DRIAS-Eau: hydrological simulation data to take account of climate change at local level

Launched in 2020 for a period of 4 years, the Life Eau& Climat project aims to help those involved in the local management of water resources, particularly within the framework of the sub-basin management plan (Schémas d'Aménagement et de Gestion des Eaux - SAGE), to assess the effects of climate change, to take them into account in their planning and to implement adaptation measures.

Coordinated by the International Office for Water, it brings together 14 partners (local water management bodies and scientific and technical structures) and includes 21 SAGEs.

One of the priorities of the LIFE Water&Climate project is to improve access to hydro-climatic data. As part of this, Météo-France has designed the DRIAS-Eau portal, which offers a range of hydrological data for future climates, based on the various IPCC scenarios, and provides maps showing changes in water resources as close as possible to local areas, in the short, medium and long term.

It enables all those involved - users, local elected representatives, researchers and professionals - to gain a better understanding of how water resources will evolve in the coming years, at the local level, so that they can prepare themselves better.

Six variables are available:

• river flow (at almost 850 points on the hydrographic network of mainland France) 
• evapotranspiration (evaporation of water from the soil and transpiration by plants)
• soil moisture (the amount of soil water available to plants)
• snowpack water equivalent (water obtained from melting snow)
• drainage (the amount of water that infiltrates the soil)
• runoff (water that cannot be retained by the soil and runs off into watercourses).

The maps and data are freely downloadable.

The portal will be expanded by the summer of 2024 to include data on groundwater and many other data points on the region's watercourses (a total of around 4,000 simulation points).