From research watershed to operational watershed: which is more suited for understanding and controlling diffuse agricultural pollution?

Abstract

The watersheds have been for a long time an essential tool both for hydrology and research works on diffuse pollution, mainly production from agriculture. Since the first "representative and experimental" watersheds (BVRE), devoted to hydrological and hydro-chemical measurements, the concepts improved and the study strategies become more sophisticated. The increasing recourse to "the watershed approach" within the framework of operational purposes, constitutes a consequence of this research. This article aims at establishing an assessment of the knowledge on the watershed approach, applied to the problem of agricultural diffuse pollution. After a brief history of the concept of watershed and its contribution to the works on diffuse pollution, the main methodological assets and their operational adaptations are presented, within the framework of the actions implemented to control pollution. Specifications of the operational devices as well as some elements concerning the choice of their setting up, are also dealt with.