The banks of the Garonne invaded by water: these striking images are still in the minds of many inhabitants of the region. Monday, January 10, the river came out of its bed: the water rose to more than 4.30 meters. It had been nearly 20 years since Toulouse had experienced such a flood.
Waste that “risks ending up in the oceans”
A flood of the Garonne which carried a lot of waste. Fishermen and conservationists have been scouting for a few days to organize pick-ups when the banks are a little less muddy. They were in Portet-sur-Garonne this weekend to identify future areas to be cleaned. Among these volunteers, Pascal Levigne, the president of the Team River Clean association, which collects waste near rivers: “There are a lot of plastic bags, bottles, car rims and even tires. If we don’t collect this waste, it risks being washed away by the next flood and ending up in the oceans. At one point, the plastic will deteriorate and turn into micro-plastic. The fish will ingest it. Birds eat fish will ingest it and so will we. You have to be careful, they are dangerous substances.”
– Claudia Calmel
Shorelines to preserve
Mickael Nguyen, the president of the Association for fishing and the protection of the aquatic environment of Toulouse, also participated in the identification. He is worried about this waste, sometimes voluminous, which can damage the banks: “If we don’t do anything to stabilize the banks, in a few years, we will have the same effect as on certain cliffs by the sea. There is a phenomenon of erosion. In the end, we risk ending up with riverside areas that we will no longer be able to exploit.”
Waste collections will be organized when the banks are a little less muddy. Until then, Mickaël Nguyen crosses his fingers so that there are no other floods. Floods which are, according to him, more and more violent: _”_The river has been greatly degraded by the extraction of rubble. 100 years ago, there were ten meters of pebbles at the bottom, which slowed down the water. Today, there is nothing left: the river, could be compared to a canal, with a concrete bottom. That’s why the water sometimes flows with such violence.”
If you wish to participate in the collections, you can contact the Association for fishing and the protection of the aquatic environment of Toulouse or Team River Clean Toulouse on their Facebook page. Sessions are expected to take place in mid-February.