It is the French department most severely affected by the drought: the Eastern Pyrenees (South), on the border with Spain. This territory of mountains, scrubland, vineyards and fruit trees, lives in anticipation of the lack of water that awaits the Mediterranean rim due to climate change. This inevitably creates tensions on the spot, already.
From our special correspondent in the Eastern Pyrenees,
On the terrace of his hotel in Banyuls – 32 rooms, four stars and a private beach on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, Brice Sannac points to the water collector installed recently. “We put water from jugs, champagne buckets, water for washing vegetables… And we then reuse this water to water the plants or wash the terrace”, explains the one who also chairs the union of patrons of hotels, restaurants and beach clubs in the department. At the back of his establishment, a tank has also been installed to collect drain water from the spa and filtered water from the swimming pool.
If Brice Sannac insists on the efforts of tourism professionals to reuse water, it is because all eyes are currently on the sector. At the beginning of June, the tourists will arrive: 30 million overnight stays in a few summer months. “That’s 4.5 million cubic meters of water, or 10% of the department’s annual consumption”, calculated the mayor of Elne, the communist Nicolas Garcia. However, water is sorely lacking in the department’s rivers, dams and groundwater.
“Does the department of the Eastern Pyreneeswhich is one of the poorest in France, can afford to do without tourism? retorts Brice Sannac, departmental president of the Union of trades in the hotel industry of the eastern Pyrenees. The tourist economy is not just 1.4 billion of the department’s GDP, it’s also amenities – beautiful roads, cornices, well-maintained beaches, ports. All that is paid for because we have visitors who come to discover our department, it is not paid for with local taxes”. “So there is no water war, but you mustn’t say anything”, he asserts.
According to Brice Sannac, departmental president of the Union des Métiers de l’Industrie Hôtelière des Pyrénées Orientales, the department cannot do without tourism.
Tensions over swimming pools and tourists
The arrival of tourists worries many inhabitants. Especially in villages that have already experienced drinking water cuts. This was the case from April in Corbère-les-Cabanes in particular. Since then, it is “system D” to recover water from the showers in order to water the vegetable garden for example.
“I wonder how it will be this summer, with all the tourists”, asks Michelle, who is waiting outside the school. “The restrictions should be the same for everyonecriticizes another resident of the surroundings, trying her hand in her car in the parking lot. Tourists will have the swimming pools of hotels and campsites whereas we are not allowed to fill ours, I don’t find that normal. »
In the eastern Pyrenees, residents are angry at the use of water by tourists
In the department, water restrictions went up a notch again in mid-May: limitation of agricultural irrigation, ban on upgrading private swimming pools, ban on above-ground swimming poolsto water the gardens, showers prohibited on the beaches, among others.
Up to “400 million euros” in losses for farmers
The other pillar of the local economy are the farmers: they are paying a high price for this historic drought and water restrictions.
Cathy Salvat is an organic market gardener 15km from Perpignan: “ Do you see the tomatoes that are there? They are a bit withered, they have the leaves falling down”she laments in her greenhouse. “We are on drought alert so we only have to water three days a week, it is very complicated for the plants. » And how does she see the coming summer? “Not well… In any case, if it’s not raining, I feel very bad about it. »
Cathy Salvat explains how difficult it is for her to grow her tomatoes in the face of drought
The damage is already considerable, especially for producers of peaches and apricots. And the discontent rises. “The loss of agricultural exploitation in the department is between 300 million and 400 million eurossays Gérard Majoral, Deputy Secretary General of the National Federation of Fruit Producers. In no case will agriculture be the adjustment variable of a bad water management policy, of the bad use of water by the population.he accuses. It would be inconceivable for us to accept that certain fringes of economic players benefit more from this resource. »
In his viewfinder, the tourism sector and the population itself “.
► Read also : France: at the Massane reserve, all biodiversity is threatened by drought
Threats and climate denial
Too many individual swimming pools, clandestine boreholes… Everyone points the finger at their neighbor and the tone is even threatening. In January, in the midst of a winter drought, several hundred people demonstrated in Perpignan against a court decision that reduced authorized agricultural withdrawals from a local river. Decision obtained after the initiative of the environmental NGO France nature environment (FNE) for the preservation of aquatic biodiversity. In the procession, farmers carried a coffin inscribed with the name of the association.
Environmental organizations denounce a form of climate denial. “There are people who are clearly climatosceptic, clearly not concerned with the preservation of the environmentdeplores Benjamin Domenech, secretary general of the Departmental Fisheries Federation. It’s a swear word, you’re a fundamentalist when you talk about that. »
For Benjamin Domenech, of the Departmental Fisheries Federation, “there are people who are clearly climatosceptic and not concerned with the preservation of the environment.”
The mayor of Elne Nicolas Garcia wants him to believe in dialogue. And he calls on all actors, who are already making efforts, to review their practices. “ The only way to spend the summer is to save water. Next, technical responses are needed: repairing leaks, storing water to improve network performance. Finally, there are long-term solutions that question our economic, agricultural and environmental model.affirms the one who is also president of the Syndicate of the tablecloths of the plain of Roussillon. We need to think about helping the agricultural world to turn to agroecology, agroforestry, to techniques that allow the useful reserve of water in the soil to be preserved. And our economic model, which is based on mass tourism, must be questioned. »
Scientists are clear: in the future, due to climate change, droughts will intensify and days of heat waves will increase around the Mediterranean, and therefore in the eastern Pyrenees.
► Read also : Groundwater and drought in France: seven questions to understand