Translation of "digue de retenue du sol " (French → English) :

13. Stresses that the ICIMOD (International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development) has identified over 8 000 glacial lakes in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas alone, 203 of which, because of the nature of their location and the instability of their naturally occurring dam walls (moraines), are considered to be potentially dangerous;

The group of experts identified eight soil and climate criteria indicating, at a certain threshold value, severe limitations for European agriculture: climate criteria (long-term low temperature or heat stress), soil criteria (poorly drained soil; stony, sandy or clay soil; low rooting depth; salty soil) and areas with very unfavourable moisture balance or steep slopes (A more detailed description of the eight biophysical criteria can be found in the annex to the communication).

The collapse of facilities hosting such waste (e.g. waste heaps, tailings ponds or dams) may have widespread devastating effects on people and the environment, potentially of transboundary nature, as demonstrated by the serious accidents that occurred in Aznalcollar, Spain, in 1998 and Baia Mare, Romania, in 2000 (both with extensive damage on freshwater ecosystems and large socio-economic effects).

Environmental impacts from the management of such waste range from physical effects on ecosystems (e.g. smothering of riverbeds), to pervasive acid drainage and leaching of heavy metals and other dangerous substances used for mineral processing. The collapse of facilities hosting such waste (e.g. waste heaps, tailings ponds or dams) can have widespread devastating effects on people and the environment, as demonstrated by several accidents that have occurred in Europe, such as in Aberfan, Wales, in 1966 and Stava, Italy, in 1985 (both with serious casualties) and in Aznalcollar, Spain, in 1998 and Baia Mare, Romania, in 2000 (both with ex ...[+++]tensive damage on freshwater ecosystems and large socio-economic effects).

5. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the proposal for a Community soil monitoring system is geared to further extending rather than restricting the Member States' responsibility for comprehensive soil protection in line with the manifold regional and local conditions and demands; at the same time, however, the system should serve to create the preconditions for the Europe-wide comparability of selected basic data which are indispensable for the implementation of a Community soil protection strategy.

The federal government built the first dikes along the Assiniboine River around 1900 and transferred responsibility for them to the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration in 1950.