Water Law of 16 December 1964

It aims to cope with the evolution of demography, industrial development and the growing pollution problems they generate, the first law enabling institutional, financial and technical conditions for global and decentralised water resources management. It thus establishes a management logic according to major river basins (and not according to an administrative logic); sets up, in each basin, a basin committee in charge of drafting the water management policy, and a water agency (or financial basin agency), in charge of implementing this policy; and establishes a National Water Committee (NWC), an advisory body for the Prime Minister. The law of 16 December 1964 imposes, with its goal of pollution control, the making of a national inventory to establish the degree of pollution (INP) of surface water and the definition of objectives for quality improvement. It has been repealed for codification in the environment code.