Our successes

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Our past actions

Clean Rivers Campaign - Campaign n°1

ORP is a large-scale operation that lasted more than 10 years (from 1990 to 2002), the aim of which was to draw up an inventory of all the pipes whose uncontrolled polluting discharges were likely to affect the water quality of all the rivers in the Lake Geneva catchment area.

2,000 volunteers travelled along river sections, equipped with an analysis kit and an identification sheet, inspecting 8,300 km rivers and 20,143 pipes. Of these 20,143 pipes:

  • 6'077 polluting pipes, or pipes suspected of being polluted, divided into 3 categories (2254 undeniably polluting, 1390 very probably polluting, 2433 pollution to be confirmed)
  • 7'421 deposits of waste of all kinds.

In addition, 985 detailed files were sent by the ASL to 493 municipalities on Lake Geneva, as well as to federal, departmental and cantonal authorities.

This operation, which involved the ASL and its volunteers from 1980 to 2016, aimed to identify and clean up polluting discharges into the tributaries of Lake Geneva. 

ORP - Scope

ORP - The process

ORP - Results


ORP - Controls

You can now consult the interactive map Operation Clean Rivers.

The ASL took up its pilgrim's staff again in the field and, with the support of volunteers and civil servants, carried out a new pass over the 232 discharges identified during campaign 2. The same analyses as in the first phase were carried out to compare today's results with those obtained previously.

For more information on the various phases of the ORP3 project, consult the Lémaniques section 97 and 108.

With this new Operation Clean Rivers (ORP), the ASL wants to help the cantons and departments and continue to warn them about water pollution in the tributaries of Lake Geneva by providing them with the up-to-date information they need to clean up polluting discharges.

ORP is an ASL project that aims to draw up an inventory of pollutant discharges into the rivers of the Lake Geneva basin, as well as the waste deposits that pollute their banks. Launched in 1990, over 2,000 volunteers spent 12 years travelling almost the entire 8,300 km of the Lake Geneva river network and checking 20,143 pipes.

The findings were striking: 6,077 pipes were considered to be polluting, or suspected of being polluted, including :

  • 2,261 undeniably polluting
  • 1,390 very probably polluting
  • 2,426 whose pollution had to be confirmed.

Between 2002 and 2004, the ASL organised a campaign to verify that remediation measures had actually been taken to eliminate the polluting discharges that had been uncovered. To do this, the ASL drew up a statistically representative sample of the undeniably polluting discharges identified during the ORP1. As a result, 232 polluting pipes were re-inspected out of the 2,254 identified (ORP2).

The glass was half full, with 53% of pipes cleaned. (cf. Lémaniques n°54)

In 2014, the ASL is launching a third campaign in two phases. The first involves monitoring the 232 discharges in order to compare the results with those obtained in 2004, and the second to assess the current situation with regard to pollutant discharges into the rivers of the Lake Geneva region.

The results obtained during the first phase show that the clean-up of polluting discharges has now reached 85%, a very encouraging result. The biggest improvement is in Valais, where the percentage of discharges cleaned up has almost doubled. Geneva, meanwhile, increased its clean-up rate by 14 %, but less significantly than the other regions, at around half the general average of 32%. During this campaign, we also noted that 21 % of the pipes (48) had physically disappeared. It should also be noted that 17 of the pipes checked were inaccessible or could not be inspected, which is why the total number of discharges checked was reduced to 215.

These pleasing results show that the authorities have taken the bull by the horns and acted to clean up polluting discharges from their network. However, there are still a fair number of unauthorised discharges into rivers that need to be eliminated. Even if this pollution remains relatively negligible on the scale of the lake, the impact on the fauna and flora of the watercourses themselves can be much greater locally. It should also be noted that these results give a snapshot of reality at a given point in time. Pipes that are dry and clean today may not be so tomorrow. It is therefore important to bear in mind that, although the above results reflect a favourable trend, the actual situation may not be as good as the one presented here.

In order to assess the current situation on a broader scale, the ASL is launching the second phase of ORP 3 this autumn, continuing its role as a monitor and provider of information to public authorities. In this phase, new river sections will be identified for comprehensive monitoring. Three criteria are being taken into account:

  • Type of land use (urban, agricultural, natural, etc.);
  • Urban development since 1990;
  • The density of discharges considered to be unquestionably polluting in the first ORP campaign in 1990-2002 (2,254 discharges).

In order to guide our future actions to better control polluting discharges from rivers in the Lake Geneva region, the study will cover around twenty sectors to be analysed and mapped. The results will highlight the priority areas to be considered for improving wastewater treatment.

This project would not be possible without the active participation of volunteers, who courageously scramble along the watercourses. Obviously, it would not be possible to carry out such an operation with the ASL alone. So we'd like to extend our warmest thanks to them for their practical involvement in this third edition of Operation Clean Rivers. And it's not over yet! 

Léman Rives Propres operation: hosepipes be damned!

After the rivers, the lake. After "Operation Clean Rivers" (ORP),
the "Operation Léman Rives Propres" (OLRP).

Two sister operations with a common goal: to raise awareness of water purification problems among the population of Lake Geneva by enabling them to take concrete action in the field and track down polluting discharges in every nook and cranny. While the ORP enables the ASL to spot a polluting discharge flowing into a watercourse, the OLRP detects uncontrolled pollution flowing directly into Lake Geneva.

Download the PDF OLRP - Clean Lake Geneva.

A major contribution to the sustainable management of water resources

With the aim of federating the efforts of Swiss and French water stakeholders and users, the Association pour la Sauvegarde du Léman (ASL) had the "Charte de l'eau de la région lémanique" adopted by civil society at the "Etats généraux de l'eau de la région lémanique" held in Geneva on 27 October 2005.

A code of conduct approved by the region's partners and users, the charter aims to set out the framework principles for..:

  • Directing cross-border water management towards sustainability
  • Encourage cooperation between politicians, managers, socio-professional organisations and the environment
  • Giving a common direction to decisions taken on both sides of the border
  • Provide the framework conditions to be respected for the action
  • Contribute to consensus-building (referrals to settle complaints or differences of opinion and arbitrate conflicts of interest)
  • Responding to the need to adapt the principles adopted in international conventions and texts to regional realities

Water Charter - Lake Geneva region

Lémano: assessing the sustainability of water resource management in the Lake Geneva region

For a general overview of the study and its methodology, please consult the Lémaniques n°72

Paper versions can be consulted at the ASL offices.

As well as sitting on a number of committees (fisheries and ports in the canton of Geneva, Forum Grand Genève, Thonon Agglo, River Committees), the ASL makes representations to the authorities whenever it deems it necessary.

For more information on our actions, please consult our page Lake surveillance

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