The National Service for Water Data and Common Reference Frames Management is 20 years old!

Establishing a common language on water

In 1992, the French National Water Data Network (RNDE) was launched to make water data available in a consistent manner at all useful levels.

The ”SANDRE” was established in 1993 to simplify the exchange of these data between the various stakeholders involved. For this, it provides data dictionaries and exchange scenarios in electronic formats.

The ”SANDRE” thus offers a unique exchange interface and meets the need to establish a common language among partners from the water world.

Given the proliferation of the information systems used and the growing need for knowledge, the French Water Information System (WIS) succeeded to the ”RNDE” in 2003.

Through ”SANDRE”, many tools for stakeholders are then developed to make their information systems interoperable: dictionaries and interactive exchange scenarios, specifications for web multiple domain services, reference data under ISO 9001 certification, a cartographic atlas, a metadata catalogue, audits of computer systems, compliance labels, etc.

IOWater takes care of ”SANDRE” Technical Secretariat under its Multi-year Target Agreement with the French National Agency for Water and Aquatic Environments (ONEMA).

Adapting to the stakeholders’ needs

For example, each year in France, more than ten million results of water analyses (drinking water, surface water, groundwater, coastal water, wastewater,…) are produced and exchanged between analysis laboratories and partners (ARS, DREAL, Water Agencies, industrialists, …).

Due to these findings and on the request of all the stakeholders, IOWater, as ”SANDRE” Secretariat, worked out, with the support of the Ministries in charge of the Environment and Health and ”ONEMA” and with the assistance of a group of experts, a standard for data exchange: “EDILABO”.

Any laboratory must, from now on, be able to receive a request for analyses and to provide results in the “EDILABO” format and their partners must change their information systems by developing an exchange interface in conformity with the “EDILABO” standard. For this purpose, they can have software certified by IOWater.

The ”SANDRE” is proposing more than 10,000 pages of data dictionaries and exchange scenarios. It also displays more than 13,000 files, which obtained a compliance label, and more than 45,000 codified elements (taxons, substances, etc.).