We combine soil science and economics to provide an integrated framework of Valley-Bottom Wetland (VBW) selection criteria for surface water-quality preservation at the headwater watershed scale when there is no reliable method for quantifying water-quality benefits. We focus on a French agricultural landscape and more particularly on wet meadows. We implement a method of VBW identification based on topographic indices which use threshold values that are calibrated using field measurements. This identification criterion allows us to accurately identify both downstream and upstream VBWs. We then look for criteria with which to prioritize the VBWs identified for conservation purposes. We concentrate on budget-constrained cases and provide a procedure for estimating the cost of conservation for the VBWs. We finally show that it is very important (i) to simultaneously consider hydrogeomorphic and cost criteria for the selection in a budget constrained context and (ii) to go beyond the mean per hectare cost of conservation.

当没有可靠的水质效益量化方法时，我们将土壤科学与经济学相结合，提供了一个谷底湿地（VBW）选择标准的综合框架，用于在源水集水区尺度上保护地表水水质。我们专注于法国的农业景观，尤其是潮湿的草地。我们实现了一种基于地形指数的VBW识别方法，该指数使用通过野外测量校准的阈值。此识别标准使我们能够准确识别下游和上游VBW。然后，我们寻找用于优先确定出于保护目的而确定的VBW的标准。我们专注于预算有限的案例，并提供了一个程序，以估算VBW的维护成本。