1. Climate change impacts on the Loire river basin
Régis THEPOT, Chief Executive Officer of Etablissement public Loire
3rd Yangtze Forum - Shanghai - April 2009
3rd Yangtze Forum – Shanghai – April 2009

2. Etablissement Public Loire
Loire river basin
Etablissement Public Loire
Current impacts of climate change on the Loire basin
Plan Loire grandeur nature
Reducing the basin vulnerability to floods and drought
3rd Yangtze Forum - Shanghai - April 2009

3. Area: 100.000 km² Length : 1.000 km Very irregular flow
3rd Yangtze Forum - Shanghai - April 2009

4. Upper part of the basin
3rd Yangtze Forum - Shanghai - April 2009

5. The Middle Loire Amboise Orléans Nevers Angers
Nuclear plant
Nevers
Angers
3rd Yangtze Forum - Shanghai - April 2009

6. Levees, breaches and spillways in in the middle Loire
3rd Yangtze Forum - Shanghai - April 2009

7. 2003’s flood (middle Loire) 1949’s draught
3rd Yangtze Forum - Shanghai - April 2009

8. 3rd Yangtze Forum – Shanghai – April 2009
Downstream Loire
3rd Yangtze Forum - Shanghai - April 2009
3rd Yangtze Forum – Shanghai – April 2009

9. 3rd Yangtze Forum – Shanghai – April 2009
Etablissement Public Loire
A Public Institution gathering local communities at the river basin level
. 6 Regions
. 16 Departments
. 18 Cities
3rd Yangtze Forum - Shanghai - April 2009
3rd Yangtze Forum – Shanghai – April 2009

10. 3rd Yangtze Forum – Shanghai – April 2009
Role of EP Loire
Area of competence
A tool for solidarity and subsidiarity at river basin level
Flood prevention
Water
Water ressources management
Operating two dams Naussac and Villerest
Local development
3rd Yangtze Forum - Shanghai - April 2009
3rd Yangtze Forum – Shanghai – April 2009

11. 3rd Yangtze Forum – Shanghai – April 2009
Dams of Villerest and Naussac
3rd Yangtze Forum - Shanghai - April 2009
3rd Yangtze Forum – Shanghai – April 2009

12. Current impacts of climate change on the Loire basin
Already noticeable on :
Warmer air temperatures (1°C in average during the 20th century)
An increase of about 1°C in the water temperature in middle Loire
More contrast in variation in rainfall (trend not detected for the extreme values)
3rd Yangtze Forum - Shanghai - April 2009

13. 3rd Yangtze Forum - Shanghai - April 2009

14. Current impacts of climate change on the Loire basin
A relative overall ignorance of the impact due to :
The lack of research or analyses at that level
The difficulty to separate the CC impacts from other factors
The difficulty in modelling extreme weather phenomena with global climate models
The lack of datas on long enough periods
3rd Yangtze Forum - Shanghai - April 2009

15. Reducing the basin’s vulnerabity to floods and drought
The dual scope of :
the Plan Loire Grandeur Nature funded by the European Union
and the choice of the Loire Basin as national pilot site by the French Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Spatial Planning
3rd Yangtze Forum - Shanghai - April 2009

16. Plan Loire grandeur nature 1994 - 2006
Initialy a top-down approach
Was decided by the governement in 1994 after fierce ecological conflicts concerning the construction of dams
Serre de la Fare
Main Objectives
- integrated management of the Loire river basin
- a joint approach associating involved actors and scientific assessment
310 M€ / 3 billion RMB
Duration : initially 10 years prolonged to 12
3 main contractors
3rd Yangtze Forum - Shanghai - April 2009

17. A top-down and bottom up approach
Plan Loire
A top-down and bottom up approach
Based on the EU WFD and the Aarhus convention :
global assessment of Plan Loire
consultation in 2006 of the stakeholders in order to elaborate a strategic document defining shared stakes
organization of regional and thematic meetings on the whole Loire basin
dedicated website forum
global budget : 400 M€/4 billions RMB
3rd Yangtze Forum - Shanghai - April 2009
3rd Yangtze Forum – Shanghai – April 2009

18. 5 key fields of action in 2007-2013
Safety of population facing flood risks
Managing water resources
Restoring natural aquatic ecosystem and wetlands
Enhancing the Loire valley heritage
Developing research and data exchanges
3rd Yangtze Forum - Shanghai - April 2009

19. Two model operations funded by the European Union in this context
An evaluation of the expected impacts of climate change on the Loire river basin
At the level of the basin an « industrial » approach aimed at reducing the vulnerability to extreme floods for the economic activities
3rd Yangtze Forum - Shanghai - April 2009

20. An evaluation of the expected impacts of climate change on the Loire river basin
3 actions undertaken in the Plan Loire Grandeur Nature since 2007 :
Inventory of the knowledge of the CC impacts
Prospective hearing
Defining scenarios with climate and modelling specialists
In june 2008 a call for research proposals beginning in 2009
3rd Yangtze Forum - Shanghai - April 2009

21. An « industrial » approach aimed at reducing the vulnerabity of the basin to flooding
In the middle Loire companies are in flood prone areas, and within 2013 :
3000 companies will have carried out an assessment of their vulnerability and taken actions to reduce it
900 companies, sectors and activity zones will have implemented effective and urgent measures to reduce their vulnerability
3rd Yangtze Forum - Shanghai - April 2009

22. Perspectives for the Loire basin
Many questions are still unresolved
Nevertheless stakeholder involvement developped since 15 years on the Loire river is probably an advantage to tackle CC problems.
In addition to the 2 examples above the general process consists of consolidating the data production and analyses network and the dialogue between researchers and managers.
The dissemination of the acquired knowledge to a large audience is also a priority
3rd Yangtze Forum - Shanghai - April 2009

23. Conclusions
At this time in Europe yet few global adaptations strategies to the impacts of CC at the river basin scale
Complexity and interdepence of the processes (exact nature of the associated impacts ?)
CC constitutes an indicator of the vulnerability ; therefore it is necessary develop « no regrets » adaptation strategies aiming to increase resilience to extreme events
3rd Yangtze Forum - Shanghai - April 2009

24. See you soon along the Loire river !
3rd Yangtze Forum - Shanghai - April 2009