Geography
France is the largest country of Western Europe in terms of area. Metropolitan France area is 552 000 Sq.Km. (55.2 Mha) and with overseas parts, approx 640,680 Sq.Km. Metropolitan France is situated mostly between latitudes 41° and 51° N, and longitudes 6° and 10° W. The country borders Spain in South-west, Italy, Switzerland in South-east, Germany, Belgium and Luxemburg in north, it is situated across the English Channel from United Kingdom and has coastlines on the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. The country is not only famous for its beautiful and attractive architecture, but also has rich and powerful heritage, and a high diversity of landscapes making often France the first visited country in the world.

Population and land use
The population was estimated at approx 65 Million in 2019 as per population reference Bureau. Metropolitan France relief is composed of old and eroded mountains dated from Paleozoic Era. The northern and western regions consist mainly of flat or rolling plains. Hills and mountains rise in the eastern, central, and southern parts. The country is comprised of ten main land regions, the Brittany-Normandy Hills, the Northern France Plains, the Northeastern Plateaus, the Rhine Valley, the Acquitanian Lowlands, the Central Highlands, the French Alps and Jura Mountains, the Pyrenees Mountains, the Mediterranean Lowlands and Rhone-Saone Valley, and Corsica. While the agricultural land occupies 29.3 Mha, woods and forests occupied 15.6 Mha.

Climate and rainfall
Metropolitan France is in the northern temperate zone with local variations closely related to the distance of the land from the Atlantic Ocean or the Mediterranean Sea and also to the relief. Micro-Climates influenced by the westerly winds that blow in from the Atlantic are localized in the north and northwest regions with a temperate climate: mild temperatures with low variation amplitude, abundant rainfall; and in the south west similar to North west’s climate, as they both are on the Atlantic coast, but with higher temperatures. Inland micro-climates are found in the east, a transition area with high temperature variation; in the north east, similar to the last but with a semi continental climate, with colder winters and less rainfall than the west side; in the mountaineous zones, characterized by cold and humid winters with snowfall and by a number of days with temperatures below freezing over 150 days per year with snow cover lasting for up to six months; and in the Mediterranean coast, characterized by a high sunshine, mild and humid winters, dry and hot summers. Aqua stats database gives the following average hydrological component for Metropolitan France: 867 mm of annual precipitation, 547 mm of annual evapotranspiration and 320 mm of river flow produced within the territory.

Food and agriculture
The country is the largest agricultural producer in Western Europe and one of the world’s leading exporters of farm products. Agriculture and food production is diversified and powerful, 411 “agricultural regions” are identified (meaning, areas in which agriculture is homogeneous in terms of productions, such as wheat plains, vineyards, extensive beef breeding area…). One-third of France’s land is crop growing. Wheat is the major single crop grown at large farms in the Paris Basin and in the north. In southern France, olives, grapes and wheat are the typical Mediterranean triptych. In the south west, a large area is dedicated to corn. Elsewhere vineyards and poly-cultural farms are found, where apple, potatoes, sugar beet, beans, carrots, cauliflower, cherries, flowers, peas, peaches, pears, sunflower seeds, and tomatoes may be grown in addition to livestock-feed crops such as barley, maize, oats, and rape-seed. The agricultural land about is 29.3 Mha (53.3% of the total) which includes 18.4 Mha (33.5%) of arable lands and 10.8 Mha (19.8%) of permanent crops. Cereals, with 51% of arable land, are by far the main crop.

Water resources management
Aqua stats database evaluates the annual average amount of rainfall in France at 478 Km3, producing about 176,5 Km3 of surface water (rivers) and 2 Km3 of groundwater each year. About 8,7 Km3 of water are produced abroad and flows into France through trans-border rivers. Rhin river being at the middle of France and Germany, its contribution to national resources is considered as half of its flow when entering France. So altogether, French national renewable water resources totalize 203,7 Km3, ie 3,250 m3/year/person. Only 3,5 Km3 of water produced in France goes out of French borders. Groundwater resources are evaluated at 2000 Km3 and stagnant water resources at about 100 Km3.

Irrigation and drainage
Throughout history, water projects have been the prime influence in the development of agricultural and rural areas. “Indispensable irrigation” was first developed in the southern part of France. In the South West and along the Mediterranean coast, the historical presence of three public companies which developed the gravity irrigation systems and services for irrigation were: CACG in south west, BRL in the middle of Mediterranean coast, SCP in the east side of Mediterranean coast. More recent developments in irrigation were mostly seen in newly equipped regions (the west, central and the northern part of France), as supplemental irrigation, and quite stable in the Mediterranean regions. Since 2000, the increase is slower, the only region that still develops irrigation is the Parisian region; irrigation is stable or slowly decreasing elsewhere. At a national scale in 2010, on farm data collected by the Agricultural Census revealed that 1 754 789 ha of the 26 963 251 ha of Utilised Agricultural Land were irrigated (6%), by 73 618 farms. Irrigation improves the capacity of farms to adjust their cropping patterns. Today the cash crops grown under contracts with food processing companies are only possible if access to irrigation is guaranteed. If the tendency for French agriculture is going toward an agriculture relying more on irrigation, the surface of land being equipped and the number of farms equipped is still decreasing but slower than non-equipped and non-irrigated land and farms.

Water policies
France has always shown a strong interest in water policy, through its public and private bodies. The 1964 Water Law defined the legal framework within which France has organized water management at basin level with a highly effective participation of the civil society as stakes holders. The 1992 Water Law, implies that « Water is Everybody’s Business », which the ultimate goal of the Vision exercise is promoted by the WCE. The French vision is an integrated water management vision, with main emphasis on a sustainable and planned use of water resources, within a balanced natural eco-system. In France, two major laws have recently modernized the legal framework; one is on water, the other on agriculture. The 1992 water law modified and complemented the 1964 water law. The combination of the two laws creates a framework for water management in France. The 1964 law stated the unity of water resources (groundwater, surface water and coastal sea-water) and established its management through basin units; the 1992 law put forward the objective of a balanced management of water resources considered as a national asset. This latter is based on two major principles: The first principle is that water belongs to the commons (common asset) of the nation. The second is the principle of subsidiarity, which specifies that water management must be decentralized, negotiated and collected at the most appropriate level.

ICID and National Committee
France became the member of ICID in 1953 and since then has been actively participating in the activities of the Commission. The two past Presidents from AFEID were: Mr. P. Danel (1963-66) and Mr. R. Darves-Bornoz (1978-1981). The seven past Vice Presidents from AFEID were: Mr. G. Drouhin (1955-57), Mr. R. Darves-Bornoz (1974-77), Mr. M. Delavalle (1983-86), Mr. G. Manuellan (1988-90), Late Dr. H. Tardieu (1994-97), Dr. Alain Vidal (2003-2006) and Mr. François BRELLE (2012-2015). The French National Committee has organized various ICID events which include: 32nd IEC and 11th Congress held in Grenoble, France in 1981, 8th European Regional Conference, Aix-en-Provence, France in 1971, 54th IEC Meeting, Montpellier, France in 2003 and 24th European Regional Conference, Orleans, France in March 2011. The 26th European Regional Conference and 66th IEC Meetings were held at Montpellier, France in October 2015. Currently, Mr. Bruno Grawitz is the President of E.A.T., Chairman of the Permanent Finance Committee (PFC), and can be contacted at <bruno.grawitz@canal-de-provence.com>.

In 2024, AFEID was renamed "Eau, Agriculture et Territoires (E.A.T.)” to contribute to developing and disseminating French know-how, knowledge and best practices in agricultural water management, both in France and internationally.

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Les enjeux de l’eau pour une agriculture durable - Contribution au débat public