The first step for each site is to establish an initial analytical baseline to develop an integrated understanding, shared with local stakeholders, of the interactions, synergies and trade-offs between the four components—water, the environment, energy, agriculture and food—as well as the constraints and opportunities specific to each site.

The study site and its resources

The coastal strip and eastern part of the Aude department extend along the department’s coastline and northwards towards Narbonne. The challenges associated with the management of water infrastructure, the supply of drinking water in sufficient quantities and of adequate quality, agricultural irrigation, food supply, the energy sector (hydropower, photovoltaic farms and wind farms), and the condition of fragile ecosystems are all central to this area and closely interconnected.

Water: A Critical Resource

The area is characterised by a very significant hydrological deficit, an uneven distribution of water resources across the territory, increased demand for drinking water during the tourist season, and soil salinisation in certain parts of the lower plain, with a risk of further expansion of the phenomenon. The reservoirs located along the Aude, the main river in the area, play a major role in hydroelectric power generation and agriculture during the low-flow period from May to October. Lake Matemale, the largest of these reservoirs, is governed by the Matemale Agreement, signed with EDF in 1957, which aims to maintain a target low-flow rate for the Aude. The agreement also authorises water abstraction for agricultural purposes.

Energy: Wind and Solar Power Are Gaining Importance

The upper reaches of the Aude and some of its tributaries have been developed for hydroelectric power generation. However, dam operations create tensions with the agricultural sector, which has significant irrigation water needs, particularly in summer, when water is pumped from the river.

Today, wind farms and photovoltaic installations are spread across several municipalities in the study area. The photovoltaic sector is becoming a major issue for local stakeholders, as regulations have been relaxed to facilitate the installation of agrivoltaic systems. This raises questions about the pressure exerted by energy companies to gain access to land and the cascading tensions this may generate, particularly in the context of the current wine crisis and large-scale vine removal.

Agriculture and Food: The Dominance of Viticulture and the Limited Share of Land Devoted to Food Production

Agricultural production is characterised by highly contrasting soil conditions and access to water. In 2014, agriculture accounted for 4.4% of total employment, representing just over 1,800 jobs, mainly in viticulture. Most wine-growing farms deliver their grapes to cooperative wineries located throughout the area. Vineyard areas are declining, and fallow land is now the second-largest land-use category among agricultural lands. Cereals and oilseed and protein crops account for less than 20% of agricultural land. Market gardening, both under greenhouses and in open fields, as well as fruit growing, occupy only a very marginal share of the area. Nevertheless, these activities play a crucial role in diversifying farms and contributing to the food supply. Their location around towns, forming a market-gardening belt, is a major territorial planning issue.

Some winegrowers cultivate open-field vegetables, sometimes alongside small areas of cereal crops, while others are beginning to grow fruit. These combinations of production activities deserve particular attention, as they demonstrate a diversification of farming activities. It would be important to gain a better understanding of the specific mechanisms that underpin their long-term viability. Their existence also demonstrates that supply chains are already in place.

Among fruit-growing activities, olive cultivation holds a special position: the study area is home to an olive-growing cooperative and lies within the geographical area covered by the Lucques du Languedoc Protected Designation of Origin (PDO).

There are relatively few livestock farmers, but they make particular efforts to make the most of challenging land conditions, including limited access to land, fragmented plots, scarce fodder resources and environmental fragility.

Three local fishing guilds (prud’homies) share responsibility for professional fishing activities in the lagoons. Water quality—including temperature, salinity, pollution and invasive species—is a critical issue for these activities.

The downstream agricultural and food supply chains identified to date are organised as follows:

• An olive-growing cooperative that collects olives from parts of the Aude, Hérault and Pyrénées-Orientales departments.
• An organisation bringing together three fruit producers.
• Several wine-growing cooperatives.
• Several farms specialising in open-field vegetable production, including melons and asparagus, grown in rotation with cereal crops. Their production is exported outside the study area, while a presumably small proportion is sold locally through short supply chains.
• A cooperative specialising in cereals and oilseeds, with a local flour mill whose products are mainly exported.

Irrigation: Collective Management

Most irrigators collectively manage part of their irrigation water supply. A significant proportion also relies on individual pumping, either as a supplementary source or as their sole means of accessing water.

Although grapevines remain the main irrigated crop, other crops are also irrigated on smaller areas, including market-garden crops (asparagus, artichokes and melons), maize (one farm), flooded rice (one farm) and family vegetable gardens.

In summary, three main sectors can be identified within the study area:

• A north-eastern sector that is irrigated and does not experience salinity-related problems.
• A central sector in the lower plain, where irrigation is collectively managed but salinity problems occur.
• A southern sector that is not irrigated and appears to lack the resources needed to develop irrigation, although drilling projects are now emerging.

Fragile Ecosystems in Need of Protection

The study area includes sites of biological or ecological interest and extensive wetlands requiring protection, including ZNIEFF sites (Type I and II), Natura 2000 sites and wetlands designated under the Ramsar Convention.

The Narbonnaise en Méditerranée Regional Natural Park plays a central role in ecosystem management and oversees nine Natura 2000 sites, covering 60% of the Park's area.

The Conservatoire du Littoral (French Coastal Protection Agency) aims to preserve coastal areas and maintain ecological balance. It also plays a role in coordinating local initiatives with public-sector partners. Its statutory pre-emption rights support the establishment and monitoring of protected areas by enabling the acquisition of land that can subsequently be made available to local stakeholders, particularly farmers, subject to compliance with specific management requirements.

In the lower Aude area, key challenges include ensuring the passage of migratory diadromous fish species and managing riparian woodlands in light of seasonal river flows, natural habitats and their role in water purification.

On the Leucate limestone plateau, south of the study area, where dry grasslands, wooded areas and Mediterranean scrubland (garrigue) predominate, the main challenges are preventing scrub encroachment and limiting the degradation of fragile natural environments caused by agricultural activities.

The Main Threats Facing the Territory

Increasing water demand from plants during hot, dry summers, combined with reduced groundwater and soil recharge during winters with lower precipitation, poses a major agronomic challenge. Furthermore, the increasing frequency of extreme weather events could raise the risk of flooding caused by surface runoff, flooding of the Aude River, or rising groundwater levels. Finally, by 2050, sea levels could rise by as much as 20 cm, facilitating saltwater intrusion into lagoons and surrounding areas. This creates a risk of losing the lowest-lying agricultural land, which is predominantly used for viticulture, livestock farming and rice cultivation.

Cross-Sectoral Challenges Facing the Territory

Three main cross-cutting challenges have been identified:

• Water allocation among the different sectors (drinking water, agriculture, food production, industry, navigation, energy, fisheries, leisure activities, etc.), as this resource is already under considerable pressure. Cooperation and solidarity between sectors are becoming increasingly necessary, particularly given that by 2065, the Aude's average river flow could decrease by 10% between March and September, and by as much as 50% between May and June.
• Water quality, including improving the quality of drinking water, treated wastewater discharged from treatment plants, water originating from agricultural holdings (including runoff from fields and water from washing facilities), and lagoon water, as well as addressing risks associated with industrial sites. These include, in particular, the uranium-processing plant north of the city of Narbonne, where nitrate and ammonia emissions require water-intensive management measures.
• The future of agricultural land. The economic and agronomic difficulties facing wine production are already leading to a reduction in cultivated areas, making it urgent to develop strategies to improve the adaptability and sustainability of the affected farming systems. The substantial extent of fallow land also calls for an assessment of its potential for productive reuse as a cross-sectoral issue, addressing questions such as possible uses, strategies, and territorial and political coordination. The role to be assigned to locally marketed food production is another complex challenge, given its currently limited share and the fragile purchasing power of many households in the Grand Narbonne intermunicipal community.

More broadly, all the challenges facing the study area, together with the various stakeholders involved, are illustrated in the figure below.

Opportunities for the Territory: Existing Initiatives and Stakeholders That Can Help Improve Territorial Resilience and Sustainability

A number of agricultural stakeholders have adopted agroecological practices, including the introduction of new crops suited to arid conditions and living-soil systems. Some farmers are also beginning to diversify their activities, particularly through fruit production.

Territorial initiatives aimed at organising and strengthening local food production are also emerging. Launched in 2022, the Grand Narbonne Territorial Food Plan (Projet Alimentaire Territorial, PAT) aims to increase the very limited share of agricultural land devoted to food production. The cooperative L’Aude à Table, supported by the Aude Chamber of Agriculture, the Aude Department and Coopération Agricole Occitanie, brings together producers and producer groups, public-sector and institutional partners, and associations around a shared project. Its objectives are to simplify procurement for professional buyers, promote the work of local producers by providing them with a shared logistics solution, develop a sustainable and inclusive regional food supply chain, and involve stakeholders from the social and solidarity economy. Agri-environmental and climate measures (Mesures agro-environnementales et climatiques, MAEC) have also been implemented through the territory’s four agro-environmental and climate projects (Projets agro-environnementaux et climatiques, PAEC). These five-year agreements are developed collectively and supported by dedicated budget allocations. They include measures to reduce pesticide use and fertilisation and to maintain soil cover. The Conservatoire du Littoral et des Rivages Lacustres (French Coastal and Lakeshore Protection Agency) is also developing a land acquisition strategy under which plots can be made available to local stakeholders, particularly farmers, subject to a specific set of management requirements. Developed by the Regional Natural Park, the Park Charter (Charte du Parc) establishes collective objectives for a 15-year period within the Park's boundaries. It is supported by the Park's municipalities, intermunicipal authorities, the Regional Council, the Aude Department and the Chambers of Commerce and other consular bodies.

Initial Ideas for Potential Actions

With a view to co-designing solutions, innovations already present in the study area can serve as a starting point for collective discussions with local stakeholders. Potential participants in such an approach include the Maison Paysanne de Lézignan-Corbières, Montpellier Métropole, the SagiTerres scientific project, and the Fantascic project, both conducted in the Aude department and focusing on the integration of livestock farming and crop production. The development of pastoral systems involving collective arrangements between private and public stakeholders to establish transhumance routes could also be explored, particularly as a means of making productive use of fallow land. The diversity of existing fallow land represents a reservoir of potentially available land. Implementing a territorial programme to characterise the heterogeneity of these areas and assess their physical and land-tenure accessibility could help restore them and bring them back into productive use. Planting annual cover crops between vineyard rows to protect the soil and improve its structure could be another strategy to test. Sensors could be used to better understand and assess the dynamics of water, salt and organic matter in soils. The expected outcomes are both agronomic and organisational. In particular, this approach could foster collective learning about soil water management, including irrigation optimisation and the use of cover crops between vineyard rows.

Ongoing Work

Following the synthesis of the key challenges presented in the diagram above, three major cross-cutting issues spanning water, energy, food and ecosystems were identified during workshops held on 17 November 2025 and 6 January 2026.

Water Sharing and Strategic Allocation Across Sectors

This issue concerns the allocation of water among the various sectors, including drinking water, agriculture, food production, industry, wildfire risk management, navigation, hydropower, river and lagoon fisheries, leisure activities and others, as water resources are already under considerable pressure. Cooperation and solidarity are becoming increasingly necessary, particularly given that by 2065, the Aude's average river flow could decrease by 10% between March and September, and by as much as 50% between May and June. What future prospects are desirable for sectors that already have limited access to water, will have progressively less in the future, or may already have lost access to this resource altogether?

The Sustainability and Profitability of Agricultural Activities

The economic and agronomic difficulties facing wine production are already leading to a reduction in cultivated areas, making it urgent to develop strategies to improve the adaptability and sustainability of the affected farming systems. Determining the role of locally marketed food production is also a complex challenge, given its currently limited share and the fragile purchasing power of many households in the Grand Narbonne intermunicipal community. Ultimately, how can diversification within viticulture be envisaged, and how can the potential for introducing new food crops across the territory be developed and supported?

Land Allocation at the Territorial Scale, Particularly for Agriculture

The growing extent of fallow land, combined with the diversity of perspectives on its future, means that its long-term use and, in particular, its potential for productive reuse must be examined as a cross-sectoral issue. This raises questions about possible uses, strategies, and territorial and political coordination. Pressure associated with agrivoltaic projects, within the framework of France's 2023 Renewable Energy Acceleration Act, adds another challenge: objectively assessing and supporting project applications within the Regional Natural Park's boundaries. How can agricultural diversification be considered in the context of increasing pressure from agrivoltaic development? Finally, although access to land can be challenging for certain projects because of their specific requirements, such as pastoralism and market gardening, project developers should be supported through an approach that takes the wider territory into account.