Drought: 100 French communes without constant source of drinking water
Almost 30,000 people are affected
More than 100 communes in France are now without a constant source of drinking water as a result of the country鈥檚 ongoing drought, the Ecology Minister has said.
Christophe B茅chu called for people to be alert 鈥渂ecause many communes are affected by repeated or temporary cut-offs [of water]鈥�, he said to yesterday (August 1).
鈥淲e have exceeded the threshold of 100 communes without drinking water,鈥� he said. This equates to 鈥渏ust fewer than 30,000 people鈥� in France. Last year 700 communes were affected.
Communes affected are having water brought in by lorry, or receiving bottled water.
He said that the worst hit regions were the Mediterranean and the Rh么ne and Sa么ne valleys. This is a result of 鈥渓ast summer's drought, which left us with empty water tables鈥� and 鈥渁 lack of rain during the recharge period鈥�, which is typically over the winter.
He added that the compounded effects of climate change were largely to blame for the situation and that the drought would not be fixed by a few days of rain.
He said: 鈥淛ust because it鈥檚 raining, it doesn鈥檛 mean that we don't have a drought problem, just as lower temperatures don鈥檛 mean that climate change isn't happening.鈥�
Improvement projects
However, the minister added that he hoped the situation would improve soon, with the imminent completion of 鈥�500 securitisation and network reconnection projects that the government launched last September鈥�.
Mr B茅chu also said that 62% of groundwater levels in France are now 鈥渦nder the norms for the season鈥�, which was less than the 68% at the start of the season.
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