80% of waste in the oceans originates from inland. Faced with that reality, Surfrider decided in 2013 to launch a pilot study called Riverine Input, in order to better understand where this waste is coming from. Let’s look back on the beginnings and the progression of the project.
The purpose
Thanks to the gathered data, the scientific protocol set up by the Riverine Input project will be the base to future river studies on the entire European continent, and will thus allow us to come forward with new concrete and suitable measures to eradicate river pollution sources.
“Our objective is not to point fingers at any particular structure in a given watershed, but instead to identify polluting areas in order to come up with global solutions, which could be taking all possible forms such as communication, technical optimization or conciliation.” Jean-Baptiste Dussaussois, Surfrider engineer in charge of the Riverine Input project.
Development of the scientific protocol
The very first step of the project was the setup of a methodology for the identification and quantification of the aquatic waste. This scientific and bibliographic research phase lasted for a year and delivered a precise grid of waste classification. This grid covers no less than 140 waste types, classified in 13 categories. This classification table is the basis for the protocol: it makes the comparison of the amount and types of collected waste from month to month and from site to site possible.
Distribution of the collected waste after a year of sampling, in accordance with the classification table.
In a second phase a relevant location for the project had to be determined. The Ardour watershed has been chosen quite quickly: the river originates in the Pyrenees Mountains, runs through several towns and villages where industrial and agricultural activities are established, and eventually flows into the ocean.
Field work
Once the scientific protocol had been extensively studied, the project was rolled out on the field. The team had to choose waste sampling sites alongside the Ardour river. From the source in Campan all the way down to the river mouth in Anglet, eight sampling sites were selected: seven of them are located alongside the river, and the last one is on the beach.
The waste sampling frequency on the riversides is arbitrarily set to once a month, thus ensuring that the collected data is as precise and reliable as possible. This way, waste is collected every month on eight sampling sites, over the same surface delimited by GPS.
From Campan to Anglet, logbook of a tour with Riverine Input
This is the course of a typical day on the Riverine Input project, the first one of 2016.
This same process is repeated on each and every sampling site, and all of them are contaminated with plastic waste.
The last waste sampling takes place at the river mouth, where the watercourse flows into the ocean: in Anglet, on the “La Barre” beach, which is immediately adjacent to the estuary. On this day, the water is particularly murky, due to the river swelling. We proceed to a meticulous sampling of the rubbish larger than 0,5cm found on the beach. All of it has to be picked up, from the plastic and polystyrene bits to the glass bottles and the fishing thread. The protocol that has been set up on this last sampling site varies from the one used in the river: it matches the OSPAR protocol (Oslo Paris Convention) of quantification and identification of beach waste.
Sorting and quantification of waste
Once the waste has been sampled, it is brought back to the Surfrider Foundation Headquarters in Biarritz in order to be sorted and counted using the classification table. Each month, volunteers come over to help with the sorting. This is not only an awareness creation opportunity, but it also helps the team sorting waste as precisely and meticulously as possible.
A project with recognition at a European level
Thanks to its innovative protocol, the Riverine Input project got the attention of the European Commission, who decided to integrate it to the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive. The EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive is a directive from the European Parliament which aims to coordinating local actions from member states on the issue of waste. As a member of the expert group of this directive, the engineer responsible for the Riverine Input project reports twice a year on the progress and results of the protocol to the members of the European Commission. The next meeting of the expert group of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive will take place in Palermo in April 2016.
Follow-up
The purpose of the Riverine Input project in the coming years is to achieve a harmonization of the European Directives for the quantification of aquatic waste, and eventually to include waste as an indicator for quality of the surroundings and their good environmental status.
The Surfrider experts in charge of this project keep on taking part in conferences on this issue in order to raise awareness amongst the general public. The objective here is to keep things moving forward at both a local and European level.
Jean-Baptiste Dussaussois is responsible for the Riverine Input project and also an elected member of “Agence de l’eau” committee, a government structure which pilots the various water projects around the French Adour-Garonne area.
The Riverine Input project reminds us of two things: first of all, the water pollution sources are multiple. Secondly, questioning our consumption habits and our waste treatment models has to be considered from a global perspective and understood by all citizens, businesses, institutions, organizations, territorial collectivities and the state.
Léa Daulan, Environment Editor
For more details, please visit Riverine Input official Blog. Or follow the project on Twitter @riverineinput.
Since already three years, HSBC Water Programme gives financial support to Riverine Input and help us to carry out the project.
