Twenty departments are placed in a state of drought crisis, according to the Ministry of Ecological Transition. Faced with this alarming observation, local authorities are implementing measures to restrict the use of water.
Argelès-sur-Mer, Palavas-les-Flots or Le Grau-du-Roi… these towns have all chosen to abandon their beach showers, which are considered to consume a lot of water. With early heat waves and a worrying level of drought, this resource has never been more precious. To preserve it as well as possible, measures to restrict water consumption have been put in place by many communities.
«Our water resources are becoming scarce, every summer we are on drought alert», Says Cécile Canguilhem, in charge of the ecological transition of Argelès-sur-Mer (Pyrénées-Orientales). Faced with this alarming phenomenon, the city is trying to limit its water consumption by eliminating its beach showers. This decision – taken by Mayor Antoine Parra in 2019 – does not stem froma need for financial savings“, but good “resource saving“Explains François Lievremont, in charge of sports and community life for the coastal town. Rising temperatures have lowered groundwater levels, the municipality’s main source of supply.
Twenty departments in drought crisis
For Fabio d’Andrea, CNRS researcher at the Dynamic Meteorology Laboratory, “cit is because of the increase in evaporation from plants in the atmosphere that we face more drought waves“, reports the expert. This is explained by higher temperatures which make the plants sweat a lot more.
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Like Argelès-sur-Mer, a large number of towns are affected by the dwindling of their hydraulic resources. According to the Ministry of Ecological Transition, dated July 5, “20 departments“are in a state of”crisis“drought, and”22 on heightened alert“, he told the Figaro. «The assessment of the level of drought severity is based on hydrological data and field observations“, he added. The management of this situation ispiloted at the departmental level to adapt to the context».
Watering ban measures
It is therefore the prefects who have the right to deploy the “drought planthrough the publication of a prefectural decree which gives directives to town halls. “The idea is to match consumption with the reality of the resource», declares Pascal Jobert, departmental director of the territories and the sea of the Alpes-Maritimes. Depending on the severity of the drought, water use restrictions apply. “What makes the difference is the ban on all watering“says Pascal Jobert. For a city placed in a state of crisis like Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes), the decree prohibits the watering of green spaces, sports areas, gardens but also the cleaning of roads. The objective is to “preserve the resource for priority uses (health, civil security and drinking water)“, specifies the ministry.
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Controls are then put in place by the prefectures: “We mainly control the biggest water consumers such as golf courses, ports, communities“, assures the departmental director of the Alpes-Maritimes. To monitor domestic use, it is up to the mayor to issue a municipal decree, allowing the police to carry out the inspection. However, the Ministry of Ecology calls for civil liability: “Water scarcity management concerns everyone, everyone can act“. Same story on the side of the prefecture: “The French must monitor their water meter to avoid leaks».
Islands of freshness, urban solution
Beyond the measures implemented by the public authorities, there are other solutions to combat water scarcity. CNRS researcher Fabio d’Andrea has participated in studies that prove that “the creation of patches of vegetation in an urban environment allows temperatures to be lowered“, he says. The municipality of Argelès-sur-Mer is the most eloquent example of this since it has chosen to create islands of freshness, made up of plants that require little water.
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«Removing the bitumen to replace it with vegetation lowers the ambient temperature. We notice a positive impact on groundwater, since the water from the plants reinfiltrates into the soil», Details the person in charge of the ecological transition of the city. Applying an ecological policy in cities is essential for the expert who warns: “More and more drought waves will emerge in the next decades».
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