“There is no water, we do not know where we are going”, worry these inhabitants of the Var

32 days without rain and a very dry winter let us fear the worst. The Minister for the Ecological Transition brings together the prefects on Monday February 27 to announce water restriction measures, an unprecedented decision so early in the year. Some territories, including the Var, are already on drought alert.

>> Drought: how can France prepare for a (possible) new dry summer?

In Montauroux, bad weather days are all alike: gray skies, threatening clouds, but “It never rains”, sighs Lucien, who runs a cafe in the center. “We look at the weather forecast, they tell us it’s going to rain, but we’re still waiting. Life stops”he breathes.

Below his shop, the lake of Saint-Cassien is painful to see. “There is no water. I don’t know where we are going”, he worries. The vegetation “is very arid, there are a lot of trees that are suffering, we had very few mushrooms and there, we have very few asparagus”, lists the Var.

In her garden, Nadine makes the same observation: “It’s very, very dry and it’s a little scary because we see that nature is suffering”she regrets. Before asking to “everyone, in his soul and awareness”of “pay a little attention to its consumption”.

Already calls to reduce consumption

The same call for sobriety can be seen on municipal notice boards, while a text message has also been sent to residents. “We ask them to stop watering and reduce their consumption as much as possible”, explains the mayor of Montauroux Jean-Yves Huet. Even farms are affected.

This “country boy” is experiencing such restrictions for the first time so early in the year. “We only have one resource, it’s the Siagnole, a tributary of the Siagnehe explains. And this resource is gradually drying up. Not to mention the water tables that no longer fill.”

Building permit freeze

To reduce the risk of cuts, several municipalities in the department have also decided to freeze all applications for building permits. “Nothing would be worse than telling people to come and settle, so build houses, and not be able to deliver water to them.believes Jean-Yves Huet. So what we are asking them is to postpone their project until we have solved the problem of the water supply.” Thus, in Montauroux, no new construction will be authorized for the next five years.