"The Sivens dam is an abandoned project on the course of the Tescou, a tributary of the Tarn in the Garonne basin (France). The initial design for the project was abandoned on December 4, 2015 by prefectural decree.
This project would have allowed the construction of a water reservoir of 1.5 million m3 which could be used in particular for the irrigation of agricultural lands and to control water level of the Tescou. The impact of the reservoir project lies in the submersion of 12 hectares of a wetland. Compensating measures provide for restoring a total area of 19.5 hectares.
The Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy requested a project appraisal report in September 2014.
During the demonstration on October 26, 2014, clashes between police forces and a group of protesters lead to the death of one of the demonstrators, after which the project was suspended and protests were held in tribute to the deceased dam opponent, Rémi Fraisse, and against police violence. A new mediation mission was then launched by the Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development on November 10, 2014 and delivered its conclusions in January 2015." (1)
Here you will find a chronicle dividing the event into two parts: that is, from the start of deforestation at the end of August 2014 to the evacuation of the ZAD (zone to be defended by environmental activists) which took place in May 2015. The first (La Bataille Part 1) ends with the death of the young Rémi Fraisse and the second (La Bataille Part 2) chronicles the rest. During this period I tried as much as possible to follow the unfolding of the story, despite attempts at intimidation from all sides (first from certain Zadistas, then from certain gendarmes, and also from certain "pro-dam" who went so far as to break my camera). I am aware that there may have been a lot of other things to document, particularly on the side of the project's supporters or the deforestation site, but that was not really possible for me.
At the end I also missed the evacuation of the ZAD (widely documented anyway by many journalists who came for the occasion) because I was forbidden to access it on the pretext that I did not have a press card (while, by the way, others in this same situation were not prohibited).
Since then: "The initial project was definitively abandoned in December 2015, with the state opening discussions for a less ambitious water retention. The transactional agreement stipulates a compensation of 3.4 million euros from the State to the Department for the abandonment of the project, or 2.1 million for wasted expenses and 1.3 million to rehabilitate the wetland.
In July 2016, the Toulouse administrative court canceled the three founding decrees of the dam project, in particular the declaration of public utility. On August 21, 2017, work to rehabilitate the site began. The objective of the operation was to restore the site to its initial state before the work, in particular by replacing the displaced earth."
New co-construction project: "In January 2016, a new Territorial Project for the Tescou watershed was launched, based on a co-construction process that was to last around six months. It was due to be presented in the fall of 2017" (2)
To date (May 11, 2020), the co-construction approach has not led to a consensual solution and a study of the water needs for the Tescou valley was carried out at the end of 2019. The municipal elections have not provided any clarification since the subject was not an issue of the campaign (3) which took place before confinement to fight against Covid 19 was declared on March 17, 2020 in France.
Added in mid-December, 2020: "The Toulouse administrative court condemned the State for having allowed clearing work during the first stage of the Sivens dam project to be undertaken in the summer of 2014, which partially flooded the Testet wetland, and for having delayed the restoration of the site. 'Wrongful illegality,' said the Court in its deliberation made public on December 8. Added to this is moral damage. As such, two complainant associations, the Collective for the Protection of the Wetland of Testet and FNE Midi-Pyrénées, very active against the project, will be compensated up to € 10,000 each." (4)
Added the end of March, 2021:
On 23 March, the court dismissed the case of the gendarme who threw the grenade at Rémi Fraysse:
"This is an emblematic case of police violence in France. More than six years after the death of Rémi Fraisse in Sivens (Tarn), the Court of Cassation confirmed, on Tuesday 23 March, the dismissal of the case in favour of the gendarme who fired the grenade that cost the young activist his life." (5)
You can read here in le Canard enchainé a reaction to this verdict "Rémi Fraisse, connais pas». (6)
"In essence: The Secretary of State for Biodiversity brought together on Monday, March 29, the stakeholders of the Sivens Valley Territory Project. A mediator is appointed and studies will continue.
This Monday, March 29, in the form of a videoconference, Bérangère Abba, Secretary of State for Biodiversity, finally gave the government's position on the development of the Territory Project for the Tescou valley. It had brought together all the protagonists of the co-construction collaboration. Since 2017, agricultural unions, environmental associations and elected officials have been trying to reach an agreement on water management after the shutdown of the Sivens reservoir project and the death of Rémi Fraisse, an environmental activist.
After more than 200 meetings and 900,000 euros spent, the Secretary of State admitted that there was no consensus. Even if at the end of December 2020, the two co-chairs of the Territory Project felt that it was now time to move on to a concrete phase, nothing will come of it.
According to Bérangère Abba, 'we are in a territory whose history we cannot forget. Over the course of four years, a lot of work has been done that has allowed us to move forward. The answer to be found is a balance between economic issues and environmental issues. We must break free from postures that would make these issues irreconcilable. The memory of Rémi Fraisse and the crisis we are going through forces us in this response to find a common path'." (7)
To conclude we will say that, whatever the last word -- hoping there will be a concerted and peaceful resolution at a higher level -- the battle over water in Sivens will undoubtedly mark the history of the country. It is evident that in these unfortunate times of climate change, tensions around water use will be more and more frequent. And it would be wise to take stock of what happened here.
PS: Note that the chronicle (The Battle of Sivens Part 1 and Part 2) is complemented by two small series, one of Portraits and the other concerning the Barricades which were built by opponents of the dam.
It should also be noted that we have endeavored to find documents from the period, articles from the press for example, and taken the time to make explanatory and documented captions, so don't hesitate to take a look! Thanks in particular to our "colleagues" in the printed press, and to all the people who helped me in one way or another during the report or after, to carry out this documentary work. The idea is not to be exhaustive but to deliver elements so that you have an idea of the context of the images and of the information available at the time of the shots and at the time of their reporting.
(1) https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrage_de_Sivens
(2) https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrage_de_Sivens#La_médiation_pour_un_projet_de_territoire
(3) https://www.liberation.fr/france/2020/02/23/sivens-le-non-dit-electoral_1779391
(4)http://www.letarnlibre.com/2020/12/17/10106-sivens-reactions-apres-condamnation-etat-pour-illegalite-fautive.html
(5) https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2021/03/23/mort-de-remi-fraisse-la-cour-de-cassation-confirme-le-non-lieu-en-faveur-du-gendarme_6074170_3224.html
(6) https://www.gwentomahawk.com/publications/le-canard-enchaine/
(7) https://www.ladepeche.fr/2021/03/29/barrage-de-sivens-faute-de-consensus-letat-reprend-la-main-9457546.php
(All the links were consulted on April 2, 2021)
"The Sivens dam is an abandoned project on the course of the Tescou, a tributary of the Tarn in the Garonne basin (France). The initial design for the project was abandoned on December 4, 2015 by prefectural decree.
This project would have allowed the construction of a water reservoir of 1.5 million m3 which could be used in particular for the irrigation of agricultural lands and to control water level of the Tescou. The impact of the reservoir project lies in the submersion of 12 hectares of a wetland. Compensating measures provide for restoring a total area of 19.5 hectares.
The Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy requested a project appraisal report in September 2014.
During the demonstration on October 26, 2014, clashes between police forces and a group of protesters lead to the death of one of the demonstrators, after which the project was suspended and protests were held in tribute to the deceased dam opponent, Rémi Fraisse, and against police violence. A new mediation mission was then launched by the Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development on November 10, 2014 and delivered its conclusions in January 2015." (1)
Here you will find a chronicle dividing the event into two parts: that is, from the start of deforestation at the end of August 2014 to the evacuation of the ZAD (zone to be defended by environmental activists) which took place in May 2015. The first (La Bataille Part 1) ends with the death of the young Rémi Fraisse and the second (La Bataille Part 2) chronicles the rest. During this period I tried as much as possible to follow the unfolding of the story, despite attempts at intimidation from all sides (first from certain Zadistas, then from certain gendarmes, and also from certain "pro-dam" who went so far as to break my camera). I am aware that there may have been a lot of other things to document, particularly on the side of the project's supporters or the deforestation site, but that was not really possible for me.