en.Wedoany.com Reported - Patrice Baillet, President of the Public Planning and Management Body for the Armançon Basin (EPAGE de l'Armançon), and Sandrine Rocard, Director of the Seine-Normandy Water Agency (agence de l'eau Seine-Normandie), signed the new 2026-2030 Armançon Regional Contract on May 19, 2026. The contract plans to invest €15.4 million in 116 actions covering 267 municipalities within the basin to restore the natural functions of water bodies and help the basin adapt to climate change.
The Armançon Basin covers an area of 3,100 square kilometers, spanning the Côte-d'Or, Aube, and Yonne departments, and gathers approximately 1,255 kilometers of waterways before flowing into the Yonne River and eventually the Seine. In the past, hydraulic developments designed to accelerate runoff have weakened the natural capacity of rivers and landscapes to retain floodwaters, store water, and maintain flow. Currently, only 38% of the basin's rivers are in good ecological condition, with main issues involving altered river morphology, soil erosion, and diffuse pollution from nitrates and plant protection products. Droughts and heavy rainfall events have further exacerbated water stress and flood risks.
Patrice Baillet stated that the new plan expands the scale of actions to accelerate river restoration, wetland recovery, and ecological continuity restoration, while building landscape features more conducive to water storage. Compared to the 146 actions implemented under the 2020-2024 contract in the basin, the new contract will deploy more ambitious and structural actions at the regional level.
Morphological restoration is the main investment area of the contract, with over €5.2 million allocated for 35 projects. These projects aim to restore rivers that have been straightened, recalibrated, or channelized to a more natural state, involving the Armançon River and its tributaries (such as the Armançon, Brenne, Landion, or Créanton rivers), covering a total length of 56 kilometers. This helps store water in the landscape, improve the aquatic environment, and restore biodiversity habitats.
The project plan also includes actions for the protection and restoration of wetlands and wet meadows, as well as drainage operations in several forest areas. Under the contract, 795 hectares of wetlands will be restored, and 220 ponds will be created or restored. Other objectives include: conducting hydraulic diagnostics at the sub-basin level to identify runoff concentration areas; restoring river ecological continuity by removing or modifying 44 hydraulic structures; and supporting agricultural operators in implementing solutions adapted to basin-specific issues.
Sandrine Rocard noted that the regional contract demonstrates that taking action at the basin level is a necessary approach to addressing challenges related to water, biodiversity, and climate change. The restoration of rivers, wetlands, or hedgerows yields tangible results in terms of water quality, flood prevention, biodiversity, and regional resilience, and the regional approach helps coordinate actions in water policy, agriculture, planning, and natural environment protection with all local stakeholders.
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