Bathing sites on the Seine and Marne - Paris 2024 Olympic Games Legacy - Presentation of sites coming out of the expression of interest

Following the September 2016 pilot committee on “Water quality and bathing”, a letter on this subject was sent to all the metropolitan elected representatives, co-signed by Michel Cadot, Prefect of the Ile-de-France Region, Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, and Patrick Ollier, President of the Grand Paris Metropolis. The aim was to inform the representatives of what procedures had been put in place leading up to 2024 and to call for expressions of interest in the creation of summer bathing sites in their communes bordering on the Seine and Marne rivers.
Within this framework, Apur has produced a set of files describing the proposed bathing sites and their relevant constraints, in liaison with various State Departments, Ile-de-France Regional and Inter-departmental Department of Infrastructure and Development (DRIEA), Ile-de-France Regional and Inter-departmental Department of the Environment and Energy (DRIEE), Inland Waterways of France (VNF), the Paris Port Authority, the Regional Health Authority (ARS), Grand Paris Metropolis, the departments of Seine-Saint-Denis, Val de Marne and Hauts-de-Seine, the municipalities in question, the Marne Vive Syndicate, the Paris Conglomeration Inter-departmental Sanitation Syndicate (SIAAP)…

Each file presents the criteria and key points to be taken into account in order to carry out the operational studies linked to:

• balancing the ways bodies of water and their banks are used (navigation, drinking water supply, presence of industrial and pleasure ports, leisure centres, etc.)
• the morphology of the river (width, distance of navigable channel)
• the topography of the banks (pedestrian and disabled (PMR) access, emergency services and public transport accessibility, width of embankments, etc.)
• environmental and heritage sensitivity (biodiversity, management of aquatic habitats, Unesco, heritage protection, etc.)
• water quality
• the constraints of rules and regulations (Local Urbanism Plan (PLU), public utility easements, etc.)

In total, 23 sites have been identified and put forward within the framework of an expression of interest, spread over 16 interested towns. The sites can be broken down according to the following geographic distribution:

• 6 sites in Seine Aval (3 sites in Seine-Saint-Denis (93) and 3 sites in Hauts-de-Seine (92)); 
• 5 sites in Paris (75) ; 
• 7 sites in Seine Amont (6 sites in Val-de-Marne (94) and 1 site in Essonne (91)); 
• 5 sites in Marne (4 sites in Val-de-Marne (94) and 1 site in Seine-et-Marne (77)).

The work begun on these sites, with all the departments that deal with improving the water quality and defining the opening terms and conditions in relation to other uses of the Seine and Marne rivers, will continue in preparation for their opening.