AGUAFLASH

Determine the risks of deterioration of water quality in agricultural catchments

Cross-compliance of Water Framework Directive and of the Common Agriculture Policy ; protection of drinking water supply zones In agricultural catchments, in situ bodies of water used for drinking water supply are subjected to contamination risks during flood events, with the contamination level of the water flooding. The relevant authorities tasked with dealing with water contamination risks have to meet two different challenges:

• How to best manage drinking water catchments located in these risk areas.

• How to determine the biological results of these risks on drinking water and on aquatic ecosystems. This must include considering the ‘invisible’ risks notion linked to the very selective characteristics of floods, which can evade the usual survey system.

The AguaFlash is a method to determine the risks of deterioration of waters quality in agricultural catchments including floods events, transposable to the southwestern part of the European territory (France, Spain, Portugal). This project aims to mathematically define these relationships and to make them available in a tool for identification and characterization of the production zones of pollutants, particularly pesticides, in periods of flooding.

A prototype will be delivered on march 2012. This prototype will allow to evaluate the risks of water quality deterioration including flood periods in agricultural catchments in the south western Europe area.

The chemical and physical quality of the water in rivers and groundwaters is characterized by indicators, which take into account the average level of pollution. Recent works show that even if the average physico-chemical quality of water stays below the contamination threshold, biological impacts are measurable (for example, constant degradation of the biological indicators). For example, contamination by pesticides is very difficult to detect because the average concentrations are often below the analytical detection thresholds during stable hydrological periods. However, their main impact on the biological and health quality of waters is probably linked to chronic events (bioaccumulation processes) and high toxicity processes during flood events.

Moreover, it is impossible at the moment to establish a direct relationship between floods and water quality deterioration. Several processes occur during flood events (topography, hydromorphology, remobilisation of sediments and pollutants linked to them).

This project aims to mathematically define these relationships and to make them available in a tool for identification and characterization of the production zones of pollutants, particularly pesticides, in periods of flooding.

The different parts of the Prototype are property of the partner of the project which has developed it.

The portability will be tested

1/ at the same scale than the experimental basin and

2/ at larger scale.

This software will be a tool to help decision-makers in the management of drinking water catchments areas in order to prevent the risks of water pollution in periods of flooding.

feasibility study to go on the market – 4 steps

STEP 1 : Demonstration of the transferability of the prototype

STEP 2 : Market Analysis

STEP 3 : Intellectual Property

STEP 4 : Development of a software

development of user friendly interface with feasibility study

This project regroups six teams of research French, Spanish and Portuguese :

- CNRS, charged of the coordination of the project (France),

- University of the Basque country (Spain),

- Agencia Estatal of Investigacion CSIC (Spain),

- Cemagref (France),

The estimated cost of the feasibility study is of 1 Meuros.

700 000 euros