Synergies entre acteurs opérationnels et scientifiques au service de l'amélioration de la prévision des crues

In 2003, under the impetus of the French Ministry of ecology, the national flood observation system progressively evolved towards a flood forecasting system. The French national forecasting centre (SCHAPI) was created to coordinate this evolution and the improvement of anticipation tools, in collaboration with regional flood forecasting services (SPC). This national flood forecasting network developed collaborations with scientists and consultancies, among which Irstea. The interannual collaboration with Irstea yielded the GRP model, today widely used in SPCs. This collaboration has several important aspects: the support to the operational implementation of the forecasting tool, the evaluation of its performance comparatively to other tools, the analysis of feedbacks, or the training of professionals. It gives the opportunity to raise important scientific questions, and to propose concrete solutions to improve the efficiency of the GRP model. The article describes the partnership that supports the overall development approach, and illustrates its advantages through a few examples.