Message of the Chairman

Water. Energy.

Perhaps never in many decades have questions of securing water and energy supplies arisen with such urgency, in a context of profound energetic and climatic transformation of our societies, and of an imperative to protect biodiversity.

The CFBR successfully organised the 27th World Congress of the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD/CIGB) in May-June 2022 in Marseille. France had not hosted such an event for 65 years. I wish to acknowledge my predecessor, Michel Lino, now President of ICOLD, and the entire organising team for putting together this landmark international gathering, which brought together more than 1,400 participants, despite two postponements and the well-known health constraints imposed by the Covid pandemic. This congress had, quite naturally and among other themes, centred its discussions around questions of climate resilience and the multi-use challenges of water.

This event thus marks the beginning of a new era for the CFBR. While remaining true to its vocation of developing and disseminating dam and levee expertise and technologies (the "HOW"), the CFBR will in the coming months and years strengthen its action on questions of foresight and water-energy service needs for territories (the "WHY"), and on durable alignment between water resource systems and uses: irrigation, drinking water, energy, flood protection, responsible tourism, and the quality of aquatic ecosystems. Needs analysis must imperatively consider opportunities for reducing and limiting water consumption, but also recognise the increased need for flexibility and storage to secure a resource (water, but also energy) that is increasingly variable in time and space.
On the basis of a clear-eyed assessment, developed and shared with stakeholders regarding needs, the CFBR will dedicate all its energy to evolving and disseminating, through strengthened and modernised communication, the knowledge and expertise needed to develop dam-reservoir and levee systems that durably meet the challenges of our time:

Maintaining the high level of structural safety, the cornerstone of our profession and the true "licence to operate" of these facilities. Continuing to improve the socio-environmental integration of structures and to protect biodiversity, by accelerating the use of eco-design techniques. Guaranteeing the climate resilience of structures and water resource systems. Achieving a balanced sharing of water resources through innovative multi-use systems. Ensuring the economic performance of facility operations. Developing and deploying innovations, in particular digital technologies, across all the challenge areas listed above.

These are magnificent challenges for our profession, which must also focus on preparing the next generation of professionals and the talents of tomorrow, by creating the conditions for a better gender balance representative of our societies in the governance and contribution to our organisation’s activities.

Rich in all its components, the CFBR will take its full place, alongside its French, European and International partners, foremost among which the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD/CIGB) as well as its European Club, in rising to these formidable challenges.

Denis AELBRECHT
Chairman of CFBR