A look back at the “Water and Agriculture” round table at the Salon de l'Agriculture

Last Tuesday, March 4, Eau de Paris was present at the International Agricultural Show on the stand of the City of Paris alongside two partner farmers Jérôme Forgeot and Sébastien Goiset. Back in video on the round table “Protection of water resources and agriculture”:

 The agricultural aid system set up by Eau de Paris

Concerned about protecting water resources upstream, Eau de Paris is already supporting 82 farmers ready to revolutionize the practice of their profession to move towards operating methods that are more protective of the environment and operate, for some of them, a transition to organic farming practices.

Jérôme Forgeot is a grain farmer in Cerisiers in the Yonne. Its operation is located above one of the Eau de Paris catchments in the Vallée de la Vanne. With his association Terres du Pays d'Othe, he observes “that we have reached the end of a system, nature is getting used to the chemicals we use and the social pressure is terrible. So I took the risk of going organic because in the eyes of my family and the generations to which I succeeded, I can't fail.

Sébastien Goiset has also decided to take the plunge with his farm located in the Lunain Valley, which he is converting to organic thanks to aid from Eau de Paris "I was already thinking about changing the model of my farm and Eau de Paris arrived really at the right time”. To secure financial outlets, he launched a parallel range of cosmetic products made from honey collected by his bees: Peau de miel.

47 million euros have been mobilized over ten years, 80% funded by the Seine Normandy Water Agency to achieve this. Eau de Paris thus hopes to exceed 200 partner farmers by 2026. “When farmers see that their neighbor is succeeding, they start. There is often a snowball effect,” says Florine Nataf, agriculture and territory project manager in the resource protection department at Eau de Paris.

 Eau de Paris' commitment to farmers - State of play

To date, 12 ha of crops and livestock located in Eau de Paris water source territories have adopted the specifications proposed by the public company, in exchange for financial aid. "A more reasoned agriculture is the long-term solution to avoid an increase in treatments and therefore in the water bill", explain Estelle Desarnaud, Deputy Director of Eau de Paris, and Dan Lert, President of 'Eau de Paris and Deputy Mayor of Paris in charge of ecological transition, the Climate Plan, water and energy.

To ensure sustainable economic opportunities for operators who commit to water protection, Eau de Paris supports them through an integrated and global approach, from technical monitoring in the field to the structuring of short circuits to supply the end consumer. The Parisian canteens thus constitute an interesting sector for producers engaged with Eau de Paris in an agroecological transition process.

" Our mission ? Provide farmers with secure outlets and a lasting income that allow them to make investments to move towards farming methods that are the least predatory of environmental resources and the best remunerative for farmers. underlines Audrey Pulvar, Vice-President of Eau de Paris and Deputy Mayor of Paris in charge of sustainable food, agriculture and short circuits.

 Ecological transition, a historic commitment of Eau de Paris 

Awareness of climate change as the “issue of the century” and the growing concern of citizens and political decision-makers on this subject reinforce Eau de Paris' approach in favor of ecological transition. However, the company's commitment to this strategic axis of its corporate strategy dates back much earlier and is intimately linked to the history of Eau de Paris and to the characteristics of the Parisian water supply scheme.

The quality of water resources is now one of the main operating constraints for Eau de Paris, ahead of questions of quantity. For nearly thirty years, Eau de Paris has pursued an ambitious policy, which pursues two objectives: to avoid the implementation of costly treatments, degrading the environmental impact of the water produced, and to regain the quality of water resources for generations. future.