What can we learn from Lake Annecy?
9th August 2023
Lake Annecy is one of the most beautiful – and cleanest – lakes in France. It has become emblematic of what it is possible to achieve with sufficient information, commitment and ambition. Instead of slipping further into pollution and poor ecological heath, the lake was put on a path to a clean future through the vision and tenacity of a small number of people.
We were delighted, in July, to be able to offer an opportunity for community members to find out more about Lake Annecy. As part of ACT’s ongoing support for the development of a Community Catchment Partnership with South Cumbria Rivers Trust, this talk was a first look at how other communities have dealt with the problems caused by sewage and other pollutants in their water courses and lakes.
The Community Catchment Partnership has a direct link with Love Windermere, a partnership of agencies who are taking a science and evidence-based approach to managing water quality in the whole Windermere and Leven catchment area. We are particularly keen that the views of community members, workers and residents, should be heard in this important conversation as it develops locally.
Mr Stanley Root, spent several years living on the shores of Lake Annecy and has translated the works of Dr Paul Louis Servettaz, who started the campaign to clean up the Lake. Stanley framed the Lake Annecy Story of community power, for a wider audience by creating a website. He was approached by a member of the Community Catchment Partnership, and was happy to talk about his research and its resonance with our local Windermere water quality issues.
The event was very well attended with over 70 people joining us in person or online. The audience was a great mix of people including Parish Councillors, local residents, activists, businesses and campaigners, along with representatives from several organisations in the Love Windermere Partnership.
Some of the main points from the talk include:
- The work at Annecy took decades (1944-1976) to move from observation of the problem to gathering of rigorous information, through to establishing a body that could tackle the challenge and finally, delivery of the hard engineering solution.
- The science of lake ecology grew to a large extent out of the work at Lake Annecy; trying to understand the complexities and come up with suitable solutions in Windermere should be informed by far better science and learning of the years that have passed since. We are not starting from nothing, as they were in Annecy in the 1940’s.
- The solution for Annecy (the construction of 41 kilometres of sewage pipe encircling the lake, to avoid any direct discharge into it) may not be appropriate or replicable in another setting. What we can learn from this journey is that building political and community trust alongside a shared understanding of the problem through robust exploration will be vital to working together. These are relationships that need to last years.
If you would like to know more, you can see the slides from the event below and a summary of Q&A following the event. Do also visit the Lake Annecy Story website. The account written by Dr Sevettaz is ‘L’eau, Vie d’un lac alpin. Chronique de la sauvegarde do lac d’Annecy’ is now out of print.
Please get in touch with Fran at ACT or approach South Cumbria Rivers Trust if you would like more information about the Windermere and Leven Community Catchment Partnership admin@scrt.co.uk There is a programme of meetings, further talks and volunteering activities which you are welcome to join. ACT is particularly keen to ensure that opportunities for shared learning and community voice are supported.
The Esmee Fairbairn funded Collaboration Hub, which ACT is delivering with colleagues across the Lake District National Park Partnership, gives us a great opportunity to strengthen community voice in these important conversations, so please get in touch if there is something we can work with you on.
Master pres Lake Annecy event 19 july 2023 b