Actions on the Saint Etienne site
Type 1 Actions: Optimising the innovation and transferability potential of the SEMEAU project
- Taking part in the SEMEAU project specialist groups: The Director of the Saint Etienne site will take part in the specialist group set up by DANONE and will organise a visit to the site.
Type 2 Actions: Realising the specialist SEMEAU system and preparing for its appropriation by end users
- Preparing for use of the SEMEAU method by the town of Saint Etienne. The town of Saint Etienne will test the possibility of using the SEMEAU tool on the Furan water catchment area by collecting the necessary data for modelling the development of phosphate rates which now make up one of the most problematic variables for this potable water resource. To achieve this, the city will set up a programme of measures for water quality, targeted principally on assessing transfer of phosphates. It will also collect data for modelling the development of arboreal vegetation cover and in particular cross checking between forest cover and potable water catchment in addition to data emerging from the prospective action on planting of arboreal hedges.
Type 3 Actions: Optimising the adaptability of the SEMEAU tool through a demonstration experimentation panel on management of the environment
- Defining a strategy for capture of phosphates linked to agricultural activity. The Saint Etienne site is situated to the North West of Mont Pilat, in the department of the Loire. The site is on the large subsurface water body of Forez, in the catchment area of the Loire, and on the Furan water body and its tributaries running from the source as far as Saint Etienne. The slope feeding the reservoir on the water course extends over an area of roughly 2500 hectares. A part of this catchment area, 1200 hectares of woodland, serves as a catchment field (30 km of subsurface drainage, 1.5 to 3 metres in depth). Overflow from drainage flows into the reservoir. Although water from drainage is drinkable without further ado, water from the rest of the slope via run off requires treatment, in particular for phosphates. One of the goals of the project is to define a strategy for capturing phosphates, in particular by arboreal hedges.
The programme consists in defining and applying a long term strategy for occupation of the Furan catchment area, in the light of the main challenge of limiting transfers of phosphates from agricultural activity. The application phase, which will be managed as a demonstration exercise in the context of the project and will then be monitored as part of the DCE measurement programme, which consists in setting up a land management programme, whose aim is to encourage exchange and acquisition of plots for planting hedges in agricultural plots situated upstream from the catchment area. This major initiative will be supported by a sub initiative devoted to the forest site of Saint Etienne, which consists in drawing up a practical guide for conserving linear potable water collection ditches passing through the forest. The interest of this sub initiative is that it valorises and gives a concrete illustration of the role played by trees and forest in conservation, with benefits for water.
Type 4 Actions: Modelling possibilities for adaptation of practice of players at the local level
- Taking part in the econometric survey. The Saint Etienne site will take part in the econometric survey, contributing data from its experimental site and incorporating into the project the problem of reducing transfers of phosphates by planting arboreal hedges.
- Carrying out demonstration programmes for public awareness and participation of players at the local level in water conservation. The programme will include a pilot participation scheme for taking in to account varying expectations of users and players at the local level with respect to water conservation and management of agricultural and forest land. In the Saint Etienne project, the emphasis will be on qualitative water conservation by means of trees (planting of hedges on agricultural plots).
Type 5 Actions: Informing on water protection and communicating results of the project for promoting their use
- Creation of an information path on the role played by trees and forest in water quality conservation. The making of this educational and interpretative path, for the wider public, will show the protective role played by the forest and, more widely, the historic and environmental aspects of water on the site. The path will include a walkers’ itinerary which will commence with a welcome board presenting the project, and will continue with a series of explanatory boards explaining the challenges facing water resources conservation, the protective role played by trees and forests and the precautions to be taken in order to maximise conservation.
Type 6 Actions: Managing the project, keeping the European Commission informed and preparing project follow up
- Taking part in management of the project. Participation of the town of Saint Etienne in the overall management of the project covers in particular:
- planning and management of actions planned on the site at Saint Etienne: monitoring of the effective application of the proposed measures, monitoring deadlines and checking of material (material delivered)
- information feedback to the project manager, in accordance with instructions for finalising detailed in the initial report.
