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The Water plan, presented by Emmanuel Macron during his trip to the Hautes-Alpes on Thursday March 30, was awaited by Générations Futures. But after having listened to the speech of the President of the Republic, the NGO said “to have remained unsatisfied”, concerning water pollution.
It has been six months since this Water plan was awaited by associations and activists for the protection of the environment, such as Générations Futures. The NGO now admits to being disappointed with the speech of the President of the Republic, on various points.
A speech that does not provide all the answers
In its press release, following Emmanuel Macron’s speech, Générations Futures regrets that “thehe President has not condemned (…) this solution of mega-basins which, far from solving the problem caused by the current agricultural model, amplifies it”.
But beyond this topical issue, Générations Futures also notes that the Head of State only touched on the question of pesticides: “They will have to [les retenues] are conditional on significant and individualized changes in practices with water savings and reduction in the use of pesticides“, without saying more.
The issue of water pollution not addressed
Emmanuel Macron’s speech also does not raise the question of the metabolites of pesticides found in the water we consume, which has nevertheless been the subject of various articles in the media. “Générations Futures is therefore surprised that this subject has not been addressed by the President” she added in her press release.
As a reminder, the conclusions of the investigative work of the journalists of Complément d’Enquête, a magazine broadcast on France 2, were worrying: “about 20% of French people in mainland France – some 12 million people – have received water from the tap, regularly or occasionally, that does not meet quality criteria“because of these pesticide metabolites.
Another completely ignored subject: PFAS or eternal pollutants, which “contaminate more than 17,000 sites across Europe“, reports Générations Futures. The NGO, which does not want to condemn this Water plan before having read it, is therefore patient until it can be read, before taking a position. But recalls that these are subjects essential and that “it is not by announcing nothing and doing nothing that the situation is likely to get better…”