Water and landscape dynamics in southern Burgundy: two and a half centuries of water management in an agricultural landscape

This interdisciplinary research project investigates changing patterns of water use in rural Burgundy, France over a 250-year timeframe. This rural landscape is undergoing rapid and major changes, partly driven by European Union policies that govern the environmental impacts of human activities. These policies reflect the power of governments to directly influence local landscapes, and many traditional water mills and ponds have disappeared while others have been repurposed. We seek to document these endangered features on the landscape and analyze their changing function. An integrated research design incorporating humanities, social sciences, and Earth sciences seeks to illuminate the factors involved in the changing use of local water resources, including mills and ponds. Advanced techniques including geographic information systems and geochemical analysis are combined with historical research including analysis of historical documents, cadastral records and oral history interviews of current land owners and farmers.