Cover of the press kit.
© BRGM
Although groundwater is used less in Brittany than in the rest of France due to the particular nature of the regional subsurface, it remains an important resource for drinking water as well as for agricultural and industrial uses.
However, groundwater is often poorly understood. Where is it found? In what quantity? At what depths? What is its quality? Can new resources be found?
The monitoring tools used for scientific projects conducted by BRGM in Brittany provide answers to these hydrogeological questions and help stakeholders in the region make the right decisions.
Key figures
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Groundwater accounts for25.00%of drinking water consumed in Brittany
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52.00monitoring boreholes (or piezometers) in the Brittany groundwater monitoring network
How does groundwater function in Brittany?
Over the decades, our understanding of Brittany aquifers has greatly improved. Before the 1970s, it was thought that the Brittany subsurface was impermeable and that there was no groundwater. This is why, apart from a few shallow wells, the Bretons have mainly used surface water (from rivers, or reservoirs) for their drinking water supply. Then, with the advent of new drilling methods and following the drought of 1976, research was carried out to draw groundwater from deep underground. In fact, there is groundwater everywhere in Brittany, but in varying quantities.
SIGES Bretagne: regional portal for access to groundwater data
The Loire-Brittany Water Agency (AELB), the Regional Council and BRGM Brittany have been working together for a decade to design an Internet portal dedicated to groundwater management: the "SIGES Bretagne" (Information System for Groundwater Management in Brittany). This portal aims to pool and disseminate all existing information on groundwater in the Brittany region.
Better knowledge of groundwater to better protect and exploit it
The “Water” expertise of BRGM’s Brittany Regional Division includes monitoring of water tables, improving knowledge of Brittany aquifers in terms of both quantity and quality, making Brittany hydrogeological data available, reaching out to inform the general public, and providing support to the authorities responsible for water policing.
