The sale of above-ground swimming pools will be prohibited in the Pyrénées-Orientales from next week, announced the Minister for Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu, on Friday May 5, at the microphone of RTL.
This decision is taken “in order to avoid having people who buy swimming pools and who would then have the temptation to fill them even though this filling is prohibited”, explained Mr. Béchu.
“Crisis” measures
The announcement comes as “crisis” measures, including new water restrictions, are set to come into effect on May 10 in this department hit by exceptional drought.
“It is not a government decision, it is the reality of nature and the situation we are in; you have to get used to the idea that global warming is now, ”said the minister.
This “crisis alert level”, the highest, will concern “the territories of Têt and Agly”, two rivers crossing part of this department bordering Spain, the prefect announced last week, after a meeting of the local Water Resources Committee.
“This department is living in anticipation what some of the departments around the Mediterranean are likely to experience,” said Christophe Béchu on site last Thursday, during a Hydrological Anticipation and Monitoring Committee (CASH).
