Terres de Sources — Rennes Water Utility Buys Food from Farms Upstream of Its Intakes (France)

About 3,000 farms lie in the catchments of the 17 intake points supplying the Rennes area, and only 3% of surface and groundwater in Ille-et-Vilaine is in good ecological status. Rather than a classic subsidy, the Collectivité Eau du Bassin Rennais (CEBR), which manages drinking water for 75 communes, uses the public procurement code to buy food products from farms upstream of its intakes, which commit to a specification (no GMOs, palm oil, preventive antibiotics or certain pesticides) and a six-year improvement plan.
Participating farmers receive better prices plus a bonus of €1,000–3,000 per year. A cooperative (Scic) was created on 24 February 2022 with 105 members across six colleges. The scheme is backed by €20 million from the France 2030 Territoires d'innovation programme (€5.9 million in grants, €14.7 million in equity stakes in agri-food companies). Reported in a 2024 trade article: 88 farms in 62 communes engaged, against a target of 750 farms (25% of those in the catchment perimeter) by 2028, and 10-year goals of −50% nitrates and −75% pesticides.
These are targets, not achievements: no source reports measured water-quality results. Environmental associations quoted in 2020 argued that the scheme covered only about 15% of one watershed, that voluntary measures had not changed practice on the rest, and called for mandatory regulation. The case is included as a design-rich but outcome-unproven model of procurement-based PES.

Read the full analysis: https://www.banquedesterritoires.fr/terres-de-sources-une-cooperative-pour-une-alimentation-locale-et-une-meilleure-qualite-de-leau-35