The water quality degradation of the Franche-Comté karstic rivers for several decades has resulted in particular in an excess of nutrients. The overall objective of this project is to better understand the impact of anthropogenic activities (from agriculture, wastewaters) on the fate of nutrients in waters, at the different scales of the spring and of the catchment.

The project has 3 main Tasks :

• The first task aims to assess the effects of global change (climatic/ anthropogenic) on the water quality at the regional scale, by crossing the medium-long term evolutions of the different hydro-climatic, agronomic and physico-chemical variables.
• The second task aims to better understand what conditions surface water-groundwaters interactions at the different scales of the aquifer and the catchment, by using a multidisciplinary approach.
• The third task aims to characterize the impact of agricultural practices and the dynamics of nutrient’s transfers in soils, towards springs, and rivers.

At the same time, a part of the study is dedicated to build a shared vision between stakeholders and scientists on the causes of river disruption in Franche-Comté. A transfer of knowledge to farmers will also be carried out in parallel with the valorisation of the project's results.

Operational impacts are to answer questions relating to the dispersion of nutrients in karstic hydrosystems and the characterisation of contributing areas to water contamination.