Stéphane Stroffek – Head of the Methods, Studies and Foresight Department at the Rhône-Méditerranée-Corse Water Agency (Water – Biodiversity) (testimonial from the dossier “Science and the Water Framework Directive: 20 years of hydrobiology research for the good ecological status of aquatic environments” – 2021)
“The water agencies are responsible for producing WFD data at basin level, in partnership with the Dreal and the OFB. When the WFD came along, we were almost ready, because since the 1964 law, water management in France has been structured on the basis of major basins. We already had monitoring programmes and planning missions, but it was necessary, for example, to integrate a much wider range of indicators for all environments, with a performance target and deadline. The situation was urgent. Scientists have given us a great deal of input in a number of areas: bioindication, the demarcation of bodies of water and changes in the functioning and condition of environments due to pressures from human activities. When setting up a research programme with scientists, it is very important to agree on the objectives. Even if the manager is responsible for exploiting the results, the co-construction of projects between managers and researchers ensures that the scientific results are used effectively. Ultimately, the WFD has boosted the restoration of aquatic environments, even if it will take a little longer to observe the effects of more comprehensive restoration on a large scale.”
Testimonial from our thematic dossier
Thematic dossier
Science and the Water Framework Directive 20 years of hydrobiology research to achieve good ecological status in aquatic environments
In 2000, the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) set Member States the challenge of restoring European water bodies to good ecological status within twenty years. At the time, knowledge was lacking to implement the directive, so in 2007 the Ministry of the Environment’s Directorate for Water and Biodiversity (DEB) and the National Office for Water and Aquatic Environments (Onema) entered into a major collaboration with a number of research bodies. Cemagref/Irstea and INRA (now INRAE) were among the first partners to join forces, with research being carried out in hydrology, biology and ecology. While work is continuing to achieve the objective of good ecological status, the contributions of science to the implementation of this innovative and ambitious public environmental policy are already significant. A look back at 20 years of collaboration between French research and government departments.
