DROUGHT. The heat of May and the lack of water resulted in an exceptional drought in France. Two new departments have gone on drought alert. There are therefore now 26 departments affected by water restrictions. Are you concerned? What restrictions are in place? Here’s what you need to know.
[Mis à jour le 3 juin 2022 à 11h23] Each week, new areas and municipalities are placed on drought alert. To date, 26 departments have already passed the alert threshold, and the situation should not improve in the weeks and months to come. Are we heading for a historic drought? In the areas concerned, concrete measures have been put in place to limit water consumption for individuals, businesses and communities. For example, it may be forbidden to wash your car or water your garden. But this is unfortunately not enough, and some cities are innovating and finding clever solutions to find water. The city of Niort uses, for example, the drain water from the ice rink and the municipal swimming pools to be able to water the plants and flowers of the green spaces of the municipality.
Even if you are not affected by water restrictions, you can already implement small daily actions to save water. Everyone at their own level can do something. For example, take showers instead of baths, turn off the water when washing your hands. The Ministry of Ecological Transition gives you the right reflexes to adopt:
Individuals, communities, industrialists, farmers each of us can act to save water and reduce the consequences of drought.
Find the right reflexes to adopt @b_abba– Ministry of Ecology (@Ecologie_Gouv) May 13, 2022
Which departments are on drought alert 2022? The list
Still new departments are affected by drought vigilance. As of June 1, 26 departments therefore have areas that are on alert and are affected by a prefectural decree limiting certain uses of water. 91 orders are in progress. Please note that only certain areas may be affected by these prefectural decrees and not all of them have the same scope. While some areas are on alert (i.e. level 1), others have been placed on alert (level 2), on heightened alert (level 3) or even in crisis (level 4).
- Aïn
- Alpes-Maritimes
- Alpes de Haute Provence
- Ardeche
- Bouches du Rhone
- Charente
- Charente Maritime
- Two Sevres
- Dordogne
- Doubs
- Drome
- Franche-Comte
- Haute-Savoie
- Ille et Vilaine
- Indre
- Loire Atlantique
- Loiret
- Maine et Loire
- Mayenne
- Morbihan
- Sarthe
- Tarn
- Var
- Vaucluse
- Vendee
- Vienna
Propluvia is the institute of the Ministry of Ecological Transition responsible for monitoring water levels and the internet platform that allows direct consultation of water restriction orders. The site includes a scalable map to view the areas affected by these prefectural decrees.
While 26 departments are currently subject to water restriction measures, a new drought is feared for this summer in France. The Ministry of Ecology has published a map on this subject, presenting the risks of drought in France for the coming months.
76 zones on alert, 26 on heightened alert. @Ecologie_Gouv published its risk map #drought for the next 3 months.
Map aggregates various data such as the drop in levels of rivers and lakes but above all the current state of groundwater and soil humidity. pic.twitter.com/BgOvwL3Bit
— Meteo-France (@meteofrance) May 19, 2022
What are the different drought alert levels? What are the restrictions?
There are four main levels of drought vigilance and all of them result in the implementation of specific measures.
- Drought vigilance (level 1): informing and encouraging individuals and professionals to save water.
- Alert (level 2): measures prohibiting the operation of valves, nautical activity, prohibition at certain times of watering gardens, green spaces, golf courses or washing one’s car. For farmers, reduction of levies for agricultural purposes below 50% (or ban up to 3 days a week).
- Enhanced alert (level 3): stronger limitation of withdrawals for watering gardens, green spaces, golf courses, car washing, etc., until certain withdrawals are prohibited. For farmers, reduction of levies for agricultural purposes greater than or equal to 50% (or ban greater than or equal to 3.5 days per week).
- Crisis (level 4): cessation of non-priority withdrawals, including withdrawals for agricultural purposes. Only withdrawals to ensure the exercise of priority uses are authorized. They concern sectors such as health, civil security, drinking water and sanitation.
As drought episodes are more and more frequent in France, the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion and the Ministry for Energy Transition have published an informational video on their Twitter account on the causes and consequences of the drought, but also on the daily gestures to put in place, whether you are an individual, a company or a community, to reduce your water consumption.
Drought episodes are more and more frequent and begin earlier in the year.
What are the causes and consequences of these phenomena? How to act on a daily basis to reduce your water consumption? Answers in pictures @AdeMontchalin pic.twitter.com/3dJYhmn0xs– Ministries Ecology Energy Territories (@Ecologie_Gouv) May 26, 2022
What are the small gestures that can help limit dryness?
Individuals have a role to play in limiting drought, in particular through small everyday gestures summarized by the website of the Ministry of Ecological Transition:
- Avoid letting the water run
- Limit the watering of my garden,
- Install water-saving equipment,
- Take a shower instead of a bath
- Install a rainwater collector or containers under the gutter downspouts and in the garden to water it,
- Repair water leaks,
- Avoid running your washing machine or dishwasher half empty.