Vingt-cinq ans de recherches en hydroécologie à la Direction des Etudes et Recherches d'EDF

Twenty-five years of research in hydroecology at the EDF research & development division

Électricité de France

Abstract

Hydroecology (or aquatic ecology) is the study of aquatic systems in their three interacting aspects: physical, chemical and biological. The creation in 1974 of the Environment Department at EDF Research and Development Division marked the start in France of quantitative hydroecology applied so power generation installations. The studies developed around several main themes, determined both by the expansion of the nuclear power programme and by changes in French environmental regulations, in particular the 1976 law on impact studies, the 1984 fishing and hydrobiology law and the 1992 water law.

In this framework, the effect of artificial warming of rivers, eutrophication of continental and marine waters, transfers of mineral micropollutants and radionuclides in rivers, and problems specific to hydropower installations such as guaranteed instream flow or fish pass design, have been studied.

This work, conducted in collaboration with many other research laboratories, has led to the development of original quantitative approaches, notably in the field of numerical modelling. The paper selects several of the tools developed whose scope of application is wider than the environment and management of thermal or hydropower plants. Two major applications grouping the experience acquired in hydroecology are presented: the AGIRE software and the global environmental study of the Singrauli area in India.