“We will have to imagine using our water differently,” underlines a BRGM hydrogeologist

Faced with the very low level of water tables in the Pyrénées-Orientales, the Minister of Ecological Transition announced on Wednesday May 22 a “resilience plan” to limit consumption. “We will have to imagine using our water differently, think about other solutions,” underlines Wednesday evening on franceinfo Violaine Bault, hydrogeologist at BRGM (Bureau of geological and mining research).

Among these solutions, there is notably the idea of “active recharge of water tables” that is to say “force the water to go into the water tables rather than running off”, indicates the hydrogeologist. “We are also talking about reusing wastewater, which is done a lot in other countries.” She recalls that “every gesture counts”, collective as well as individual.

Another hypothesis put forward is to draw water from the Rhône. But “in France, we avoid these measures”warns Violaine Bault. “The Rhône needs its flow, particularly on the estuary to have this relationship between the waters which arrive from the land, which are not very salty, and the salty waters of the Mediterranean. There is a whole fauna and flora on these sectors”, she explains. “And then we can imagine that this is not a lasting solution if we see, in the context of climate change, other territories becoming drier and drier.”