After thirty-two consecutive days without rain at the start of 2023, it is time to raise the alarm, even in the middle of winter, warns the government, which has multiplied statements and meetings on this subject in recent days. However, we will still have to wait for significant measures because, after several postponements, the large water plan announced in September 2022 will a priori not be presented until the end of March.
With groundwater filling much lower than average, the summer promises to be even more worrying than that of 2022, yet hit by a drought considered historic. The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, himself publicly worried about it during his visit, on February 25, to the Salon de l’agriculture in Paris. “We know that we will be faced with problems of water scarcity. Rather than organizing under duress at the last moment with conflicts of use, we have to plan all that.he said.
The Minister for Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion and the Secretary of State for Ecology therefore brought together the prefects of the seven catchment areas of the metropolis (including Corsica), Monday, February 27, before meeting those of the departments in a few days. Christophe Béchu and Bérangère Couillard had already chaired, on February 23, a hydrological anticipation and monitoring committee, the first of the year, exceptionally early.
“The hour we have just spent with the prefects has confirmed the seriousness of the situation, explain to Monde the Minister for Ecological Transition. For fifteen months, the rainfall deficit has widened to reach a month of February which will reach 80% to 85% less precipitation compared to average. Not one department is within the usual standards. » The Minister has asked that by the end of March the drought committees – which bring together a range of water stakeholders: farmers, industrialists, local elected officials, associations, etc. – meet in each department.
Mobilize state representatives
The objective of the meeting was to mobilize the representatives of the State, but also to collect their field observations. On restrictions on water use, prefects are encouraged to issue decrees well in advance, without waiting for the first signs of shortages and tensions around water resources.
Preparing for the next dry season also involves reviewing in advance the agreements between the public authorities and the operators who manage the large dams, such as EDF and Voies navigables de France. Their infrastructures are not only used to produce hydroelectricity, they also support river flows by releasing water during low water periods.
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