Résumé
There is a wide range of public policies that influence farmers decisions in terms of cropping patterns and water use. The European Agricultural Policy seems to have the most important effect on farmers revenue but with a limited impact on their water abstractions. The effects of the water management protocol are still difficult to assess. This protocol is well accepted by irrigating farmers and their representatives, on one hand because it has resulted from a concerted decision process, and on the other hand because it lets farmers the possibility to adapt their practices to annual climatic conditions. Its main limit lies in the weakness of the information and water abstraction monitoring system. Besides some stakeholders are worrying about its efficiency in case of severe drought. Economic simulations show that local conditions of soils lead to important differences in farmers revenue, that are not compensated by the water allocation modes. Farmers representatives get highly involved in the concerted water management procedures. They have also put a lot into the promotion of voluntary measures to aware and inform farmers about water friendly practices. However, these measures should be assessed more precisely. Finally, economic simulations show the potential for using water pricing as a tool to regulate water abstraction for irrigation, considering its limited impact on farmers revenues.