La correction du Rhône valaisan au xixe siècle : un aménagement à fort impact environnemental

Multi-temporal mapping of the Upper Rhone Valley (Valais, Switzerland): fluvial landscape changes at the end of the Little Ice Age (18th–19th centuries)

“…During the second half of the nineteenth century, the anthropogenic activities had a crucial impact on the Rhone basin. The river was channelized twice in the periods of 1863-1894 and 1930-1960 (the so-called 'Corrections of the Rhone River', see (Baud, Bussard, & Reynard, 2016;de Torrenté, 1964), which reduced the length of the river (Stutenbecker et al, 2018) and gave to the river the presentday aspect. In the 2000s, after severe flood events, the 'Third Correction' began following the 'Room-for-River' flood management strategy (Vis, Klijn, De Bruijn, & Van Buuren, 2003) and aims to: (1) widen the river, (2) increase the capacity, (3) secure levees and (4) improve the general environmental quality (Olivier et al, 2009).…”

“…In the last decades several portions of the Upper Rhone River Valley were studied applying a geohistorical approach (Baud et al, 2016;Stäuble, Martin, & Reynard, 2008;Zanini, Zanini, Weber, & Schlaepfer, 2006) and combining historical maps (Reynard, 2009) with geoscience analysis, in particular: between Riddes et Martigny Laigre, Reynard, Arnaud-Fassetta, Baron, & Glenz, 2012;; from Viège to Rarogne and Sierre to Sion (Laigre, Arnaud-Fassetta, & Reynard, 2010); and the Conthey area (Stäuble & Reynard, 2005).…”