It is forbidden to water between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m., to wash your car, your terrace, your boat, to fill your swimming pool, limit for perfumers, restricted watering of roads… the prefecture of the Alpes Maritimes almost every 15 days reinforces measures to combat an exceptional drought.
And of course to enforce these restrictive measures, which are increasingly complex, and obviously not always applied, control operations are launched.
As an example recently at the Port Gallice of Juan-les-Pins, the environmental police, now water police, surrounded by representatives of the Departmental Directorate of Territories and the Sea (DDTM), caught two flagrant offenses of breaches of water use restriction rules. A crew who had just washed the deck of a yacht and a man who was rinsing his dinghy after taking a shower: two bans on the use of drinking water connected to the pontoons. Offenses for usual and very frequent gestures that have become impossible.
1500 euros for rinsing his boat
People caught red-handed have fifteen days to contest the charges, they risk a fine of 1,500 or even 3,000 euros and the file can be sent to the Public Prosecutor.
During this unannounced check, the people affirmed that they “were unaware of the measures in place“State services ensure that the ports of Nice, Cannes and Antibes have been checked and that operations will continue.
The Quai des billionaires in Antibes, famous for hosting the largest yachts on the Côte d’Azur, was also checked twice with 50% of breaches of the measures in force noted.
Heavy consumers hunted down
A busy day for the water police who on the same day then found two other offenders: the Opio-Valbonne golf course for “non-application of measures to reduce water consumption by 20% at the drought alert stage ” and the Grande Bastide golf course, with “watering in the middle of the day” when it is prohibited between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.
State services focus on “big consumers” of water, in particular industrialists, professionals and local authorities.