2023-09-14 05:10:51
“The crisis is not yet behind us.” Despite a rainy summer of 2023, 189 municipalities are deprived of drinking water, and nearly two thirds of the water tables are at a level below seasonal averages, the Minister of Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu, said on Wednesday. in an interview with Libération.
The figures disclosed by Christophe Béchu in an article published Wednesday evening show that the number of municipalities suffering from water shortages on September 8 has more than doubled compared to the last inventory, on August 10, when there were 85. “Many are found in the Mediterranean basin, in the Rhone corridor, but we also have a few cases in Brittany. In total, 40,000 people are deprived of drinking water,” noted Christophe Béchu. At the same time last year, some 700 municipalities were affected.
“The mark of climate change”
“At the same time, 62% of groundwater tables were below seasonal averages, and 18% were at very low levels. Last year, on the same date, 77% of them were below average and 20% very low,” listed the minister. “All of this clearly bears the mark of climate change,” he added.
The Bureau of Geological and Mining Research (BRGM), responsible for monitoring aquifers, will publish its results for the month of August on Thursday.
“I would like to warn: the crisis is not yet behind us. The water tables will only recharge from October,” warned the minister, estimating that “these next few weeks will be decisive.”
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