In the absence of rain and in the face of low groundwater levels in certain regions, drought could strike again in the summer of 2023, pushing the territories and their inhabitants to adapt on a forced march.
Early restrictions to avoid the worst? “Anticipate!” asks the Minister for Ecological Transition to the prefects, in an interview with JDD Released Sunday February 26. Before receiving them at the ministry, Christophe Béchu affirms that he will hold “every time the same message”: “Take the steps now to save water.”
If the summer of 2022 brought to light the vulnerabilities of many territories in the face of a lack of water, the winter drought raises fears of new difficulties to come, accentuated and repeated under the effect of climate change. To prepare for it, Minister Christophe Béchu and his Secretary of State for Ecology, Bérangère Couillard, will soon present a “drought plan”. But how to act now, so as not to relive in 2023 the galleys of the previous summer?
By adapting (while waiting to transform) agriculture
In France, agriculture accounts for 45% of water consumption, and up to 80% in the middle of summer. “It is by modernizing agricultural systems, by making them more efficient, that the greatest savings are made”, assures Hélène Michaux, ddirector of the program and interventions department Rhône Mediterranean Corsica Water Agency. MMicro-irrigation and drip rather than sprayers, instruments helping farmers to optimize their use of water… Technical solutions exist, provided they can be afforded.
In the context of climate change, these investments offer “a form of hedging against risk, since the farmer will be able to maintain his yields, even during very dry years”underline Arnaud Reynaud, research director at the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (Inrae). One question remains for operators, according to him: “EWill the benefits I will get from it cover this sometimes very important investment?”
On February 13, the FranceAgriMer office opened a window with a budget of 20 million euros aimed at financing equipment to fight against climatic hazards (PDF file) reserved for farmers insured against climate risk. The creation of another envelope of 20 million euros was recorded on February 9, “for protection against drought”, for all farms. But he is “difficult to know the impact of these new measures on behavior in the field”, emphasizes Arnaud Reynaud.
Ihe regulatory approach via prefectural decrees having shown its limits and significant variations in the price of water having no significant effects, this expert suggests another incentive: comparison. Co-author of a study carried out on the slopes of Gascony, Arnaud Reynaud observed the effect on the behavior of“a kind of [compteur] Linky of the water”, making it possible to compare the consumption of farmers with that of their neighbours. A “third way” inexpensive and quick to set up.
Finally, the Minister of Agriculture underlined on Wednesday that 60 new agricultural hydraulic works projects would be “commissioned” by June. But these works, including the controversial basins, meet strong local protests. They turn out to be a short-term solution that “go in the opposite direction” of the need for adaptation, according to the researcher. “Ihe fact of having additional storage keeps farmers in crops with a high level of irrigation”he explains.
By intervening urgently on the faults of the network
It is also in the rural areas that we find most of the approximately 700 municipalities that experienced supply difficulties in the summer of 2022. Dn the Monts d’Arrée, in Berrien (Finistère), the galley lasted five months. The drought revealed that the borehole used to supply the town was no longer deep enough. These old water networks, undersized and sometimes poorly maintained, are an urgent project, explains Guillaume Dolques, specialist in adaptation to climate change, at the Institute of Economics for Climate (I4CE). “Knowing that a pipeline is replaced on average every 160 years, the urgency is to invest massively in renovation”, he insists, while on average 20% of drinking water escapes from pipes via leaks.
In Berrien, for “be ready by next July”, the mayor launched in February “work for the laying of a pipe between the source of Scrignac and the water tower”, as well as a new drilling project, co-financed in part by the State and the Loire-Bretagne water agency. AT the Rhône Méditerranée Corse Water Agency, Hélène Michaux confirms that the 2022 episode has led more communities to seek aid to secure the arrival of this precious resource to the taps.
Thanks to an extension of 17 million obtained in 2023, the Agency has “launched at the beginning of January a call for projects of 20 million euros aimed at securing the supply of water drinkable ofs communities”she explains. “Reduction of leaks, rehabilitation of dilapidated drinking water reservoirs, establishment of interconnections in rural areas, where municipalities can find themselves very vulnerable…” The means implemented are numerous, and deployed in an emergency situation, lists the specialist.
“The state proceeds in spurts”, regrets Guillaume Dolques, co-author of a study on the role of communities in terms of adaptation. “In the short term, we believe that the means of the water agencies must be protected (…), and get out of the logic of annual envelopes in favor of long-term investments, to be ready for what will be the climate in 10, 20, 30 years”, he warns.
In the meantime, start-ups and companies in the sector are developing increasingly efficient tools to track down leaks. Under the capital, 3,000 acoustic sensors identify the slightest flaw.
“These new technologies will allow us to target the work, with less impact for local residents since we will intervene as close as possible to the leak or the faulty pipe”detailed in January to France 2 the head of the Ile-de-France Water Syndicate.
By accelerating the deployment of treated wastewater reuse
In Spain, 14% of water resources already come from the recycling of wastewater. This rate reaches 8% in Italy, against less than 1% in France. To make up for this delay, the Minister for Ecological Transition and the Minister for Agriculture have put forward an upcoming decree blowing up “regulatory brakes”. “The legislation will change to relax and clarify a number of things,” abounded Marc Fesneau, guest of France 2, Friday morning.
The reuse of treated wastewater is carried out within the strict framework of health regulations. It is therefore unlikely that these systems will be used on a large scale in the event of a drought in the summer of 2023, which does not prevent players in the sector from preparing for it.
In Sainte-Maxime (Var), the golf course is already watered with treated wastewater. In July, Véolia announced the installation of new equipment at 30 sites. To begin with, “recycled water will replace the drinking water needed for the operation and maintenance of wastewater treatment plants” let the group know, before its use was “extended to certain industrial and agricultural uses, such as irrigation or road cleaning, allowing communities, farmers and industrialists to reduce the consumption of drinking water.”
According to the annual Kantar/CIEAU barometer, “The French and water”, published in December 2022, the French largely adhere to the principle: 80% of those questioned say they are ready to consume fruits and vegetables sprinkled with this type of resource.
By encouraging sobriety, at all levels
The summer of 2022 marked the spirits. According to the same barometer, 92% of them paid attention to their water consumption at the start of the school year, compared to 87% in the spring. Today, 69% of them are convinced that they will run out of water in the future, compared to 32% 25 years ago. Respondents overwhelmingly support solutions involving more sobriety: 79% admit having to change their habits and 66% are in favor of regulations that would limit consumption. The three quarters wish to be helped thanks to a “smart” water meter which would alert them if a certain threshold is exceeded. “We consume 150 liters of water per person and day”, still recalled Christophe Béchu, at the end of January. To reduce this consumption, the government is considering “a form of Ecowatt [du nom du dispositif d’information et d’alerte chargé de prévenir les Français en cas de tension du réseau électrique] water, on which we will find the state of tensions in the sector where we are.
Constrained or chosen, this sobriety is alreadywork ofin the Var, where more than half of the municipalities face a more or less high level of constraints. Friday, Saint-Zacharie and Riboux were placed at the “reinforced drought alert” level by the prefecture of the department. Ban on watering lawns, sports grounds and vegetable gardens during the day, ban on washing your car or filling your swimming pool… Saint-Zacharie is now considering “to equip municipal buildings with cisterns and to encourage people to do the same, to collect rainwater”said Wednesday Raymond Merlo, elected in charge of the Environment, quoted by AFP.
This lever remains “a drop of water” in terms of economy. “We have to do it, but even if everyone cuts their water use in half, that won’t solve the problem at all.” deplore Cécile Argentin, president of France nature environnement in Midi-Pyrénées, with France 3 Occitanie.
Hélène Michaux also insists on the variety of collective solutions, from the maintenance of wetlands to the efforts of cities. “More and more cities are asking for aid to de-impermeable the ground and allow rainwater to reinfiltrate”. While the IPCC forecasts between 10 and 40% drop in the nicalf of waterways by 2050, the preservation of aquatic environments, their biodiversity and their role in the great water cycle is also a priority.