For better water management, the Water Framework Directive requires to take into account the relationships between surface water and groundwater bodies.In this frame, the exchanges dynamic between surface water and groundwater is studied, for a Rhône alluvial aquifer. Two sets of tools are employed: a time series analysis of groundwater and rivers levels, using signal processing techniques, and numerical flow models, deterministic and physically based. These techniques are implemented on an area (Péage-de-Roussillon) with high socio-economic stakes regarding water resources. The complementarities among the results are analysed.A principal component analysis, based on piezometric head signals, showed that the fluctuations of the Rhône water level explain most of the groundwater variations. Correlative and spectral analysis were used to characterise the relationship between the Rhône and the groundwater level. Specific behaviours of the hydrosystem were identified: clogging of river beds, transversal flows below river beds,… These behaviours were then studied, in details, using a hydrodynamic model of the aquifer, which incorporates a surface runoff calculation module. The model also allows quantifying the exchange rates between rivers and groundwater.
