PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The prevention of floods, the protection of inhabited zones and business parks against major floods and the development of tourist, agricultural and economic activities, must take into account the conservation of drinkable water resources and the ecological heritage. The multiple studies carried out by the "Syndicat Mixte Saône et Doubs" association between 1992 and 1995 enabled the drawing up, at the end of 1996, of an integrated management and organization project, the Saône valley Management Plan, which was rubber-stamped by all the partners. This action plan proposes 104 measures and recommendations with more than 1000 local actions.
OBJECTIVES
The aim of the project was to begin applying agreed management and development measures throughout the Saône Valley in order to solve the problems caused by flooding, and to restore the natural heritage in an integrated way. The Life project would enable the various steps to be planned and co-ordinated throughout the valley, allowing for a better application of the regulations and the setting-up of the long-term process to apply the Saône Valley Management Plan. The implementation of the Management Plan, which was planned over a 15 year period, was to be initiated by the LIFE-Environment project. Over a 42 month period it would be possible: - to carry out concrete convincing actions aimed at effectively bringing into question current practices which do not adequately integrate environmental protection requirements. - to coordinate and ensure the extension of these localized measures to the whole valley and to other regions. This project therefore as presented to LIFE consisted of 5 parts: 1. Improved navigation work management, with respect to enabling better compatibility between navigational and agricultural interests during periods of minor flooding, and maintain any flooding in the sectors which will benefit environmentally from it. 2. Restoration of the functioning of flood land of the Saône in areas of cultivation through the use of better agriculture work management compatible with more consideration of the environment. 3. Design and setting up of an 'on-line environment service' network throughout the basin. 4. Awareness and information campaigns on water resource preservation in the Saône Valley.
RESULTS
The LIFE project was a real success in several respects: - All the implemented projects were perfectly in line with the recommendations of the Management Plan. - The elaboration and implementation of projects took into account all the stakes and the specific constraints (agricultural, hydraulic and environmental) of every site. - The important awareness work which accompanied the implementation of very different projects allowed the various stakeholders to become aware of the specific constraints of each partner. - From a financial point of view, the participation of the European Commission with a subsidy of 50 % of the budget largely facilitated the dialogue between the elected members, the agricultural world and the associations and often won over the public authorities in their decision-taking. More concretely, the results obtained for each of the tasks were as follows: Task 1: automation of the management of 5 Saône navigation dams The studies undertaken during this task enabled the elaboration of a mathematical algorithm which from the upstream water level plotting will communicate instructions to operate the valves. This system will work out, for every navigation reach, the level to which the navigation constraints are satisfied but also the agricultural stakes (small spring floods prevention) as well as the environmental stakes (dampening of the wet area, etc.). Task 2: the Restoration of the flood land Six different projects were initiated: restoration of a meander in the High Saône, a marshland in the Rhone departement, the irrigation canal, etc. These projects supplied precious information about the state of the current functioning of the flood land and about the factors responsible for their main dysfunctions. This work has provided new knowledge for alteration works and management decisions. These recommendations were transcribed in a flood land maintenance guide. Task 3: conception and implementation of the on-line environment service of the Saône valley A list of indicators describing the state of the valley, factors putting pressure on the environment and the environmental impacts was established. The computer tools are operational and allow the follow-up of these three categories of indicators and transfer of the information to the administrators, users and waterside populations. However the data updating is not operational at present. Task 4: Groundwater resource preservation against diffuse agricultural pollution. Two new cultural practices were experimented: - The mixed weeding allowed a mechanical harrow to be tested successfully. The effects of this technique were a 70 % reduction of phytosanitary products contents and a decrease in Nitrogen contents. - The infiltrations of nitrates from crops root systems to the alluvial sheet were studied for each ground type and crop rotation systems. Important recommendations were drawn up. All the lessons drawn from the project will be extrapolated in the future Contract of valleys liable to flooding. The on-line environment service is a veritable management chart and decision-making tool for the sustainable development policy of the valley.
