Dr Patrick Flammarion Research & Expertise Director ONEMA

1. Research & development activities in French overseas departments-ONEMA’s actions relative to waterand aquatic environment Dr Patrick Flammarion Research & Expertise Director ONEMA 15th March, 2012, Adapt water management to the specificities of the outermost regions

2. A global view on ONEMA’s R&D actions • Since 2008, ONEMA has financially supported the following fields (about 1,5 M€ a year) : • Water resource management, with special focus on global change effects (partnership BRGM) • Adaptation of waste water treatment technologies to the tropical climate (partnership CEMAGREF/Irstea) • Better knowledge on surface and ground water pollution and ecotoxicology (partnership BRGM, CEMAGREF, IFREMER, INERIS) • Methods for the Water Framework Directive : bio-indicators, hydro-morphological survey (partnership CEMAGREF/Irstea, IFREMER, MNHN)

3. Water resource management In overseas departments, and notably tropical islands, we must face up the increase of human pressure on underground water resources (concentration of populations on the coastal region, increase of the population), in the context of climate change ONEMA’s subsidies have been dedicated to : where needed, a better knowledge of the existing ground water resources : La Réunion island : development of a method for spatial quantification Mayotte island : characterization of the hydro-geological potential studies on coastal aquifer’s vulnerability to climate change (Guadeloupe, Martinique and La Réunion islands)

4. Wastewater treatments The aim of this work is to adapt existing technologies based on vegetated beds (reeds) to the tropical context with local plants : domestic and distilleries effluents sewage sludges and septages The programme includes: on-site experiments, necessary to propose locally adapted and efficient technologies : 3 sites in Martinique, 2 in Guadeloupe, 1 in La Réunion (1 site has to be chosen in 2012 in the French Guyana) technical guidelines (2011) professional training

5. Water Frame Work Directive implementation Methodologies must be developed for the assessment of the ecological status of surface water bodies and the identification of pressures and impacts Particular environments need specific adaptations : coral reefs coastal and transitional waters of French Guyana Biological indicators at the end of 2013 : Validated for rivers (micro-phytobenthos, benthic invertebrates, fish) Under development for coastal waters (phytoplankton, endofauna, coral reef communities, angiosperms)

6. Development of a bio-indicator : invertebrates and rivers ecological quality in French Guyana Steps : Definition of pressures gradients along rivers Selection of invertebrate metrics sensitive to pressures Combination of the metrics in a multi-metric index (Guyana Aquatic Invertebrate index—GAINi) NO pressure Gold Mining pressure Urban pressure Diffuse pressure Industry pressure Variability of the multi-metric Index in relation with various categories of pressures (Buffagni et al. 2011)

7. Implementation of the WFD and R&Dprogrammes : resources and priorities Human and financial resources are more important in La Reunion and Martinique islands, territories where most of the R&D should be made There is a need to strongly prioritize the efforts in French Guyana for WFD : between categories/types of water bodies and quality elements on which the financial and human resources should be concentrated There is a general need to strengthen the coordination and mutualisation of studies and R&D programmes, in order to fulfil the WFD objectives

8. MERCI /THANK YOU worldwaterforum6.org solutionsforwater.org