Possible Futures of the Parisian Sanitation System and How to Adapt the City’s Heritage to the Effects of Climate Change

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58981/bluepapers.2026.2.16

Published

2026-09-03

Issue

Water & Heritage for Sustainable Development

Section

methodologies and case studies

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Jean-Pierre Tabuchi, Catherine Carré, Jean-Claude Deutsch

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Tabuchi, J.-P., Carré, C., & Deutsch, J.-C. (2026). Possible Futures of the Parisian Sanitation System and How to Adapt the City’s Heritage to the Effects of Climate Change. Blue Papers. https://doi.org/10.58981/bluepapers.2026.2.16

Keywords:

climate change, urban water, sewage, stormwater management, sanitation

Abstract

Climate change will profoundly affect urban water management through its effects on the water cycle but also in terms of the changes required for climate mitigation. In this context, Eurydice, an association of urban hydrologists, has sought to imagine various futures of urban water management. In this article, we explore potential changes that could reshape the Parisian landscape, including the management of heavy rainfall and severe drought, very low flows in the Seine, and the phasing out of individual cars in the city, which may open new opportunities for the reuse of parking structures. Our aim in the article is to broaden perspectives on urban water management.

Author Biographies

  • Jean-Pierre Tabuchi, Greater Paris Sanitation Authority

    Jean-Pierre Tabuchi is now retired. He worked at Seine Normandy Water Agency for 25 years, where he managed stormwater policy and provided financial support to public water companies in the Paris region. In 2009, he became a project manager in the Territorial Strategy Department at the SIAAP, focusing on future-oriented projects. His work involved the evolution of water management in Greater Paris, energy and sludge management, alternative sanitation, climate change and smart systems. He has also provided technical assistance in integrated water resources management in China and Cuba.

  • Catherine Carré, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University

    Catherine Carré is a geographer, professor emeritus at the University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, and researcher at LADYSS-CNRS. Her work focuses on the relationship between water and city dwellers in European cities, water policy in France, regional and local water resource management and the quality of aquatic environments. She is a member of the Seine Normandy Basin Committee and the National Water Committee. 

  • Jean-Claude Deutsch, École nationale des ponts et chaussées

    Jean-Claude Deutsch is a retired professor and researcher at the École des Ponts-ParisTech, who spent his entire career in the field of urban water management in Paris, serving successively as head of a pollution control unit, project manager for water pollution at the Ministry of Equipment, lecturer and researcher at ENPC, laboratory director and then director of the Doctoral School, also at ENPC. His collaborative works include Manual on Stormwater Drainage (December 1989), Technical Guide to Ponds (February 1994), Water in the City: General Assessment (April 1995), Encyclopedia of Urban Hydrology and Sanitation (May 1997) and Water in the City, General Assessment: Is Our Friend Waging War on Us? (February 2015).

References

Dorchies, David, Pierre-Yves Bourgin, Charles Perrin, Amélie Astruc, Jean-Louis Rizzoli et al. 2012. “Impacts des changements climatiques sur la gestion des barrages-réservoirs du bassin de la Seine: Premiers résultats du projet Climaware” [Impacts of climate change on the management of reservoir dams in the Seine basin: First results of the Climaware project]. Paper presented at the Conférence internationale I.S. Rivers, Lyon, France, June 2012. https://hal.science/hal-00952296.

Soubeyroux, Jean-Michel, Sébastien Bernus, Brigitte Dubuisson, Agathe Drouin, Thumette Madec et al. 2025. “À quel climat s’adapter en France selon la TRACC? Partie 2” [What climate should France adapt to according to the TRACC? Part 2]. Météo-France. https://hal.science/hal-04991790v3.