The Ministry of Ecological Transition publishes a Risk Card of Summer Water shortages: 76 zones are classified on alert, and 26 in reinforced alert.
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From north to Corsica, no territory seems to have to escape the lack of water this summer. This is what emerges from the risk map of drought published Wednesday May 18 by the Ministry of Ecological Transition. In order to draw a geography of the shortages to expect in the next three months, the infographic aggregates different data, for example on the drop in the levels of rivers and lakes observed locally by agents of the French Biodiversity Office. It is mainly based on the current state of underground layers and soil humidity.
Now, unlike the previous two years, it rained during the fall of 2021 and winter 2022, that is to say during the period when precipitation re-facing underground layers. This effective recharge remained particularly low (less than 100 millimeters) from Vienne to Maine-et-Loire and Indre-et-Loire, and, above all, in the Alsace plain (less than 50 mm). Overall, the tablecloths started their emptying in February. “Some territories are in a critical situation. We observe very dry, even extremely dry soils,” explains Simon Mittelberger, climatologist at Météo-France.
The latter notes that since 1 er January, the absence of rain, which generated deficits of more than 20 % compared to the reference averages of the years 1981-2010, S ‘ is manifested almost everywhere in the metropolis, but at different times. Thus, in January, the lack of precipitation in the old Poitou-Charentes region reached 45 %. In April, he was able to exceed 50 % of the Vendée in Charente-Maritime, as well as in western Brittany, the Hauts-de-France, the Ardennes, and from the Massif Central to the Rhône Valley. The Côte d’Azur and Provence were affected without discontinuing. The phenomenon has little spared only the Pyrenees.
“The War of Water is arriving”
Another sign of bad omen: the prefects have already taken 51 orders restricting the uses of the water resource in 16 departments which have exceeded the vigilance threshold. In total, 76 zones are classified at the alert stadium and 26 on a strengthened alert, against six and two respectively on the same date in 2021. With all these indicators and despite some thunderstorms in the coming days, appears a “scenario probably more Hot and drier than normal on the southern half of the country. But we do not have a trend that emerges for the northern half, “says Simon Mittelberger.
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