Desertification
Définition
Sens commun
Decrease or disappearance of land due to soil erosion by wind or water.
Source
according to ADEME
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Soil erosion
Définition
Sens commun
Thinning of the topsoil of a field as a result of the natural erosive forces of water and wind, or as a result of agricultural activities such as tillage. Soil erosion lowers the productivity of the land and contributes to the pollution of adjacent rivers, wetlands and lakes.
Source
according to Ontario Ministry of Agriculture
Alluvial plain
Définition
Sens commun
Plain formed by the deposition of sediments from upstream erosion.
Source
according to UNESCO
Natural risk
Définition
Sens technique
Threat of a dangerous event caused by a natural phenomenon, called hazard, having damaging, unforeseen or badly prevented effects on developments, structures and people, the stakes being more or less serious, even catastrophic, according to their vulnerability. A natural risk is the confrontation between a hazard of natural origin and human, economic or environmental stakes.
Source
according to the Regional Directorate for the Environment, Planning and Housing (DREAL) of the-Loire region
Hazard-prone area
Définition
Sens commun
Area exposed or that could be exposed to hazards or potentially dangerous events (flood, pollution, natural disaster, industrial accident) and where human, economic or environmental issues are involved.
Source
according to the Ministry of the Environment
Hazard
Définition
Sens commun
Nature, occurrence, intensity and duration of a threatening phenomenon.Source
According to SOeS
Vulnerability
Définition
Sens technique
Fragility and susceptibility when facing a given hazard or a given pressure.Source
According to SOeS
Risk Exposure Plan
Définition
Sens technique
Plan for delimiting, at municipal or inter-municipal level, areas exposed to predictable natural hazards such as earthquakes, floods, avalanches or ground movements. The Risk Exposure Plan (REP) sets out the appropriate measures to prevent Source
According to the Ministry for the Environment and AFB
Risk Prevention Plan
Définition
Sens technique
Prevention document aimed at controlling urbanization in areas exposed to a hazard. Established by the State, the risk prevention plans (PPR) are public utility easements and must be appended to the
Source
According to the Ministry for the Environment and AFB
Precautionary principle
Définition
Sens technique
Usually refers to caution in action. More specifically it is a constitutional principle, included in the Environmental Charter (Article 5): "When the occurrence of any damage, although uncertain in current scientific knowledge, may be so serious and irreversible for the environment, public authorities shall, by application of the precautionary principle and in their areas of responsibilities, develop procedures for risk assessment and take provisional and proportionate measures to preclude the occurrence of the damage".Source
According to the Ministry for the Environment and AFB
Risk
Définition
Sens technique
Measuring the effects of a hazard in an area. Risk significance therefore depends on the hazard but also on exposed challenges (populations, property and the environment) and on their vulnerability. There is no risk when the area exposed to a hazard is devoid of human, material and environmental challenges.Source
According to SOeS
Tsunami
Définition
Sens commun
Violent swell of the sea caused by sudden underwater tectonic disturbances: earthquake, underwater collapse, etc. The waves thus generated propagate at high speed (several hundred km/h) with wavelengths of several kilometres and can have amplitudes of several tens of metres, causing major damage to the coastline they strike.Source
According to Ifremer
channel deepening
Définition
Sens technique
Designates a generalized depression in the bottom of a stream, resulting from regressive erosion or progressive erosion.Source
According to Cemagref
Erosion
Définition
Sens commun
All phenomena that remove materials from the surface of a rock or soil, most often by rain, wind and waves. It can be of physical, chemical or biological origin.Source
According to Seine-Normandy Water Agency
Erosion of river banks
Définition
Sens commun
Natural phenomenon, usually caused by the current, involved in the transport of sediment load and sediment recharge of streams. The erosion of river banks is causing migration of meanders, and ensures the dynamic functioning of the
Source
According to AFB
Progressive erosion
Définition
Sens commun
Mechanism of sinking the riverbed propagating itself downstream. The starting point of progressive erosion is an action, often human, causing a deficit of alluvial materials (construction of a dam or a sill, abstraction of Source
According to Cemagref
Water abstraction
Définition
Sens commun
Extraction of fresh water from a groundwater source or surface, permanently or temporarily, and conveyed to the place of use. Water abstractions include all activities related levies generated by agriculture, industry (including energy), the supply of drinking water, or other (mineral spring authorized, production artificial snow).
Source
according to AFB, IOWater, SOeS and OCDE
Abstraction supply zones
Définition
Sens technique
Area on which the water that soaks into the ground supplies the abstraction for drinking water.
Source
According to the Ministry for the Environment and the Ministry for the Agriculture
Flood warning
Définition
Sens commun
Warning issued in advance by the departmental flood forecasting services. In the event of heavy rainfall or hydrological alert, a flood warning is sent to the Prefect, who then alerts the mayors of the catchment areas concerned.
Source
according to OFB
Sens technique
Warning issued in advance by a special state service (flood forecasting service). In the event of a rainfall or hydrological alert (triggering when thresholds are exceeded), the flood forecasting service offers the Prefect the alert of the mayors of the watersheds concerned. As a severe overflow flood, the flood warning service broadcasts, for prefects and mayors, hydrological situation bulletins and information on the evolution of water levels . In 1994, 54 flood warning services monitored 16,000 km of waterways in France using automated measurement networks.
Source
According to Ministry of the Environment and OFB
Hydrological balance
Définition
Sens technique
Accounting of the changes in water resources (stream flows, groundwater level, effective rainfall) of an area (for example a catchment area) based on meteorological, piezometric or hydrological information.
Source
according to AFB
Hydropower plant
Définition
Sens commun
Facility that produces electricity by the force of moving water.
Source
according to AFB
Sens technique
Hydroelectric facility transforming hydraulic energy into electricity, whose power usually varies from a few kW to 4,500 kW.
Source
according to IFREMER
Dam release
Définition
Sens technique
Operation to lower water level and increase outflow rates to discharge some of the sediment retained by a dam. A dam release consists in opening the gates, thus limiting the silting of the dam reservoir and the risk of flooding. This operation, although common in the management of harnessed rivers, can have adverse effects on the downstream environment (decrease of oxygen levels in water, obstruction of fish gills by suspended solids, etc.).
Source
according to ISTREA
Stagnant water
Définition
Sens commun
Still water in parts of a river, lake or other aquatic environment.
Source
according to UNESCO
Green water
Définition
Sens commun
Water contained in the soil and available for plants.
Source
according to AFB