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Causerie — A Serious Game for Reducing Waterway Pollution

PRESS RELEASE - The Water Law protects freshwater ecosystems by regulating activities and infrastructure with a potential impact on watercourses, whose legal definition was established in 2015. A research team at INRAE has developed the first national watercourse map. This map reveals disparities in how this definition is applied from one French département (administrative region) to another, to the detriment of small headwater streams – which are often rich in biodiversity – and intermittent streams. These results appear on 19 September in Environmental Science & Technology.

For the past two decades, Thibault Datry has dedicated his research to the study of natural intermittent rivers — essential yet often overlooked ecosystems. A Research Director at INRAE, Datry has been a pioneer in developing this field in France and internationally. Faced with the challenges of climate change, the ecohydrologist warns of the growing fragility of these environments — vital refuges for biodiversity and key to maintaining ecosystem balance.