Snowmaking's slippery slope: The effect of mountain reservoirs on water demand

Jonathan Cognard (), Lucas Berard-Chenu (), Yves Schaeffer () and Hugues François ()
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Jonathan Cognard: Univ. Grenoble Alpes, INRAE, LESSEM, F-38402 St-Martin-d'Hères, France, Labex ITTEM - Laboratoire d'excellence Innovations et transitions territoriales en montagne - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes
Lucas Berard-Chenu: Esthua Faculté de Tourisme, Culture et Hospitalité, ESO - Espaces et Sociétés - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UM - Le Mans Université - UA - Université d'Angers - UR2 - Université de Rennes 2 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Nantes Univ - IGARUN - Institut de Géographie et d'Aménagement Régional de l'Université de Nantes - Nantes Université - pôle Humanités - Nantes Univ - Nantes Université - Institut Agro Rennes Angers - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement, Institut conjoint des Universités de Ningbo et d’Angers - UA - Université d'Angers - ZWU - Zhejiang Wanli University, Univ. Grenoble Alpes, INRAE, LESSEM, F-38402 St-Martin-d'Hères, France
Yves Schaeffer: Labex ITTEM - Laboratoire d'excellence Innovations et transitions territoriales en montagne - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes, Univ. Grenoble Alpes, INRAE, LESSEM, F-38402 St-Martin-d'Hères, France
Hugues François: Univ. Grenoble Alpes, INRAE, LESSEM, F-38402 St-Martin-d'Hères, France

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Abstract: Snowmaking is the primary adaptation of winter tourism to climate change and requires increased water use in winter. However, water withdrawals during this period coincide with the mountain low-flow period, which can potentially cause conflicts with other human uses and ecosystems. To address concerns about water availability, the number of reservoirs is increasing. Ski lift operators promote these reservoirs as environmentally beneficial under their 'ecological engagement' commitments, arguing that they reduce the impact of snowmaking by shifting some water withdrawals to periods outside the low-flow season. In theory, mountain reservoirs should therefore support both economic activity and environmental sustainability. Using econometric analysis of data from 35 ski resorts across nine seasons, we show that reservoirs significantly increase water withdrawals during the low-flow period. By employing maximum likelihood estimation of fixed-effects dynamic panel data models, we find that a 1 % increase in reservoir capacity leads to a 0.28 % short-term increase in low-flow withdrawals (0.4 % in the long term), ceteris paribus. These findings inform ongoing discussions to ensure that current socioeconomic decisions do not lead to future water use conflicts in mountain socio-ecological systems.

Keywords: Water; resources; Artificial; snow; Rebound; effect; Water; use; Jevons; paradox; Ski; tourism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-07
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04998301v1
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Published in Ecological Economics, 2025, 233, pp.108586. ⟨10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108586⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04998301

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108586

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