Joëlle Lallemand points to a stone bench on the other bank. “It’s really a pig’s job”complains the president of APIEEE (Association for the protection, information and studies of water and its environment).
This Tuesday, May 7, 2024, with her comrades Jean-Jacques Guillet and Thierry Baudry, she is annoyed by the adjustment work carried out at the end of March by the SMBVSN (Mixed union of the Sèvre niortaise watershed) on the Mignon, nearby of Usseau. Only six months after a remeandering action (1) carried out in September, with the help of funding of 140,000 euros from the Department of Deux-Sèvres.
Going up the Mignon, Joëlle Lallemand points out a department sign indicating the initial objectives of the remeander. “We have taken a big step backwards,” she believes.
© (NR Photo, Elliott Bureau)
“They have undoubtedly made the state of the river worse”
“What had been done was very interestingshe continues during a walk along the 700 meters targeted by the remeander. These materials were installed with the aim of slowing down flows and diversifying them. For a river to be alive it must have calmer areas”explains Joëlle Lallemand.
The exact opposite of the long rectilinear flows created over the years by agricultural consolidation, as Mathilde Poncet of the Mixed Syndicate à la carte explained to us last November.
Going up the Mignon, the piles of gravel follow one another and look the same as drops of water. “They have undoubtedly made the state of the river worse”plague Jean-Jacques Guillet, former mayor of Amuré, today one of the spokespersons for the Bassines non merci (BNM) collective. “We are in a situation where we always want to impose our whims on nature”he whispers. In the sights of the activists, the agricultural plots along the river. “They complain about the floods, but they farm where there should be meadows, which serve as a buffer zone in the event of flooding”continues Joëlle Lallemand.
Along the Mignon, near Usseau, piles of gravel emerging from the water follow one another.
© (NR Photo, Elliott Bureau)
So disgusted “by wasting public money” that by a step backwards which they consider unexplained, the activists announce their desire to file a complaint. “We made a report to the OFB [Office français de la biodiversité] »indicates Joëlle Lallemand.
Only “10 to 15%” of materials removed
“In September, water levels were particularly low. We didn’t have the normal flow of the river, it was difficult to position the benches correctly.” replies Fabrice Laumond, director of SMBVSN. During the fall, the union noted “having put a few too many stones. » Due to heavy rains and incessant flooding, the readjustment could not take place before March.
“We intervened on a specific part where the river is moving against the slope due to an older recalibration”continues Fabrice Laumond, who indicates that “10 to 15% of the volume of materials was removed, out of the 3,000 tons installed in September.”
Above all, the director of the SMBVSN specifies that the union can only act with the agreement of the owners and operators of the plots on the edge of the Mignon. “We must find a fair balance between the restoration of the river and the uses of the plain. In absolute terms, it is certain that it would be better to have meadows than crops in these sectors, but the agricultural economy is what it is”concludes Fabrice Laumond.
The SMBVSN director indicates that the stones taken out of the water will be recovered in order to be used “to other restoration actions”. Their final destination has not yet been defined.
(1) Operation consisting of giving a river the route of its former meanders.
