After an exceptionally hot and dry summer, the restrictions on water uses should last this fall. Precipitation is insufficient and stream on compact soils.
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The arrival of autumn marks the end of heat peaks, but not the historic drought that strikes French territory. “There is something to be worried, recognizes Bérangère Couillard, Secretary of State responsible for ecology. The restrictions on water uses are called to last because the worst drought is before us, we will see it in October-November. “The reserves are indeed at the lowest after an exceptionally hot summer and stingy in rain.
In recent weeks, hundreds of small municipalities have known and still have situations of tensions for their dore water diet, but also cities like Besançon, Chambéry, Chartres, Géradmer (Vosges) or Nantes.
At 1 er September, approximately one fifth of the channels and rivers was affected by user restrictions and almost 1,000 km were closed to navigation (14.8 % of the network) . In addition, 90 % of rivers were in deficit: in difficulty of flow or completely dry. Their low water -the moment when their flows are at its lowest -, which usually occurs between mid -October and November, promises to be “particularly severe”, according to the geological and mining research office (BRGM), which made public An assessment of the state of the underground layers Thursday, September 15. You have to expect to see additional rivers dry up, probably in the Var and the Vaucluse, among others.
It is actually all year 2022 which will remain as a fatal abnormality, because drought was already well installed before summer: spring had itself started with very striking underground tablecloths, The result of a rainy or snowy winter. In total, since the 1 er September 2021, the cumulation of effective precipitation is deficit of 25 % to 75 % on almost all of the country, according to the latest National Bulletin of Hydrological Situation made public by Météo -France on 1
77 Departments in crisis
Admittedly, since the beginning of the month, it rained, but not enough to recover from a lack of water that has reached records this summer. With a deficit of 85 % – or 52 millimeters (mm) less than the average – which affected almost all of the country, the month of July is the driest ever recorded, while that of August reached 33 % (21 mm less, unevenly distributed over the territory). But the first half of September also leaves something to be desired, with a deficit of more than 31 %. And as the floors continue to be extremely compact and dry, they promote runoff, to the detriment of water infiltration, a necessary condition to recharge tablecloths, which play the role of underground reserves.
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