The "migratory fishes" part of the Adour-Garonne SDAGE

The SDAGE or Masterplans for the management of water resources were establi shed under the Loi sur I'Eau (Water Act) of 3 January 1992. They lay down t he main guidelines for the balanced management of water resources in each o f the six major French catchment areas. These guidelines have to be taken i nto account for any administrative decisions in relation to water and are a lso used for orienting public projects. The SDAGE for the Adour-Garonne basin were approved in 1996 and include a s et of measures to restore the natural population of << Large, amphihaline, migratory fish >>. They define priority sectors for intervention, called axes bleus (blue wate rways), whereby waterways are classified into three categories according to the progress made in the restoration programme and the time needed to achi eve its objectives. In order to help achieving the goals, the SDAGE recommends that the restora tion plans (for axes bleus) should be consistent with the existing regulati ons (water courses classified as L 232-6 CR << fish ladders >>, protected w aterways, etc.). It also recommends close co-operation between partners and the use of contr actual agreements, in particular with operators of hydroelectric plants. Progress in implementing axes bleus measures is monitored by means of a sim plified control chart showing where migratory fish move up from one level t o another, their restored itineraries and the percentage of obstacles which they are able to cross. The Adour-Garonne SDAGE thus reinforces the policy for migratory fish which has been applied in the basin for the last twenty years. It will naturally be revised in due course to adapt to the changing conditions in the catchm ent area and the latest available knowledge.