The ORION project
Using a multidisciplinary approach, the cross-border ORION project aims to diagnose and predict the quality of aquatic environments in the Meuse catchment area. To do this, it is studying the various pressures affecting these natural environments, such as chemical and microbiological pollution (bacteria, viruses, antibiotic resistance), against a backdrop of global warming. The aim of studying and monitoring these environments is to anticipate the effects of pollution (assessing vulnerability and resilience) and to take measures for the sustainable management of aquatic ecosystems.
The objectives of ORION are :
- to collect existing data in order to carry out a spatio-temporal study and model the relationship between pressure and impact on water bodies;
- to operate microbiological and chemical analysis of the quality of water bodies;
- to assess the impact on sentinel species;
- to design prospective scenarios.
Leader: Mélissa Palos Ladeiro (URCA), Director of UMR-I 02 SEBIO INERIS-URCA-ULHN, Environmental Stress and Biomonitoring of Aquatic Environments
Consortium
The Meuse and its tributaries, such as the Semois and the Sambre, are natural treasures that flow through France and Belgium. These rivers are home to a rich biodiversity, provide recreational areas and, after potabilisation, supply water that is fit for consumption. The shared use of these water resources requires coherent, concerted management.
The ORION project brings together 6 operators and 9 partners, including universities, research laboratories and water managers in France, Wallonia and Flanders, working in multidisciplinary collaboration including biology, microbiology, parasitology, ecology, ecotoxicology, chemistry and modelling. Together, operators and partners are working to protect aquatic environments and raise public awareness of the dangers of pollution.
Operators
Partners
