France has not gone far from the disaster scenario, in the summer of 2022. In a report commissioned by the government and which will be published on Tuesday April 11, but consulted by AFP, it is underlined that the “worst” was avoided during last summer’s drought in terms of drinking water supply disruption. Thanks, on the one hand, “to the exceptional mobilization of all the actors” and, on the other hand, “to a high level of filling of the aquifers and reservoirs at the end of winter 2021-2022”.
But these conditions may no longer be met in the coming years, or even as early as 2023. The interministerial mission, which produced this report, calls for a “radical change in our water management methods and our practices”. But after a rain-poor start to the year, she sees, at the same time, an “awakening of awareness”.
“The period of more than a month without rain in early 2023 in France and the organization of exceptional events, likely to affect the peak in drinking water consumption in several large cities during the same period, such as summer 2023 the Rugby World Cup, then in 2024, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, require particular vigilance with regard to the risk of a break in the supply of drinking water”, continues the mission.
To do this, the administration has made 18 recommendations, in order to better understand the extent of the problem, to anticipate and inform. The authors tackle in particular the thorny issue of sobriety, recalling the objective of a 10% reduction in levies by 2024, a target now postponed to 2030 by President Emmanuel Macron during the recent presentation of the “body of water”.
It also recommends that the ministries of each sector, “to invite the actors to develop national roadmaps for water savings”.
With regard to agriculture, which accounts for 58% of national water consumption to irrigate crops or water animals, the mission considers that “the recurrence of droughts highlights the fragility of our agricultural model and the imperative need for a massive collective effort to accelerate its transformation”. Christophe Béchu, Minister for the Ecological Transition, regretted that, in this sector, “the actors do not all take the path of sobriety”.
The authors then suggest a “more precise national framework” to help prefects overwhelmed with requests for exemptions in the event of withdrawal restrictions and in the face of measures perceived by the public as too severe – closure of car washes – or too lax – watering golf courses.
By drawing a parallel with the “derogation obtained by a national level football club” to water its lawn, she considers that the authorization of golf courses allowing them to water their grounds is “not understandable”. Here, the reuse of wastewater “can be a solution,” said Christophe Béchu.
A project “requires a little more time”: that of a possible hardening of the sanctions “in the event of non-compliance with the decrees prohibiting irrigation, for example”, advanced the minister, noting that these decrees, the summer last, “have not always [been] followed by effects or fines” among offenders.