Invisible Resources Versus Visible Inequalities: Informational Justice in Groundwater Protection ?

In the Anthropocene, the long-term sustainability of groundwater resources faces significant threats from human activities, including increased water demand, extensive pollution emissions, and the current and future impacts of climate change (Maréchal et al., 2019). In response to these challenges, ecosystem-based programs are being developed, including Nature-based Solutions (NBS). These initiatives emerge in a context characterized by limited knowledge of aquifers (Hérivaux and Rinaudo, 2016), largely due to the hidden nature of groundwater and its complexity. This invisibility also implies that interactions between surface ecosystems and groundwater are still not fully understood and considered (Hérivaux and Maréchal, 2019). The production and accessibility of these knowledge, essential for implementing effective programs, raise critical issues of justice. In fact, acquiring this knowledge often requires expertise, advanced scientific tools and financial resources, leading to concerns about informational justice (Cuadrado-Quesada and Gupta, 2019) and disparities among stakeholders in accessing this information and bearing the associated costs. Yet, engaging stakeholders is particularly crucial when commitment concerning protection is challenged by this hidden nature (Baldwin et al., 2012). In this perspective, the recognition and integration of diverse forms of knowledge in the construction of protection programs is a central concern of justice. The presentation will explore these challenges through an analysis of two French territories where protection programs mobilizing NBS have been implemented. We will describe initial findings from a qualitative investigation, based on semi-directive interviews with a diverse range of stakeholders, including local authority representatives and employees, farmers and agricultural representatives, landowners, and local residents.