Your issues and needs

In the face of increasingly severe weather events and growing pressure on water resources, it is crucial for all the stakeholders involved in water management to have access to real-time information about the availability of water resources and to be able to predict the level of water tables, particularly as regards the implementation of the GEMAPI plan (French national plan concerning the management of aquatic environments and flood prevention). This information makes it possible to: 

• Characterise the specific features of a site,
• Optimise resource management by adapting groundwater abstraction and managing conflicts of use,
• Take decisions when faced with water shortages or surpluses,  
• Test different scenarios to anticipate the effects of climate change.

Our added value 

BRGM has developed the MétéEAU Nappes website, which displays real-time data of measurements carried out by the national piezometric network, for various monitoring points linked to the French hydrological model.

These data are displayed as maps and dynamic curves based on modelling and forecasting studies of water table levels during low and high-water periods. Meteorological, hydrological and piezometric data from 13 representative sites in metropolitan France are published online in real time and in an interoperable format. Combined with the general models used (Gardenia and Tempo ©BRGM), these data make it possible to forecast groundwater levels. The forecasts (which cover 6 months) are compared with piezometric thresholds (for example: drought thresholds taken from Prefectoral decrees in force concerning restrictions on water use).

MétéEAU Nappes provides a whole range of services that enable users to monitor the current and future behaviour of aquifers in France. It is a genuine decision-support tool for managing water resources in sensitive areas (management of low water periods, risk of flooding due to rising water tables, etc.).

Features and services

• Simplified web interface;
• Display of historical and real-time meteorological groundwater and surface water data provided by SCHAPI, Météo-France and BRGM;
• Maps of the groundwater status for the day in question and forecasts based on various weather scenarios;
• Superimposed graph curves of piezometric levels (history, real-time data, forecast levels; drought/flood piezometric thresholds), real-time rainfall and river flowrates;
• Automatic monthly update of forecast data concerning groundwater levels with recent weather data (from Gardénia);
• Provision of metadata linked to the forecasts: model used, frequency, benchmark period, correlation coefficient, samples taken into account (or not), natural slope of the terrain above the piezometer, bibliographical sources of the piezometric thresholds, etc.;
• Dynamic private application programming interface (API).

A few references

• Contribution to the groundwater section of the French National Hydrological Status Report;
• Forecasting the evolution of surface water tables by grouping together regional hydrogeological models on a nationwide platform (Aqui-FR project).

Publications

• Mougin B., Nicolas J., Bessière H., Vigier Y., Loigerot S. (2018). Vers une prévision en temps réel du niveau des nappes françaises? (Moving towards real-time forecasting of groundwater levels in France) The "MétéEau des nappes" decision-support tool. "Géologues" journal No. 195 of December 2017, pages 16 to 21.
• "MétéEAU Nappes": a website with useful services for water and drought management. Mougin, B., J. Nicolas, Y. Vigier, H. Bessière, and S. Loigerot. Houille Blanche-Revue Internationale De L’Eau, No. 5 (Dec 2020): 28-36.