The Water Development and Management Plan (SAGE) is a planning tool established by the Water Act of 1992, which aims at balanced and sustainable water resources management. This is a local variation of the Master Plan for Water Development and Management (SDAGE), which sets out the fundamental orientations of water policy in major French river basins.
The SAGE establishes, coordinates and prioritizes general objectives for the use and protection of water resources, taking into account the specificities of the territory. It determines priorities for action, identifies the resources needed, and lays down rules for the sharing of uses. Based on a voluntary approach, it has proved an effective tool for responding locally to the objectives of the Water Framework Directive (WFD), especially the objective of good status of water bodies.
To promote the balanced and sustainable management of water resources and aquatic environments and federate stakeholders, IOWater is responsible for facilitating the network of SAGE stakeholders and environment contracts. The objective is to meet the needs of local stakeholders, taking into account the national priorities of the water policy and its links with the biodiversity policy, the flood directive, its integration into land use planning and economic development policies, as well as its part in territorial reform.
Since 2002, IOWater has been facilitating the network of stakeholders in local water management, especially through Gest'eau, by pooling and disseminating knowledge, gathering, sharing and enhancing experiments, accompanying stakeholders, and building capacities.