they warn about the siltation of the Rance estuary

They proudly wear a teaspoon, “because the means used today represent de-silting with a teaspoon”. The “silted” collective marched for a second step against the slowness of the de-silting of the Rance estuary. About sixty demonstrators gathered in Saint-Samson-sur-Rance, north of Dinan (Côtes-d’Armor). A five-year government plan was triggered in 2018. 250,000 cubic meters of silt must be removed by 2023 but for the moment, according to the collective, only 17,000 cubic meters have been extracted.

A risk of green algae?

“The risk, in the long term, is that there will no longer be a channel. Soon, the boats will no longer be able to pass, especially those with a keel”, worries Dominique, from Plouër-sur-Rance, a bucket of mud in his hand. Guy has been boating on the Rance for over ten years : “This summer, we remained silted up at Port Saint-Jean. It’s a disaster, we will no longer be able to navigate, I can see that boaters are coming less and less.”

The demonstrators are waiting for a gesture from EDF because, according to them, the dam of the tidal power plant on the Rance estuary accelerates this siltation. “These are no longer natural tides, there is a significant flow of water when they open the gates of the dam, it stirs up the sediments which are deposited on the coasts”, explains Dominique. Several operations, as part of the plan of the Ministry of the Environment, were carried out. EDF and the Watertracks company thus used the “Nessie” robot last March to dredge the Rance at La-Vicomté-sur-Rance then at the Richardais dam.

The activists of the collective are worried about biodiversity and fear the appearance of green algae while the mud reaches in places three meters high. “It becomes as hard as a wall. There is life maybe in the first 20 centimeters but in the end, there is no more life, she is completely dead”, Germaine Guillou alert, former president of the Rance Environnement association. Several meetings have taken place with the public authorities but the current president, Sophie Duquenne-Payne, fears that the ministerial plan will fall apart. “At the last meetings we attended, we were told that the plan will not succeed. The state is responsible insofar as the prefect should have raised funds!”

Next meeting in Pleudihen-sur-Rance

The procession joined the town hall square of Saint-Samson-sur-Rance where the demonstrators symbolically handed over a bucket of mud and a teaspoon to the mayor, who supports the movement. The “silted” have planned to demonstrate every first Saturday of the month, in different towns along the estuary. The next gathering is scheduled for Saturday February 5 in Pleudihen-sur-Rance.