A much more favorable situation than last year, as summer approaches. The state of French groundwater improved in March, notably thanks to significant rains. More than half of them are now above normal, details the geological and mining research office (BRGM) in its monthly newsletter published this Tuesday, April 16.
“In March, the situation improves again compared to the previous month. The state of the water tables is generally satisfactory: 27% of observation points are below monthly normals, 15% are comparable and 58% are above (respectively 36%, 18% and 46% in February)”, summarizes the BRGM.
The groundwater situation is satisfactory over a large part of the territory as of April 1, 2024, with 58% of levels above normal, according to the BRGM.
© / BRGM
The situation appears notably much better than in March 2023, when 75% of levels were then below normal. The past month was indeed marked by abundant rains with, according to Météo-France, a rainfall surplus of around 85% compared to the 1991-2020 reference period. Bad weather and floods have even affected several French regions.
The southwest in difficulty
The territory was nevertheless affected unevenly by this precipitation, with a deficit of 50% in Aude and the Pyrénées-Orientales, which have suffered a serious lack of rain for two years, according to Météo-France.
Furthermore, rain does not always have an immediate effect on the water tables. This depends on their nature, more or less quickly to fill, but also on a history of drought. “Only the water tables in the west of the Mediterranean rim (west-Hérault, Aude and Pyrénées-Orientales) maintain lower levels than in March 2023,” notes the BRGM. The Sundgau water table (southern Alsace) also remains low, due to its strong inertia, while the situation is heterogeneous in Corsica.
Regarding development trends, groundwater recharge remained “active on most groundwater tables” in March with levels increasing for 64% of observation points (57% in February). “The recharge period should end in April or May, depending on the rainfall totals and the reactivity of the water table. The recharge episodes should then remain punctual and not very intense, except for significant rainfall events,” predicts the public establishment.
“The situation must be particularly monitored on the slicks of the coast of Languedoc, Roussillon and Corsica,” also notes the BRGM. This warning comes after a year marked by a historic drought in the Pyrénées-Orientales, a department with significant agricultural and tourist activity which has suffered numerous restrictions on water use. On the other side of the border, Barcelona and its outskirts were placed in a state of “emergency” at the beginning of February with new restrictions on water use.