The environmental governance literature has historically promoted participatory mechanisms in polycentric, multi-scale governance organizations to match the biophysical dynamics of nested social-ecological systems (SES). Such governance model is designed, among other things, to avoid open conflict among actors, and to promote SES resilience. Yet recent literature emphasizes that – in the face of looming Earth System disruption – cross-scale dynamics represent a challenge for the transformative capacity of governance organizations in charge of social-ecological systems. Therefore, this paper focuses on the role played by scalar multiplicity in SES governance conflicts. We approach this puzzle by studying a notorious case of SES governance failure: the long-standing conflict around water substitution reservoirs – or so-called “bassines” – in the Deux-Sèvres district of the South-West of France. Building on media coverage and public reports, in this working paper we develop a computationally enhanced case study covering over 25 years.
