page_title: Bèze (river)
section_title: Pollution
hierarchical_section_title: Bèze (river) / Ecology and environment / Pollution
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: La Bèze à Triey aux environs de la déchetterie de Drambon (pont sur la D104).
context_page_description: The Bèze is a French river in the Côte-d'Or department, in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region.
  It is a right tributary of the Saône, and thus a sub-tributary of the Rhône.
  The river rises in the Crétanne cave in the village of Bèze, then crosses several communes in its 31.2 kilometres course before entering the Saône in Vonges.
  Its source is the outlet of a vast underground network fed by the Tille and the Venelle.
  A walk has been laid out around the spring, which is a major tourist attraction in the region.
  The watershed of the Bèze river and its main tributary, the Albane, irrigates the Saône Vingeanne country, over a total area of 250 square kilometres
  Along its course the landscape alternates between forested areas and areas of large crops, livestock meadows and ponds.
  The basin is home to four natural areas of interest for their ecology, fauna and flora.
  Human occupation along the river began as early as the Paleolithic.
  In Roman Gaul the sanctuary of Mirebeau-sur-Bèze, on an important axis of communication, was an important place in the region.
  The site was occupied by the Legio VIII Augusta, who built an imposing military camp.
context_section_description: Nine stations measure the quality of surface water along the course of the Bèze.
  The Établissement Public Territorial du Bassin (EPTB) Saône and Doubs noted a concentration of nitrates in two bodies of water in the Bèze water catchment.
  The nitrate quality is poor on all the stations of the basin with a maximum at the outlet of basin. 
  The quality of metals (essentially chrome and nickel micropollutants) is average, but appears to be localized near the former Drambon and Marandeuil forges. 
  The Saint-Léger station records contamination by arsenic and nickel. 
  Agricultural activities are the main source of diffuse nitrate pollution.
  This has serious repercussions, since the potability of the water supply is questionable. 
  The whole of the Bèze-Albane basin is classed as being in a vulnerable zone for nitrates. 
  This classification aims at protecting the environment, in this case the aquifer of the Saône, against contamination by nitrates. 
  A program for establishment of grass strips was decided in 2009. 
  Since then there has been a marked improvement in the quality of water.
  Planting of saplings is causing a riparian forest to reappear on the river banks.
  The Departmental Council of Côte-d'Or has been monitoring the quality of the surface waters of the Bèze catchment since 1994 by measurement stations that are monitored every two years.
  Uncontrolled refuse dumps have been observed and are the target of an awareness campaign.
caption: Cows grazing in Saint-Léger-Triey. Agricultural and livestock along the Bèze have important consequences for the quality of its waters.
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