5. Conclusion

The legal protection of aquatic environments is governed by a large number of scattered texts, enacted in particular thanks to the impetus of the European Union. As a result, regulations are dense, complex, technical and constantly evolving (as evidenced in 2017 by the introduction of the common environmental authorization for ICPE and IOTA), and must deal with the new challenges (flooding, drought, emerging pollutants, climate change...) facing aquatic environments.

The current legal framework for the protection of aquatic environments, the fruit of a long legacy of legislation, is comprehensive: numerous players and tools interface, funding is diversified and there are also numerous tools for penal repression, which are increasingly dissuasive and geared towards restoring environments.

Despite this, it seems that efforts still need to...