French water tables are in a “very favorable” situation as summer approaches, except in the Pyrénées-Orientales and Corsica.

The situation of French groundwater continued to improve during the month of May under the effect of the rains, according to the BRGM monthly update published Friday June 14. They are in generally good condition. “very satisfaying”with the exception of a few regions, leaving “envision a less difficult summer period than last year”, he notes. Only the aquifers of the Pyrénées-Orientales and Corsica maintain lower levels than in May 2023.

As of June 1, 70% of France’s water tables had levels above normal, compared to 65% a month earlier. Only 19% (compared to 22%) remain at levels below normal, notes the Bureau of Geological and Mining Research. “It’s a situation which is very satisfactory and which is quite exceptional”greeted Violaine Bault, hydrogeologist at BRGM, during a presentation to the press. “The situation is more favorable than that observed last year, in May 2023, when 66% of levels were below monthly normals”notes the BRGM.

This state “very satisfactory over a large part of the territory” is due to recharging “very surplus” of the winter of 2023-2024 which lasted until May, while the rain continued to fall, feeding the aquifers traditionally in the draining phase at this time when the vegetation absorbs a large part of the precipitation. According to Météo-France, the meteorological spring (including March, April and May) was “the rainiest since 2008”, “with an anomaly of +45%” of precipitation. May was the wettest month of May since 2013. For its part, the BRGM estimates that the month of May is the fourth wettest month for groundwater in 30 years (i.e. in terms of level water compared to normal).