Signing of the agreement by Nicolas Mourlon, Managing Director of the Rhône-Méditerranée-Corse Water Agency, and Catherine Lagneau, BRGM Chair and CEO
© BRGM
Building on a strong track record of cooperation established over the years through numerous joint projects, the two institutions – which have complementary missions – have renewed their agreement as part of a comprehensive approach to research and development in support of public policy. This collaboration aims to address regional issues, climate challenges and the conservation of water resources.
Addressing climate-related challenges to water resources
Climate change is having a significant impact on aquatic environments, particularly in the Rhône-Mediterranean basin. Groundwater, which provides 70% of France’s drinking water, is under increasing pressure due to drought and a decline in recharge. Aquifers nevertheless play a key role in the resilience of aquatic ecosystems. In particular, they maintain flow rates during periods of low water and mitigate the rise in temperature and changes in the thermal regimes of river water, which threaten the survival and reproduction of aquatic fauna.
This partnership aims to strengthen collaboration between the Water Agency and BRGM in order to further our understanding of groundwater in the Rhône-Mediterranean and Corsica river basins. It draws on the pooling of their complementary areas of expertise in order to accelerate scientific research to meet four strategic objectives:
- Expand our understanding of river water quality and low-flow rates during periods of drought, as well as of aquifers, using innovative methods for characterising these resources (e.g. the ESTHER project, detailed below),
- Assess the physico-chemical quality and temperature of groundwater bodies and how these are modified in the context of climate change,
- Understand how environments function and the impact of human activities on the quality and quantity of groundwater bodies: vulnerability of aquifers, modelling of aquifers and their behaviour, developing representations of the interface between groundwater and other environments,
- Assess the financial and socio-economic costs and benefits associated with groundwater, as well as issues relating to governance and the sharing of water resources.
BRGM will support the Rhône-Méditerranée-Corse Water Agency by sharing its analytical, experimental and predictive modelling resources relating to the behaviour and quality of aquifers, with a view to characterising, preserving and, where necessary, recharging them. It also contributes to the development of governance tools by incorporating an assessment of the costs of groundwater conservation, the associated socio-economic benefits – in particular the ecosystem services it provides – and the challenges relating to the management and sharing of water resources.
In their words
About the ESTHER programme
The ESTHER programme (for assessment and monitoring of thermal refuges) explores the role of groundwater in regulating river temperature and aims to gain a better understanding of potential natural thermal refuges for aquatic fauna that depend on the exchange between groundwater and surface water, by combining in situ observations with hydrogeological modelling.
As part of a pilot study, three sites with contrasting hydrological characteristics were fitted with monitoring equipment:
- The Argens river, in Provence Verte,
- the Drac, an Alpine river with a regime influenced by melting snow, originating in the Massif des Écrins,
- the Veyle, a river in the Dombes region.
The cross-referenced observations will help to identify the key geological and hydrological factors involved in the formation and persistence of these thermal refuges. Launched in 2023, the programme in the Rhône basin will run until 2028.
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