LTSER Zone Atelier Loire - Louroux Watershed - France

The 25 km² Louroux catchment is located in central France. It is a typical lowland, intensively cultivated catchment with an 11th century pond at its outlet. As in many similar environments, this catchment underwent large landscape changes since the second half of the 20th century: implementation of drainage systems, stream redesign and land reallocation. This resulted in changes in sediment transfer processes and in widespread morphological alterations of water bodies. There is still little combined knowledge on the intensity, processes & sources of sediments in these environments although these are necessary to implement efficient mitigation strategies. Long term sedimentation rates are studied through analysis of sediments accumulated in the pond. Current suspended sediment fluxes are monitored with a high frequency through five hydrosedimentary stations. Fingerprinting techniques are used to trace the origin of sediments.