TERRIT'EAU, a framework and tools for improving the agricultural landscape management facing to the preservation of water quality

Abstract

Territ'eau is a framework and tools for the engineers involved in the rural development to allow them to take into account agricultural practices, landuse and landscape management of the rural areas in a water quality perspective. It is adapted for few km 2 catchment sizes. It aims to pass from results of research to operational and scientifically based tools usable to provide a functional and comprehensive assessment of agricultural catchment, and so, to increase participative approaches based on a common understanding of them. These tools consist in : 1) capacity building tools, such as an internet website that explains how water and pollutants are transferred in agricultural catchments, the role of the landscape structures that may act as a buffer facing to the water quality issue, pedagogic drawings to visualize them in the office and test them in the field ; 2) a modular framework to assess the active areas, the corresponding pollutant pressures based on expert rules for three types of pollutants, nitrates, phosphorus and herbicides. Territ'eau has the objective to fill the gap between research and development. Scientists are largely involved in this policy at different levels. It was performed in operation associates, in various committees, various partners of the development and potential users. The development this framework and tools devoted to the knowledge transfer in the environmental field, associate farmer organisations and research institutes. The framework is generic but the expert rules are specifically developed for the physical and the agronomic environment of Western France, i.e., for catchment with topographically dependent shallow groundwater, dominant agriculture based on animal breeding, landscape composed of rather small plots.