Saffré catchment area

Location, surface
The territory of Saffré covers 8,500 ha, 5,900 of which are utilised agricultural area (UAA). It is located in Loire-Atlantique, about 35 km north of Nantes.
Types of agricultural production
104 farms with at least one parcel on the BAC are distributed over the 5900 ha of UAA, of which 17% are cultivated in organic farming. Historically oriented towards livestock (dairy cattle), drainage since the 1980s has allowed the development of sales crops.
Issues and place of the pesticide issue
Saffré is a territory with a "water" issue: the catchment area of the Saffré supplies approximately 45,000 inhabitants. The water is taken from the groundwater, which has a short response time. Changes in the use of phytosanitary products have a rapid impact on the quality of the water at the catchment. The latter has been classified as a "Grenelle" priority catchment due to the fact that the standards for corn herbicides (S-metolachlor, bentazone), cereal herbicides (2,4 MCPA, isoproturon), and other more general herbicides (glyphosate) have been exceeded.
Several diagnoses, linked to the status of priority catchment area have been undertaken (DTPA, agri-environmental measures diagnoses, organic farming diagnoses, payments for ecosystemic services study in progress), as well as a monitoring of water quality. Actions to promote mechanical weeding, training and animation have been undertaken. A charter project was initiated in 2016.
The ambition of the actors by 2040 is to gradually move towards the non-use of synthetic phytosanitary products in the territory, in a context of territorial economy compatible with water. Actions involving all the actors of the territory (farmers, communities, citizens...) are set up. Among these actors, "Agri eau Saffré", an association formed in 2016 to represent the farmers of the territory and "Atlantic eau service de l'eau potable", a public water service union of departmental size, grouping 162 municipalities are the main interlocutors of the project.
Projections in relation to the project
The involvement of this territory in the Be-Creative project revolves around two main questions: How to do without phytos while continuing agricultural activity? How to measure the changes?
Be Creative facilitators :
Rémy Ballot and Claire Bernardin (INRAE)
Marianne Duncombe, Karine Favrioux, Nathalie Keravec (Atlantic'eau)