[Based on information provided by the Seine-Normandy Water Agency (Agence de l'eau Seine Normandie, AESN)]

Background

Located in the Northwestern part of France, the Seine-Normandy water basin covers about 97 000 km2 which is close to 18% of the French territory. It forms a natural unity in terms of surface waters, ground and coastal waters, and even contains some wetlands. The 1964 Water Act defined the contours of the hydrographic basin, which combines the actual watershed of the Seine River (75 000 km2) with those of the small coastal rivers found in Normandy (22 000 km2). The area is famous for its temperate climate and moderate rainfall (less than 750 mm of annual rainfall on average), and most of the permanent rivers of the 3 000 km network meander lazily through gentle hills and wide plains, which overlie a foundation of sedimentary rocks.

Click on the Seine Normandy basin to access a detailed view. Map prepared for the World Water Assessment Programme by AFDEC.

Archaeology and history both reveal strong links between the Seine River and the populations of the basin since time immemorial. Indeed before Jules Cesar, the Parisii tribe that occupied the two main islands of today's Paris excelled in navigation and trading all the way down to the Mediterranean Sea. They built quays and tow paths along the banks, and maintained them carefully. Their motto is still on the Paris coat of arms.
[More about the Seine-Normandy history]

The average population density of the "Ile de France" exceeds 900 people/km2 despite the many forests of this region, creating tremendous human pressure on the rivers, which are naturally characterized by their moderate flows (average annual runoff around 200 mm). The same ecosystem also hosts 40% of the national industrial production, including 60% of France's automotive industries and 37% of its oil refineries.

Intensive farming has developed over 60% of the basin area, which produces about 80% of French sugar, 75% of the country's oleaginous crops, 49% of the protein-rich crops and 27 % of the bread cereals. One direct result is that the actual discharge of a river can be more than half composed of wastewater effluents.

Scientists consider that the Seine River was nearly dead at the beginning of the 1960s: out of the 32 endemic species of fishes, only 3 of them could occasionally be spotted at Paris during that period.

Present water management

The creation of the water basin agencies by the Water Law of 1964 marked the beginning of the recovery of France's water-ecosystems. Starting in 1968 the Seine-Normandy Water Agency's first tasks were to : - implement at the scale of the basin, and involving all water stakeholders, a sustainable and coherent water management system, defined by national laws and regulations that also take account of European directives; - insure the security of the water supply; - protect the natural heritage of the river environment; - reduce repeated accidental pollution; - improve the efficiency of the water works. How is this being done? The tools include consensual agreements, technical advice and financial support for water "owners" (mainly some 8700 municipalities, plus industrialists and farmers). The necessary financial resources come from water pricing and from enforcing the consumer-pays principle - for quantitative management - and enforcing the polluter-pays principle, for pollution control.

Seine-Normandy Water Agency's MAIN CHALLENGES :   Environment : to improve the:   - control of agricultural pollution   - control of urban stormwater   pollution   - treatment of domestic nutrients   - restoration of wetlands and   reedbeds   - assessment of environmental   performance   Economics (priority areas) :   - economic costing of water,   including damage   - assessment   - economic and social water   scenarios for 2015   - cost-effectiveness valuations   of programmes   Governance : to reinforce :   - legitimacy of the decision   making process   - public participation   - equity   - solidarity

The water budget and programme is drawn up for a five-year period. The programme is proposed by the Basin Committee ("Water Parliament"), which includes all stakeholders, and is approved by an oversight board, whose chairman is the Prefect of the Ile de France Region. Out of the 1992 Water Act has come a new tool for water planning: the master plan of the basin called the SDAGE. It is reinforced by smaller plans (SAGE), drawn up by local water committees at each sub-basin level. Since 1992, the water agencies have also linked their water databases to those of the national water network (RNDE), and developed quality assessments systems (SEQ).

Seine-Normandy still operates its own measurement network and, since 1995, has been using a yearly reporting instrument based on performance indicators. This reporting system assesses and monitors the effectiveness of the environmental, economic, social and administrative actions undertaken in implementing the master plan. It includes 45 indicators of various kinds, corresponding to the specific targets of the SDAGE, and gathered along 5 indices corresponding to respective chapter headings. The report has been produced every year since 1997.

Results

From 1991 to 2001, the VIth and VIIth Programmes invested some Euro 5.6 billions (approx. $5 billion) in supporting some Euro 10 billion (approx. $9 billion) worth of water works in the basin.

More than 500 new wastewater treatment plants were thus built, increasing the previous municipal treatment efficiency by about 20% for the control of organic pollution, and by more than 50% for the nutrients. The treatment of industrial discharges has increased by more than 30%. As a result, reports show a continuous improvement of the quality of rivers - particularly inside Paris, where the Seine now hosts more than 20 endemic species of fishes - and swimmers. The one exception is the continuing high level of nitrogen, more than 66% of which comes from farming practices.
On the other hand, groundwater shows an overall increase in the concentration of nutrients and pesticides.
Obviously farmers were the missing taxpayers when it comes to pollution; moreover, intensive drainage had ruined 50% of the wetlands of the basin, which play a key role in nutrients removal.

Another major source of pollution comes from uncontrolled storm water runoff in urban areas: recent studies have concluded that the mass of solids suspended in the rain waters of Paris alone, is equivalent to the load of all the municipal discharges from the entire basin.

From 1997, the agency started buying or restoring wetlands and reed beds; in 2001, a permanent wetland unit was created; finally, the agency has begun various educational and job creation programmes within the basin: some 900 weekly water-classes are now supported every year, from primary school to university, and 2000 new jobs for young people will have been created by the end of 2001.

International partnerships with emerging basin organizations are also underway. A small fund has allowed the Agency to offer support to 77 micro-water projects within 28 developing countries.

Looking ahead

The Agency is now optimistic that it can meet the environmental challenges that lie ahead. It will do so with the help of a new Water Act, which will be before Parliament by the end of this year 2001, coupled to the new framework Directive of the European Union, passed last September. The new law should also reinforce the legitimacy of the decision-making process through public participation, while promoting more equitable water pricing and greater solidarity in sharing water resources.

The VIIIth 5-year programme of the Agency, which will start from 2002, has already been prepared with these ambitious targets in mind. It has benefited from a permanent research programme (PIREN/Seine), and the SDAGE monitoring system. In particular, the Agency will undertake a major project for stormwater pollution control for the greater Paris area, which should also remove by 2006 some 75% of the domestic nutrients presently discharged to the Seine by the city's inhabitants (equivalent to 8,8 million inhabitants) . The VIIIth programme is therefore expected to launch a new era for the recovery of the water-ecosystem of the basin.

The recently created UN World Water Assessment Program (WWAP) hosted by UNESCO will use the Seine-Normandy Basin as one of its first case studies. Through it the Water Agency expects to gain from better understanding of its work. It hopes that by increasing effectiveness the initiative will pave the way forward towards greater equity, efficiency, and sustainable development that serves both the public and our natural environment alike.

Useful links and contacts

Read the complete case study, published in the first World Water Development Report (WWDR).
[PDF format - 979 KB]

To know more about the Seine Normandy Water Basin, here is a list of interesting projects and organizations:

- Seine Normandy Water Agency
- The European Environment Agency
- Seine-Normandy basin SAGE - [in french]
- WWAP national focal point in France