In Corrèze the farmers of Xaintrie do not want to lose their spring water. This Monday evening in Argentat, at the call of the FDSEA and the JA, several dozen breeders in the sector, as well as many inhabitants, came to express their opposition to the project of the community of communes Xaintrie Val Dordogne. The latter organized an information meeting to present the three possible development scenarios to secure the water supply throughout the basin, and in particular in the Saint-Privat sector where cisterns were needed this summer.
Millions of euros for 9000 inhabitants
The scenario preferred by the community of municipalities is that of creating a water treatment plant with a single catchment in the Dordogne, which would therefore eliminate all other catchments. A very expensive pharaonic project which would suddenly greatly increase the price of water, say farmers. “When we commit to putting millions of euros on the table financed by only 9000 inhabitants, explains Michel Queille, vice-president of the FDSEA and breeder in Reygades, we ask ourselves the question, we who live in more remote rural areas, how we manage to live at home and at what cost.” A false problem retorts Nicole Bardi, president of the community of communes who recalls that the networks are very old and will have to be redone in the next few years. And as well as “whatever the scenarios, the price of water will increase”.
interconnections
But nor are the farmers convinced of the relevance of such a project. Because “there is water in Xaintrie” assures Michel Queille and that what happened this summer with the cisterns in Saint-Privat can have other remedies. “Can’t we imagine solutions that are much simpler?” he asks, putting forward the idea of interconnections between existing networks, for example, which is what one of the other scenarios envisaged provides. Nothing is decided ensures in any case Nicole Bardi who specifies that the objective is to implement the chosen project by 2030 or even 2035.