lateral rivers are under the sovereignty of the communes, some
stakeholders suggested that it does not in fact matter what the canton says, as the
communes have the end decision about how the water is used, and which projects
are implemented. However, others commented that it is in their interests to comply
to avoid litigation or losing out financially. Art. 7(3) WPA states that “the cantons
provide a communal and where necessary a regional drainage plan ( regionale
Entwässerungsplanung (REP))”, a provision only binding for built-up areas, but
other aspects have to be included in spatial planning tools ( Sachplan and Richtplan )
(Heller 2009 ). However, very few cantons have completed an REP.

7.2.4.2 Water Allocation and Prioritisation Measures

There are currently no overarching principles on how to manage user conflicts in
periods of water stress that address international, national and local actors all together.
Provisions for allocation and prioritisation measures can be categorised into two
groups: concessions and residual flows. Concessions are administrative agreements
allowing exploitation of natural resources. For the exploitation of water power and
irrigation, they are subject to the general provisions of the Use of Water Power Act
(UWPA). The act provides regulations and guidelines for instances where water courses
run through more than one canton (Arts. 6, 7, 61 and 68). In Valais, most concessions
were granted by the communal administration for an 80-year time period and. Residual
Flows ( Mindestrestwassermenge ) are provisions in both WPA (Arts. 31, 33, 34 and 36)
and the Federal Fishing Act (FA), which require that sufficient quantities of water
should be either left or returned to watercourses, whatever the water use.
While Swiss legal provisions recognise both economic and ecological water
uses, implementation of these provisions has been difficult (Petitpierre 1999 ) , as a
2006 Eidgenössische Anstalt für Wasserversorgung, Abwasserreinigung und