From the bisses to the cities, the commons are resurfacing

The soft murmur of their waters intensifies when the slope increases. Their scintillating waves criss-cross the mountain pastures in a race with natural contours but remarkably organized into networks and regulated by a system of trapdoors. In the Valais Alps, while the drought rages, the bisses resist. More than bucolic landscape elements, at a time when serious questions are being asked about water supply and resource management, they embody the commons or consortages. A model of community resource management that has survived both centuries and political systems and which has been making a comeback in recent years.