Génie rural et droit des cours d'eau : Benjamin Nadault de Buffon (1804-1880)

Rural engineering and river law : Benjamin Nadault de Buffon

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Abstract

This paper presents elements of history of water law in France, with reference to other E.U. member states : water law systems. Beyond differences originating in the double origin of European law (Roman vs Germanie), actualised in the opposition between civil code and common law, the systems are getting closer in the importance given to the notion of common property (patrimoine commun) In the long debate on the status of water in XIX^th century France, a character little known today emerges with some strength: Benjamin Nadault de Buffon created the first hydraulic service in the ministry of Public Works and also rural engineering in the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées. In his teaching, he provides a synthesis of debates and case law before and after the great Revolution, and he adopts a sophisticated position, more than people in his time and in ours, concerning the stams of water in the public vs private debate. He seems to stand in the line of thought which resulted in the French 1992 water law placing all water in the Nation's heritage or public trust.