Contribution
Description
MAGES – Rain
and Stormwater
management in
Greater Paris
Area
Unique in Europe, MAGES (Modèle d’aide à
la gestion des effluents du SIAAP – Support
Model for wastewater management of Paris
region) is a software designed to provide
assistance in the dynamic management of
urban effluents in the Greater Paris area
(nearly 10 million inhabitants).
Greater Paris Region, in
France, on the perimeter
of the SIAAP (Syndicat
Interdépartemental pour
l’Assainissement de
l’Agglomération
Parisienne):
The main objectives are to:
-8.5 M inhabitants,
-4 departments,
-180 municipalities,
-1,980 km²,
-460 km of main pipes.
by
Suez
Environnement
[EXISTING]
Location
Actors
TECHNICAL (an appropriate device, a plant, a tool, a software, etc.)
-Manage – 24/24, in real time and with
maximum efficiency – a sewer system,
using as a base weather forecasts, the state
of the network and the operating constraints
MAGES was born of a joint reflection
between the teams of the Wastewater
Authority for the Greater Paris area (the
SIAAP) and the General Councils of the
three departments that surround the
French capital.
It was developed by Eau et Force, a
subsidiary of Lyonnaise des Eaux (Suez
Environment) and Satelec.
It was financially supported by the SeineNormandy Water Authority and the Greater
Paris Region.
-Plan ahead for the rainfall event by
suggesting that the catch-water drains be
emptied
Problem
Rainwater can cause severe pollution.
On contact with air, they take impurities
(industrial smoke, exhaust gases),
trickle on the floor, taking their way all
kinds of residues on roofs and
roadways (zinc, motor oil, fuels, heavy
metals ...); This is particularly important
as increasing urbanization leads to high
levels of soil sealing in cities, which no
longer allows rainwater to be absorbed
with high risks of network and plants
congestion which may cause direct
discharges of polluted water into the
environment.
This situation requires local
government officials to find new
approaches to deal with the issue of
urban effluents and the management of
rain and stormwater flows.
-During the rainfall event, optimize mesh
and basin or channel storage management
This issue is part of a broader concern
on the protection of the quality of the
resource, the environment and the
corresponding ecosystem.
- During the dry phase, drain progressively
and limit the impact on the environment
This tool’s main achievement is to limit the
discharge of untreated water into the natural
environment and preserve the quality of the
receiving water ( Seine & Marne)
Geofiltration ©
– A New
solution for a
sustainable
development of
water resources
by
Suez
Environnement
[EXISTING]
Within the increasingly restrictive regulatory
and economic context, using the natural
purification capacities of aquifers can
present a simple environmental and
economic solution in terms of water
treatment. The geofiltration © process is an
innovative approach which consists in
improving the quality of the resources
upstream of drinking water treatment plants
(WTP), using the natural in-situ treatment
capacities of the sub-soil. This is an
innovative, but very simple approach, based
on knowledge of the various environments
(riverbanks, gravel pits, infiltration basin,
aquifer) and on a combination of their selfpurifying capacities.
The geofiltration ©
process is applied in
Flins-Aubergenville well
field, situated downstream
of the Parisian urban
center. It is one of the
main groundwater
resources managed in the
Ile de France
-operated by Lyonnaise
des Eaux since 1959,
-37 wells,
-40km2 watershed along
the Seine river,
-artificial recharge basins
The geofiltration © process is an innovative
process developed by Lyonnaise des Eaux
and SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT Research
center, the CIRSEE.
After a phase of applied research, the
process was applied at the FlinsAubergenville site (France) by Lyonnaise
des Eaux, where an aquifer recharge
system using treated surface water had
been in place until 2004. With no increase
in operating costs and a reduction of
investment costs, implementation of the
Geofiltration © process has led to a 20%
reduction in nitrates at tap level and avoids
the production of 1,000 tonnes of waste
Most surface and superficial ground
waters are affected by pollutions of
agricultural and/or urban origin, which
makes it necessary to implement
complex processes for the production
of drinking water. Furthermore, thanks
to increasing laboratory analysis
performance and medical knowledge,
international regulations governing the
quality of water destined for human
consumption is moving progressively
towards a higher level of health safety.
This development is making drinking
water treatment processes even more
complex.
Contribution
Description
The application consists in modifying the
path of water before entering the WTP plant
through the environment (water resources
management) in view of creating a natural
in-situ treatment plant. The principle is to
associate two (or more) underground
systems in series to obtain an improvement
of the raw water quality before final
treatment: the first system is a river bank
filtration providing treatment benefits from
reducing conditions and an abundant
recharge from a stream (well field along a
river, alluvial quarry along a river); the
secondary system is an artificial recharge
scheme providing complementary treatment
benefits from oxidizing conditions.
Location
Actors
Problem
(11ha) since 1980,
-144,000 m3/d drinking
water plant,
-supplied population:
370,000
per year.
Within this increasingly restrictive
regulatory and economic context, using
the natural purification capacities of
aquifers can present a simple
environmental and economic solution in
terms of water treatment.
Other applications of the process are in
progress.
Another concerned well
field is at Vernouillet in
France.
Geofiltration © is an innovative
approach which consists in improving
the quality of the resources upstream of
drinking water treatment plants, using
the natural in-situ treatment capacities
of the sub-soil.
The geofiltration © process helps to
decrease the number of treatment steps,
and to decrease the need of reagents and
sludge treatment by eliminating most of the
non-desirable compounds (iron,
manganese, ammonia, suspended solids).
It brings also strong guarantees on
bacteriological issues. A double Redox
barrier plays an important role in the natural
elimination of pollutants (nitrates, metals,
organic compound, etc.). The project
restores the quality and the quantity of the
resource in a sustainable way, with low
investment and operation costs.
Coastal Water
Management
(COWAMA )
by
Suez
Environnement
[EXISTING]
COWAMA es un sistema de apoyo a la
gestión de las áreas de baño que permite
prever y controlar problemas sobre la
calidad de las aguas, ayudando al
cumplimento de la directiva europea
2006/7/CE y el correspondiente Real
Decreto español RD 1341/2007. Es un
sistema integral que trabaja con
predicciones meteorológicas, sensores y
modelos matemáticos, gestionando la
notificación de alertas a las entidades
públicas correspondientes y a los usuarios
finales en caso de vertidos o problemas de
contaminación en las playas.
En España: Barcelona,
Alicante, Tarragona,
Torremolinos (Málaga),
Benicarló (Castellón) y
Sitges (Barcelona).
Próximamente en
Tenerife y Las Palmas de
Gran Canaria (Islas
Canarias).
En Francia: San Juan de
Luz y Biarritz
COWAMA nace en 2008 como un proyecto
R+i ALLIANCE, en el cual colaboran las
empresas CLABSA (AGBAR) y Lyonnaise
des eaux (Suez). Las nuevas directivas
europeas y la necesidad de desarrollar un
sistema innovador preventivo (y no
reactivo) para la gestión de a calidad de
las aguas de las playas motivó su
nacimiento.
Este primer desarrollo se centró en su
implementación en Barcelona donde la
empresa CLABSA gestiona la red de
alcantarillado. Desde entonces viene
funcionando en dicha ciudad con gran
El proyecto COWAMA tiene dos
grandes objetivos que responden a las
exigencias de la Directiva 2006/7/CE.
Estos objetivos son:
-Desarrollo de un sistema de
planificación y gestión integral del
sistema hídrico urbano que englobe
alcantarillado, depuradora y medio
receptor;
-Desarrollo de un sistema de alerta en
tiempo real y de predicción de la
contaminación en las zonas de baño,
Contribution
Description
Location
COWAMA se basa en la simulación del flujo
y de la contaminación, incluyendo la
entrada del agua y el flujo de ésta en la red
de alcantarillado, los posibles vertidos
directos del alcantarillado al medio receptor,
el tratamiento en la depuradora y su
dispersión en el mar. Permite prever la
magnitud y la duración de los episodios de
contaminación, convirtiéndose en un eficaz
sistema de alerta para los bañistas. Por otro
lado, permite planificar la construcción de
las infraestructuras más eficientes para
reducir estos episodios de contaminación
Actors
Problem
éxito.
que incluya un sistema de información
al público.
A final de 2010 se acometió una profunda
actualización de la aplicación a través de
AQUA AMBIENTE (empresa proveedora
de tecnología y nuevos desarrollos del
grupo AGBAR).
Esta nueva versión se ha implantado
durante 2011 en varios municipios
españoles de referencia turística y se está
en proceso de implantación de otros
tantos, tanto a nivel español como
internacional.
El núcleo de ambos sistemas es una
aplicación computacional que permite
modelizar el ciclo integral del agua,
acoplando diferentes programas de
modelización del flujo y de la calidad
del agua: la escorrentía superficial, el
alcantarillado, ríos (en las ubicaciones
donde la contaminación vertida por el
río tenga importancia), la depuradora y
la dinámica en las zonas de baño.
El sistema proporciona una imagen
diferenciadora a los municipios con gran
impacto turístico, a través de la publicación
en tiempo real de información vía web y
pantallas electrónicas, en coordinación con
los servicios públicos.
INSTITUTIONAL (multi-stakeholder plans, policies, governance structures, etc.)
Strategies of
urban stream
restoration:
improving
regional
environment and
aquatic
ecosystem
by
South Korea
Ministry of
Environment
(Aquatic
Ecosystem
Conservation
Division)
[EXISTING]
Urban stream restoration and management
have been regarded as highly critical
policies in aspects of ecosystem health
maintenance and improvement, as well as
environmental health, at developing
countries where seem to be urbanized
rapidly and all areas of developed countries
in completion stage. In addition, to resolve
the reduction of underground water and
surface water discharge depletion problems
due to increase of impermeable area and to
prevent urban inundation from urbanization
and climate changes effect, the linkage
between integrated urban water
management and urban stream restoration
has been emphasized.
The solution will be a two-phase (long-term)
approach to developing technical guidelines
that consider regional characteristics,
stakeholder’s participation, and the linkage
of urban water management (supply /
disposal) and urban stream restoration:
1) Study of urban stream status in mediumscale to mega cities (need to estimate
South Korea and other
major countries
Urban stream restoration programs:
- SWITCH (SUSTAINABLE WATER
MANAGEMENT IMPROVES
TOMORROW’S CITIES’ HEALTH)
program of UNESCO IHE.
- Singapore ABC (Active, Beautiful, Clean)
Waters program.
- UWFP (Urban Waters Federal
Partnership) in the United States.
- Urban stream restoration project, longterm construction plan for ecological
stream restoration in South Korea.
1) Why is an urban stream restoration
important?
As urbanization and city-ward migration
have been increasing globally,
sanitation for large number of
population and health in ecosystem has
been threatened. Urban streams which
have serious damages from water
quality contamination and ecosystem
disturbance due to rapid industrial
development must be restored as clean
and healthy streams for reducing
environmental contamination and
creating comfortable environment.
2) What does the solution of urban
stream restoration contribute to the
target’s solution?
Urban stream are a key area for the
integrated management of material
cycle (water quality), discharge and
base-flow, and surface-groundwater.
Thus, urban stream restoration can
significantly contribute to urban surface
Contribution
Description
Location
Actors
population) including water supply plans,
water-reuse plans, monitoring programmes
(investigation of impermeable area,
discharge, water quality, ecosystem, etc.)
Problem
water flow and water quality
management.
2) Setting up of an urban stream restoration
plan for the corresponding regions,
including active application of water-reuse
technologies with impervious cover
management in water-deficient areas, along
with a participation plan and/or direct
participation of stakeholders.
LEGAL (a law, a decree, a treaty, etc.)
FINANCIAL (a levy, a transfer scheme, tariffs, etc.)
Payment for
Environmental
Services in
Water
Resources
Management in
Brazil
In line with worldwide trends, Payment for
Environmental Services (PES) has been
adopted as a strategic economic instrument
for environmental management, and ANA is
conducting two PES-based programs for
water resources management: PRODES;
and the Water Producer Program.
by
The former, the River Basin Clean-up
Programme (PRODES) launched in 2001,
aims to address environmental problems of
water pollution caused by discharges of raw
sewage. Rather than allotting public funding
for engineering works or procurement of
equipment, a new approach focuses on
payment for results, i.e., attainment of
efficiency goals and removal of organic
loads, measured in terms of kilograms of
BOD per day, and operational performance
of Sewage Treatment Plants.
The National
Water Agency of
Brazil – ANA
[EXISTING]
The latter, the Water Producer Program,
also launched in 2001, foresees provision of
technical and financial support for actions
targeted at water and soil conservation,
such as the building of terraces, and
seepage basins, refurbishing of secondary
roads, restoration and protection of springs,
reforestation of Areas of Permanent
Preservation and Legal Reserves,
environmental sanitation, and other
PRODES and the Water
Producer Program are
implemented in key river
basins of high
environmental and
socioeconomic relevance.
The former aims to
improve water quality in
urban areas, whereas the
latter aims to reduce
silting and erosion in river
basins in rural areas.
The PRODES Program entails participation
of: Sanitation Services (service providers),
Basin Committees, Municipalities (that
provide such services) and Caixa
Econômica Federal (acts as financial
agent). Though the institutional initiative
stems from government (more particularly,
from ANA) success of the initiatives relies
heavily on the involvement of institutions at
the local level, such as sanitation
companies, municipal administrations and,
especially, basin committees which are the
main strategic players for implementation.
Actions which consolidate practical
outcomes of these solutions count upon
these institutions, and it is up to such local
institutions to ensure that implementation
proceeds and that actions are followed up.
The Water Producer Program involves
stakeholders from a great variety of
sectors, governmental institutions and civil
society, and relies on support from basin
committees, municipalities, financial agents
and sanitation services providers.
The results of these initiatives have
sought to respond to the question: what
alternatives can be adopted to
minimize water pollution? One of
Brazil’s main environmental problems
is water pollution that compromises the
water quality in rivers and reservoirs. In
urban areas, discharges of untreated
raw sewage are the main cause of poor
water quality.
In rural areas, pollution tends to be
non-point, and is generally associated
with inappropriate agricultural land use,
which leads to large scale soil erosion
and, consequently, silting of rivers and
lakes. Water pollution causes
economic, social and environmental
problems throughout Brazil, and
significantly increases the cost of
treatment of water supply for urban
populations.
Initiatives such as PRODES and the
Water Producer Program contribute
toward improving water quality and
flows available, and enhance
environmental conditions in basins
where they are carried out.
Contribution
Description
Location
Actors
Problem
The case study was
recorded in the Muda
Irrigation Scheme, the
largest rice production
scheme in Malaysia.
Study area covers
approximately 25km2.
Paddy Fields located in
floodplain areas are
intelligently used for flood
control and sediment
control.
Initiator /stakeholders : INWEPF (member
countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China,
Egypt, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea,
Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal,
Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand,
Vietnam)
In recent years, extensive studies on
scientific, social and economic aspects
of paddy planting have been conducted
to look into these multi-functions of
paddy fields.
conservation practices.
The Program aims to apply the PES model
by compensating those who, demonstrably,
contribute toward protection and restoration
of water sources, thereby generating
benefits for the basin and its population.
Such experiences have proven quite
successful, by fostering ties between public
policies for water resources management,
sanitation and soil conservation, and
ensuring the operational sustainability of
such projects.
Monetary
Assessment of
Flood and
Sediment
Control
Functions in
Paddy Fields
and Balance
between
productivity and
environmental
protection
by
International
Network for
Water and
Ecosystem in
Paddy Fields
(INWEPF)
[EXISTING]
Paddy fields serve as artificial wetland
which has multi-functionality such as flood
control, sediment control, and so on and
provides a broad range of benefits in the
social, cultural and environmental aspects
to the region. A study investigated the
potentials of flood and sediment control in a
specific study site in Malaysia. Through
computer modeling, the behavior and
response of flood water within paddy fields
located in floodplains were captured. It was
therefore scientifically proven that paddy
fields help to preserve natural floodplain
terrain to attenuate flood. Physical
structures of paddy fields greatly increase
the capacity for flow retention and sediment
deposition.
Subsequently, these important findings
were translated into monetary value for
appreciation of wider audience. Cost
replacement method was used to equate
the flood control and sediment control value
of paddy field to equivalent flood prevention
dam and river desilting projects. Next a
national projection was provided. It was
found that the values of flood and sediment
control were conservatively estimated to be
440mil USD and 12mil USD respectively.
This is almost as significant as the
commodity yield (rice production) of about
472mil USD annually. The study thus
successfully proved the worth of multifunctionality of paddy fields. It is hoped that
Case studies on “Balance
between productivity and
environmental protection”
are compiled by 11
countries in Asian
monsoon regions.
It is of INWEPF’s highest interest to
increase awareness on the importance
of paddy fields in providing such
environmental services, despite some
negative impacts.
INWEPF’s effort in getting participating
country to conduct research and
monetary assessment has revealed the
importance of paddy fields and
indirectly convinced many of the
benefits of the paddy field landscape.
Fundamental question in the
agricultural function is how to meet the
growing demand for food and
environmental protection for next
generation. International society is
putting huge efforts into finding a
solution within the scope of policy and
sharing of good practices in sustainable
paddy farming.
Contribution
Description
Location
Actors
Problem
by quantifying multi-functionality in
monetary terms can increase awareness of
the environmental benefits paddy fields
provide, despite their short comings.
The solution is to suggest a guideline to
sustainable agriculture water use in Asia
through dissemination of the report
“Balance between productivity and
environmental protection”. This includes
case studies from member countries on
effective use of water resources, adaptation
of climate change and project
implementation considering environments.
COMMUNICATION-RELATED (advocacy campaigns, videos, leaflets, etc.)
Reforming water
policies through
environmental
ethics
by
the Water Ethics
Network
[INNOVATIVE]
Cultural values and ethics are inherently
resistant to change; that is how cultures are
maintained over time. Rather than
attempting a frontal attack on wellentrenched values, a more effective
strategy might be to look for ways that the
existing value system could support
environmentally important measures
leading to larger reforms. An approach of
seeking to change behaviours within the
umbrella of existing values can start a
multiplier effect that can influence values
gradually and indirectly. The role of the
crisis (e.g. climate change) can be to
stimulate the initial behavioural change.
With the higher temperatures and greater
evaporation under climate change
scenarios, coupled with the increased
probabilities for extended droughts that
would in any case render surface reservoirs
useless, maintaining environmental flows
might be seen as economically preferable
even without any environmental
considerations.
As the flowing river and growing aquifer
become accepted as a normal aspect of
safeguarding long-term (sustainable) water
supply, the value placed on a flowing river
could become an internalised aspect of the
Santa Fe, NM (USA)
Indigenous Pueblo Indian tribes were
already using the Santa Fe river for
irrigation when the Spanish arrived in the
late 1500s. With the establishment of
Santa Fe as a provincial capital in 1610,
agricultural use of water intensified. The
Santa Fe river provided water to a growing
network of Spanish canals (acequias)
which provided the food for the growing
settlement.
Today, the river is operated with the
objective of storing as much water as
possible in the reservoirs. The rights to the
river’s water were extracted from the
acequia farmers through legal maneuvers
by the private water company, which later
sold the rights to the City of Santa Fe. The
city’s rights comprise about 85% of the
river’s average flow (which is highly
variable). An additional 5% is owned by the
heirs of the early farmers (now used for
urban gardens) and the remaining 10% is
unallocated, usually spilling from the
reservoirs when the mountain snowpack
melts in late spring.
Under the approach proposed, the City of
Santa Fe would no longer be able to
impound the entire flow of the Santa Fe
river merely because this is an easy way to
obtain water for the city supply over the
The need for resilient water
ecosystems that can adapt to climate
change provides a frame for
considering the values and ethics
driving water policies. As noted above,
there is an added reason to promote
adaptation measures that will enhance
the resilience of water ecosystems so
they can weather the additional stress
of droughts and floods. At the same
time, climate change brings an urgency
to the planning process; adaptive
strategies need to be formulated as
soon as possible, and choices need to
be made. Perhaps the time pressure
will encourage outside-the-box thinking,
and a consideration of the values
dimension.
A scenario of environmental flows to
recharge the aquifer, while helping
fortify the riparian ecology (vegetation
and river channel morphology) could
result in a healthier, more resilient,
'living river'. There will certainly be
pressure to respond to climate change
by increasing surface storage capacity
rather than allowing any river water to
infiltrate into the aquifer. The priority of
surface storage over aquifer storage
has been the convention for the past
half century. With no value accorded to
Contribution
Description
local culture. When a healthy river is seen
as a management objective, utilitarian
objectives are forced into an
accommodation with sustainability.
Location
Actors
Problem
short term. With the health of the Santa Fe
river as a central management objective,
the needs of urban water supply would
have to be met in ways that do not
endanger basic ecological functions. The
dams would be operated as part of a
conjunctive strategy with groundwater
management, demand management
(conservation), rainwater harvesting, and
water reuse.
riparian health, the additional
environmental benefits from flows that
infiltrate water into the aquifer would
not be counted, and the comparison
would be made on storage and
recovery criteria alone.