Waters and rivers in France

[moinsdewatt]

A salmon caught in the Seine

Under the Puteaux bridge, two sport fishermen caught and released a salmon in the Seine. A first since 2008.

Yves Jaffré and Gilles Decatoire still can't believe it. Last Sunday under the Puteaux bridge (Hauts-de-Seine), they caught a wild Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) weighing more than 4 kg in the Seine.

A first since October 3, 2008, when a 7 kg salmon had been caught at the Suresnes dam. After a long struggle, the spoon-caught fish was lifted from the water, photographed and then released, as required by the ethics of sport fishermen.

For this passionate, member of the Big Game Fishing Club of France (BGFCF) and used to long fishing trips on the seas and oceans around the world, it is a consecration. "I knew that salmon sometimes went up the Seine," he explains. But I never thought I'd take one. Especially here, aboard a boat, on one of the dead arms of the Seine. ”

Improving water quality

If, in the 60s, there were only five species of fish in the Paris area, the situation has changed considerably. Today, at least 33 species have found a favorable biotope there. "The construction of numerous treatment plants and the fight against pollution carried out by public authorities and companies has led to a major change in the waters of the Seine," says Gilles Decatoire, fisherman and deputy manager of the Naturoscope in Puteaux. And with the improvement of the water quality, several species of migratory fish, such as salmon and shad, go up the river again. Which hadn't happened in at least 70 years! ”. According to the Haute-Normandie regional environment agency, 40 salmon were identified between January 1 and June 30, 2009 at the Pose dam, in the Eure region, upstream from Rouen. Additional proof of Salmo salar's return to the Seine.

But despite the many fish ladders installed on the course of the river, these large migrants, blocked by dams, still fail to reach their natural spawning grounds.

see the source with the photo of the salmon: http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france ... -seine.php

[raymon]

Like what the ecological situation can improve. It is necessary to make efforts"! All the same, the problem of dams remains to be resolved.

[moinsdewatt]

Very few rivers escape pesticides

July 28, 2013 LeFigaro

The percentage is not very glorious: there are only 7% of rivers in France free of any trace of pesticide. Not enough to show off. These are the latest data (2011) published by the CGDD (General Commission for Sustainable Development).



"The presence of pesticides in watercourses is widespread, this contamination is mainly due to herbicides in metropolitan France, to insecticides overseas," said the CGDD (Ministry of Ecology). Out of 550 pesticides searched, 377 were detected at least once and, in 19% of cases, the presence of 20 pesticides was found.

In the majority of rivers, the quantities withdrawn are low. They are below 0,5 µg / l (microgram per liter). The fact remains that out of the 176 hydrographic sectors monitored in mainland France (geographic division by river catchment area), more than 60 have an annual average concentration of more than 0,5 µg and, above all, 17 measurement points have an annual average of more than 5 µg / l. "Raw water whose total pesticide concentration exceeds 5 µg / l cannot be used to produce drinking water", even after treatment, recalls the CGDD. These high contaminations are found in large agricultural areas (Paris Basin, Adour-Garonne and along the Rhône). In the French overseas departments and territories, this mainly concerns market gardening regions (Martinique and Guadeloupe).
Overpriced water treatment

The most quantified pesticides are not only the same from one year to the next but, above all, three of them are always very present, or even increase, even though they have been banned for several years: the use of atrazine and metolachlor have been banned since 2003, that of diuron since 2008. However, three substances that we continue to detect in water. Diuron even experienced a sharp increase between 2009 and 2011. "In the drinking water supply chains, pesticides are degraded and eliminated by the combined use of oxidation by ozone gas, which destroys the molecule, and especially filtration through activated carbon, which has the capacity to fix most of these contaminants, explains Jean-Marie Mouchel (1), hydrologist, of the Pierre-et-Marie-Curie University, but these refining treatments are expensive ” , continues the scientist, who insists: "Thus, reducing the mass of pesticides spilled on the territories is a major issue."

For his part, Michel Lesage, deputy for Côtes-d'Armor, suggests in a report that he has just given to the Prime Minister to completely rethink water policy in France. "It is only by mobilizing the territories and all the actors that we can act," said the elected official. "It is imperative to start from the base to identify action programs," he says. What shake up the existing systems around the major water agencies and the six basin committees that cut France. Topics at the heart of the next environmental conference in September.
(1) All about tap water, CNRS Éditions, under the supervision of Agathe Euzen and Yves Levi.

http://www.lefigaro.fr/environnement/20 ... icides.php

[Janic]

water! there is really something to pester!

[Ahmed]

Raymon you wrote:

Like what the ecological situation can improve.

There have been efforts at water treatment plants ... and the relocation of industry in China ...

[raymon]

There have been efforts at water treatment plants ... and the relocation of industry in China ...

In addition to pesticides, there are PCBs and mercury in the Durance region, thank you saint gobain, which is even more annoying than pesticides because they are "persistent". They relocated but left a nice gift when leaving.
In this map we do not speak of radioactive waste in the Camargue there is plutonium, tritium in the Côte du Rhône and the Tavel near Tricastin.

[Janic]

A nexus article reveals on generations-futures.fr that the European Commission is halving the quantities of pesticides found in food to reduce the number of exceedances of the maximum residue limits (part of which comes from "treated" water.)

[jlt22]

Another pollution that is little talked about: pollution by drugs.

A report:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdRoq4dGQjM

For those who like reading, the pharmacy academy report:
"Medicines and the environment"

http://www.acadpharm.org/dos_public/1_Rapport_Med_Env_version_JMH_def_JPC.pdf