Rare birds for fuzzy jobs: A new type of water professional at the watershed scale in France

- A professional group has emerged in France devoted to the territorial management of water.
- Inquiries were conducted to understand their actions with a pragmatic stance.
- They differentiate themselves from technicians or experts.
- We identify a new model for water professionals.

SummaryThis paper documents changes in the field of water management in France, through the analyses of the activities of water professionals. Hydro-territory professionals work for local authorities in charge of water management at the watershed scale. Their functions appear to be fuzzy. Yet, this paper assumes that this fuzziness is a crucial feature as it manifests an ability to deal with “wicked” problems. Based on quantitative and qualitative inquiries, this paper discusses to what extent these new kind of professionals present themselves as, or differentiate themselves from, experts, facilitators or policy entrepreneurs. It contributes to the studies that highlight the new water professional as a transdisciplinary engineer capable of dealing with negotiation, cooperation or communication issues. Yet, the main result of our study is to show the embedded dimension of hydro-territory professionals, considering water governance as a long term issue of adjustment, assembling, fitting, in a territory and across scales.