With climate change, heat waves and increasing droughts, will France have enough water to cultivate its fields and feed its population? The question becomes a little more pressing each year as the heat waves accumulate. In the case of the year 2022, the winter was exceptionally dry, and the significant rains of the spring were delayed. And even for those who irrigate their fields, it is difficult to fetch water from the water tables which are too low.
For some observers, these circumstances are exceptional, but the climate projections are clear: this scenario is likely to repeat itself, often. To prepare for this, some farmers rely on the construction of water reserves to be filled in winter, but these are controversial. Others are turning to new ways of working to store water, not in artificial reserves, but in the ground directly.
Sources :
Meteo-France climate projections (Climate HD)
Climate projections from the Ministry of Ecological Transition (DRIAS, climate futures)
Losses of agricultural production linked to droughts and heat waves in Europe, Bràs et al.
Will agriculture run out of water? , Inrae, April 2022
Memorandum of understanding concerning the establishment of a replacement reserve in Mauzé-sur-le-Mignon (Deux-Sèvres)
Association for the Promotion of Sustainable Agriculture (APAD)
Research program on the effects of soil conservation agriculture on water resources (Inrae)
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