The river basin agency provides financial and technical assistance to pollution control (water quality protection) and to water resources increase (water quantity improvement), actions of common interest at river basin level.

Financing comes from water charges paid by the basin’s water users (municipalities, industrialists, farmers). The agency’s staff is composed of 313 persons.

Activities take place within the framework of multi-year programs set up by the agency’s board of directors and ratified by the river basin committee : total yearly financial assistance from the agency for water resources protection amounts approximately to 300 million €.

They come from pollution and withdrawal water charges (quality and quantity deterioration) applied to water users : municipalities, industry, farmers.
The charges are commensurate either to the volume of abstracted water or to the amount of pollution discharged in the natural environment (streams, lakes…).
The collected funds are afterwards reallocated by means of financial assistance to pollution control (wastewater treatment plants, sewerage networks…) or to water resource improvement (dams, bores-holes, drinking water supply…).
Financial assistance can apply to public or private owners of the works (subsidies or/and soft loans).

The river basin agency proposes contracts to the water stakeholders (regions, « départements », municipialities, private water users) so as to be in line with territorial interventions (land planning).

Geographical area : the Loire river basin and its tributaries, plus Brittany region and some smaller river basins on the Atlantic coastal area.

Management : like any other public body, the river basin agency is ruled by a board of directors (decision-making body) and by a General Manager (executive body).

The agency’s General Manager is Mr Noël MATHIEU, chief engineer of rural works and forests. The agency is under the supervision both of the Minister in charge of Environment and of the Minister of Finance.

Headquarters : Orléans-La Source, France

Staff : 313 employees

Budget for the year 2008 : 340 million €.