David Crommelynck
Paper / Research Project
The Strategy of Horizons: Underinvestment in Municipal Water Networks During Sum mer Droughts.
Abstract
Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of drought episodes, raising new challenges for drinking water services. While the physical determinants of drought have been widely studied, less is known about how water service management affects the ability of local systems to cope with climatic stress. This paper examines how management choices interact with drought conditions to shape the implementation of water-use restrictions in France. Weassemble a panel dataset combining municipal-level drought restriction records (2013–2024), meteorological drought indicators based on the Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), and information on water service management from the SISPEA database. Using fixed-effects panel models and spline specifications, we analyze how drought intensity translates into restriction days and how this relationship varies with water tariffs and network leakage. Across specifications, municipalities with higher tariffs and lower leakage rates tend to experience fewer restriction days and different responses to drought intensity. The results consistently suggest that pricing policies and infrastructure management are closely linked to the resilience of local water systems to drought conditions