This article presents our research on a well-documented stylized fact : the social construction of water scarcity. Starting with the hypothesis that the study of water use standards offers a relevant frame of reference to deal with scarcity, this proposai suggests that water use is directly linked with the social representations of water. This analysis is based, on the one hand, on a varied empirical corpus : several field surveys (semi-directive interviews), articles from the local and national press and officiai documents. On the other hand, we develop an institutionalist analysis. We show that the water crisis in the Almeria region is a crisis of water use standards, which as led to the overexploitation of water resources.