Placed in “reinforced alert” since mid-February, the basin of this coastal river undergoes restriction measures to use water, from its source in the Var to its mouth in Marseille.
by Gilles Rof (Marseille, correspondent)
In this season, the artichoke plants of the Chiapello family should be more fellow. “If he is not raining this week, I will be forced to water them,” notes Lionel, the son, 50, who exploits four hectares of market gardening lands between Aubagne and Roquevaire (Bouches-du-Rhône), at the heart of The Huveaune valley. Already, the farmer is returned at night in this field which borders the river, front lamp on the head, to descend his pump in the thin net of water and stall his sprinklers … “It is not the Prefect who would do this after a day of twelve hours, “he sighs.
Since mid-February, the Huveaune basin, this coastal river which has its source in the Sainte-Baume massif and will throw itself fifty kilometers further in Marseille, is placed in the zone “Reinforced drought alert” by the Var and Bouches-du-Rhône prefectures. Nineteen municipalities-including eight of the sixteen arrondissements of Marseille-are affected by important restrictions for water use . Watering from green spaces and vegetable gardens can only be done from 8 pm. Home vehicle washing is prohibited, as well as the filling of swimming pools. As for sports fields, they are only entitled to water “reduced from 7 to 9 am”.
For farmers and chiapello, the rules are strict: drip irrigation is authorized but the gravity and spray can only be used at night, in a reduced volume of 40 %. “The flow of the river has never been so low in February since it is measured,” said the Departmental Directorate of Territories and the Sea (DDTM) to explain a decision with unprecedented precocity. From an average of 1,438 liters per second since 1998, the Huveaune fell in February 2023 to 362 liters per second. “In a way, it is a cry of alarm,” explains the prefect of the Var Evence Richard, who fears arriving in the summer “in an even more degraded situation” than in 2022.
Private swimming pool problem
In his field, Lionel Chiapello regrets that measures do not take into account the realities on the ground. “If I can only water at night, how I will prevent carrots from burning in the sun between noon and two?”, He questions. Under his beautiful cap, Jean-Claude, the grandfather, almost 80 years old and decades of market gardening, remembers having long “all cultivated in dry”. Salads, parsley, fruit trees, only watered by the rains of winter and spring. “But it’s been over for a long time,” he concedes. Over the years, he and his son have abandoned the non -irrigated land of the hills to get closer to the Canal de Provence and the Huveaune.
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