As a significant research organization focusing on the study and management of water risks for over 30 years, Irstea - National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture - works to understand and prevent these phenomena as well as to reduce their impact. The organization supports public authorities and provides a range of knowledge, tools and methods helping to prevent and predict floods, from knowing rainfall levels to managing bodies of water that may threaten people and infrastructure, taking into account structural resistance and the socio-economic impacts of the risks. Irstea’s approach integrates a variety of environments and climate contexts (mountains, prairies, urban, forest, agricultural, etc.) along with different time and space scales, from km2 to river basins and entire regions.

The hydrological and water engineering teams at Lyon, Aix en Provence and Antony specialize in high water and floods and are working on several topics: forecasting, prevention, risk reduction and protection. Economic issues are studied by an Irstea team in Montpellier.

Its work includes the resistance of structures and the socio-economic aspects of risk.

To reduce this risk, the methods and tools used to implement effective prevention and forecasting measures need to be improved. Since 2006, France has a warning system (Vigicrues.gouv.fr) powered by a modeling tool developed by Irstea to forecast high water on rivers equipped with sensors. An Irstea project aiming to forecast flash flooding in non-equipped basins is currently being rolled out in the PACA (Provence-Alps-Côte d'Azur-Corsica) region and will be widely used by National Agencies as a flash flood forecasting tool for the coming months.

To find out more please come and visit the IRSTEA stand in Lyon in October (stand number 16 and 19) or visit www.irstea.fr/en/accueil