CONTEXT
The Water Framework Directive (WFD, 2000) recommends that Member States inventory their groundwater bodies that are strategic for present and future drinking water supply (DWS), based on criteria of quantity, quality, and proximity to demand. This European directive was transposed into French law within the Environmental Code and subsequently into the Water Development and Management Plans (SDAGE).
In the Rhône-Mediterranean basin, 124 strategic groundwater bodies were identified for conducting studies (hydrogeological characterization, quality, productivity, anthropogenic pressures, and existing protections). Measures are then defined to sustainably preserve the water resource by maintaining land use and activities compatible with good raw water quality, promoting natural aquifer recharge, and prioritizing drinking water use.
OBJECTIVES
ACTeon’s role is to facilitate understanding of the legislation, simplify study results to make them accessible to local elected officials and stakeholders in the concerned territories, provide decision-support elements, and support the co-construction of the preservation action plan to be deployed in safeguard zones. ACTeon has already adviced the following studies :
- The karst resources of the Vercors
- The karst resources of the Ardèche
- The karst resources of the Hérault
- The molasse of the Bas Dauphiné and the Valence plain
- The Miocene molasse of the Comtat
- The lower Ain valley
- The Giffre valley
- Southern Bugey
