The major projects of the Aude Delta mixed union, designed in the name of protecting people and property, sometimes come up against the inhabitants. This is the case in La Clape in Armissan, where the construction of a retention basin, the Cardine, is causing a stir.
It was while tapping on the internet that a winegrower fell from the clouds, when she discovered a retention basin project above Armissan by the Syndicat Mixtedu Delta de l’Aude (SMDA).
An initial project of 900,000 euros, including a 3-meter dyke of compacted waterproof backfill approximately 150 meters long, equipped with a surface spillway and a bottom sluice. The structure would thus make it possible to cap a volume of 26,000 m3. This large-scale project, La Cardine, is designed to protect the town against the passage of water from the Clape during heavy rains, and its realization is now linked to the reconstruction of the current dike of Mayral, located at the entrance of the village.
The scale of the project and the discretion which surrounded it made the turn of Armissan, and a collective entitled against the Cardine, quickly rose against this initial project: the “collective of protection and development of the Cardine “with which Rubresus and newly ECCLA is associated. Because this dam is programmed in a natural circus of great beauty, planted with olive trees and vines in AOP La Clape, very frequented by Armissan residents and hikers and mountain bikers from Narbonne.
The collective rolled up its sleeves and scrutinized the report from the Safege design office, a subsidiary of Suez Environnement. A first public meeting with the SMDA and the municipal council brought together 150 people. Then, a second one last September tried to calm the spirits.
Rear machine
“The project has been flattened, even if it means losing our funding. We have heard the arguments of the inhabitants and the elected officials have decided to start from scratch” explained the director of SMDA, Laurent Triadou.
A second study was launched, entrusted to another firm, Artelia. The method here is diametrically opposed and a priori satisfies the members of the collective: bringing the inhabitants together around workshops to listen to them and to hear from everyone. The inhabitants of the village, and in particular the elders, are encouraged to detail the building heights, the different streams, the passage of water.
Taking into account a precious memory.
But alas, the pandemic has muddied the waters, and instead of these workshops, a questionnaire was sent to residents. The collective, in its answers, sticks to its positions, the questionnaire appearing to it very oriented in the formulation of the questions. “We are waiting for the results, hoping that they will take our information into account. For us, we must forget the old project, or make a smaller pool, or not at all, because the Cardine is only responsible for 10% of the waters flowing into Armissan, the problem is elsewhere “.
And also to point out a phantom housing estate, built along a recess, Combe Louvière, which grows and overflows during very heavy rains. “We are not opponents of the town hall, or eco-friendly bobos, we completely agree on the fact that we must solve the problem of the passage of water from the Clape in the village, but not at the cost of a disproportionate project which destroys a classified site, used by all users. With this single retention basin, the rise in water levels will not be regulated, Armissan is not flooded like other municipalities in the Aude, c is a place of passage. “For the Collective, alternative solutions have not been studied:”The SMDA had made this a priority, because it was necessary to use the credits available immediately and this is the reason why they have associated the reconstruction of the Mayral dyke with the Cardine “. The collective, Rubresus and Eccla ask to be involved from the start at each stage of the new project. “We want through consultation by being present, to ensure that in the end our reasoned requests are part of the drafting of the decision-making call for tenders of the project, taking into account all the data collected concerning the specificities of the village “.
For its part, the SMDA ensures: “We are reviewing everything, including the retention basin to answer the question: is there a technical solution or not? Do we need a basin and where? We will collect as much information as possible” indicates the director Laurent Triadou.
“The massif in the North brings together the waters which flow into the avenue de Narbonne, the South arrives via the Mayral stream, explains José Frère, the mayor of Armissan. As for the volume of water, it is the study that will tell, including for Combe Louvière. The problem is linked to the speed of the passage of water, up to 50 km / h during torrential rains. Let the experts from the design offices do it. All I care about is protecting people. “
A hot issue to follow in the coming months.
Landmarks in the meanders of the ADMS
What is ADMS?
The Syndicat Mixte du Delta de l’Aude is established, as its name suggests, in the geographical area of the Delta of the Aude river. It is made up of the departments of Aude and Hérault and the municipalities included in the perimeter.
What is his mission ?
The union is responsible for launching studies, obtaining funding, and carrying out works to protect, restore and maintain watercourses, wetlands, canals, and all structures in order to fight against floods and improve the quality and richness of aquatic environments.
It also houses the SAGE secretariat, the Water Development and Management plan for the lower Aude valley.
A few sites
Among the works, the most emblematic remains of the Cuxac protective dykes site. Then let us quote the work of the embankments of Aude.
Over the past year, work on the “dykes and spillways” site has taken place on Sallèles-d’Aude, Cuxac-d’Aude and Coursan. Anecdote: for ecological maintenance that respects nature, the union has signed a maintenance agreement with a Lozère shepherd, who grazes his sheep near the Cuxanese dykes.
What is its Governance?
The new trade union committee installed on September 2, 2020 is made up of 19 elected full members appointed by the urban community and the communities of municipalities in the territory.
It is made up of 13 elected representatives from Grand Narbonne, 3 from the La Domitienne community of communes (Hérault) and 3 from the Communuaté de Communes du Sud Hérault.
It is chaired by Jacques Pociello, the mayor of Cuxac d’Aude, who replaced Magali Vergnes, mayor of Névian.
the president is assisted by two vice-presidents, Audois Xavier Belart and Héraultais Pierre Polard, and six elected officials from Grand Narbonne: Michel Jammes, Jean-Marc Jansana, Gérard Lacombe, Alexia Lenoir, André-Luc Montagnier, Edouard Rocher, two elected from Domitienne (34) and one elected from South Hérault.
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