Model of Regulation for the protection of water resources

Résumé

[extract] Water is a fundamental resource for the birth and development of human civilization.

Ernst Kapp classified the great ancient civilizations by assuming water as a taxonomic criterion, distinguishing three types of civilization: the potamic, the thalassic and the oceanic cultures.

In the same sense, Carl Schmitt had elaborated a contrast between terrestrial civilizations and oceanic civilizations, assuming water as the foundation of every civilization.

Nowadays the distribution of water is unbalanced: the resource is in continuous contraction and the indiscriminate use of the resource combined with climate change will increase the imbalances. 

It is calculated that within the terrestrial hydrosphere, fresh water constitutes about 2.5%, and no more than 0.26% overall can be used for human purposes, the remaining quantity being constituted by the Antarctic ice.

According to the 2015 edition of the World Water Development of the United Nations, by 2030 is expected a 40% drop in water availability, unless the management and the use of this resource improve by then.

The idea of a right to water, as a constitutionally protected value and as a guaranteed essential common good, is one of the fundamental problems of the 21st century.

In the European law system, there are many problems concerning the use of water: for example, the various forms of pollution that threaten rivers, lakes and underground waterways or the various uses of water resources.