• In Occitania, only 45% of them are in good ecological condition, according to the latest report from the Rhône Mediterranean Corsica Water Agency, unveiled on Friday.

  • To make progress, we must redouble our efforts to limit the pollutants that pollute the rivers, in particular pesticides, linked to agricultural activity, or drugs, which we excrete, as humans, after taking.

  • And there is urgency.

    Because little by little, suffocated by rivers in a dirty state, fish, insects or amphibians threaten to die out.

In summer, we swim there, we walk along its banks, and they are a delight for doggies.

But we were a bit interested in the health of our rivers?

In Occitania, only 45% of them are in good ecological condition, according to the latest report from the Rhône Mediterranean Corsica Water Agency, unveiled on Friday.

If this figure seems alarming, we come a long way.

Much progress has been made in recent decades.

"The rivers are much less polluted today than they were in the 1990s," says Laurent Roy, director general of the Rhône Méditerranée Corse Water Agency.

Ammonium concentrations have been divided by 20 in thirty years, after the construction of more efficient treatment plants.

Thanks to the ban on phosphates in household detergents, the algae that choked the rivers have almost all disappeared.

As for the level of metal concentration in the water, it has been divided by six, in fifteen years, thanks to better treatment of wastewater, before its discharge.

Pesticides and drugs

But 45%, only, of the rivers in good condition in the region, we can do even better.

Especially since European regulations normally require that all water bases be in good health, except for a handful of exceptional cases.

So, how can we take care of our rivers in Occitania?

We must redouble our efforts to limit the pollutants that defile them.

“It may be pesticides, linked to agricultural activity, continues Laurent Roy.

Or drugs, which we excrete, as humans, after taking them.

Or all the chemicals of everyday life.

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Fighting these pollutants so that they do not end up living in waterways, "it's very complicated", recognizes this specialist.

But a lot of work is being done in this direction.

Like supporting farmers, to convince them to be less polluting, by converting to organic, for example.

For medicines, he already has simple gestures, such as not pouring unused treatment into the sink.

Or knock on the doors of manufacturers, so that their products are less polluting.

OUR POLLUTION REPORT

“And there is the establishment of reinforced treatment units, downstream of agglomerations, to treat a maximum of substances, notes the director general of the Rhône Mediterranean Corsica Water Agency.

But that has a cost.

It has an impact on the price of water.

This is why the first thing to apply is the reduction of pollutants at source.

And that is up to politicians, industrialists, farmers, but also us, consumers, to get down to it.

“Everyone is concerned,” recalls Laurent Roy.

And there is urgency.

Because little by little, suffocated by rivers in a dirty state, fish, insects, amphibians or plants threaten to die out, in Occitania.

The Rhône Méditerranée Corse Water Agency hopes, in six years, "to gain almost 20 points",

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