1. A comparison of management approaches to control muddy floods in central Belgium, northern France and southern England
- Author
-
Cerdan, Olivier, Chauvet, Mehdi, Le Bissonnais, Yves, Raclot, Damien, Andrieux, Patrick, Bielders, Charles, Evrard, Olivier, Heitz, C., Liégeois, M., Boardman, J., Vandaele, Karel, Auzet, A.-V., Van Wesemael, Bas, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette] (LSCE), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), Département de Géographie (UCL GEO), Université Catholique de Louvain = Catholic University of Louvain (UCL), Géochimie Des Impacts (GEDI), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), Université Louis Pasteur - Strasbourg I, École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'État (ENTPE), École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'État (ENTPE)-Ministère de l'Ecologie, du Développement Durable, des Transports et du Logement, University of Oxford [Oxford], Watering van Sint-Truiden, Interbestuurlijke samenwerking Land en Water, Fonds pour la formation à la Recherche dans l’Industrie et l’Agriculture (F.R.I.A.), Belgium ., Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), University of Oxford, Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM) (BRGM), Laboratoire d'étude des Interactions Sol - Agrosystème - Hydrosystème (UMR LISAH), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [ Madagascar])-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Laboratoire d'étude des interactions entre sols, agrosystèmes et hydrosystèmes (LISAH), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Earth and Life Institute [Louvain-La-Neuve] (ELI), Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL), Université Paris-Saclay-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Recherches Subatomiques (IReS), and Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Cancéropôle du Grand Est-Université Louis Pasteur - Strasbourg I-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- Subjects
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,[SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences ,Soil Science ,Buffer strip ,Development ,01 natural sciences ,stakeholders ,environmental management ,Muddy floods ,Retention basin ,Environmental Chemistry ,[SDU.STU.GM]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geomorphology ,[SDU.STU.HY]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Hydrology ,[SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces, environment ,Environmental planning ,ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,General Environmental Science ,Hydrology ,soil erosion ,Spatial mismatch ,Flood myth ,business.industry ,Flooding (psychology) ,agri-environmental measures ,04 agricultural and veterinary sciences ,15. Life on land ,flooding of properties ,6. Clean water ,Flood control ,Geography ,[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] ,13. Climate action ,Agriculture ,040103 agronomy & agriculture ,0401 agriculture, forestry, and fisheries ,business ,Surface runoff - Abstract
International audience; Muddy floods, i.e. water flowing from agricultural fields and carrying large quantities of soil, affect routinely numerous municipalities of central Belgium, northern France and southern England. A comparison of flood frequency between different European regions is difficult, because of the lack of a uniform and official database as well as the landscape heterogeneity of administrative entities. AgriEnvironmental Measures (AEMs; e.g. grass buffer strips) can contribute to the control of muddy floods but their installation is voluntary and depends therefore on farmers’ willingness. Actions to increase awareness and to inform the farmers proved to increase drastically their participation rate in AEM programmes. In all the studied regions, flood prone areas are increasingly taken into account to define land approved for development. Moreover, several schemes for the control of muddy floods have also been proposed at the regional scale. However, there is a spatial mismatch between the scale at which muddy floods are triggered (small catchment scale) and the scale at which public authorities can operate (municipality, grouping of municipalities, delineated flood prone areas, river basin). In future, beside curative measures (e.g. retention ponds and dams), farming techniques preventing runoff and erosion in the field (e.g. conservation tillage) should be encouraged. This could be achieved by the creation of a new AEM. Moreover, guidelines for the location of AEMs could usefully be introduced. Existing flood control schemes should also be systematically carried out by catchment agencies including legal, environmental and financial expertise. These agencies should be set up for local groupings of municipalities and provide them technical assistance to equip the flood prone areas and carry out maintenance of the implemented control measures.
- Published
- 2010
- Full Text
- View/download PDF