This is a blow for boaters and navigators who are forced to review their itineraries. They will not be able to go through the Briare canal whose locks are closed until further notice.
A decision that goes affect tourism. “I have already had customers who stopped at Briare and lived on their boats” a bookseller slips us by on the banks of the Pont-Canal. “In general, there are plenty of people who come to rent boats for the day or the week, so automatically there will be fewer people, that’s for sure”.
For Anthony Paris who runs the Gîte du Pont-Canal “There will be fewer boats passing, this will have an impact on the town of Briare, it is difficult to quantify” he explains. However, he tempers : “There is the Loire by bike which passes here and those who want to see the Pont-Canal no matter what happens will come and see it. We will be less affected than our colleagues who rent boats”.
Restricted activity for boat rentals
River tourism is inevitably affected by this measure in Briare. The Canalous company offers cruises and had to adapt “We don’t necessarily receive the news very well, it’s our work that is affected. Our customers often want to leave Briare, it’s complicated but we have to deal with nature. There is always a shortfall with this kind of “catastrophe”” tells us Sandra Hannecart, company referent in Briare. “We have transferred a dozen boats to Chatillon-en-Bazois since the Nivernais canal is still open”.
It is possible for these companies to maintain an activity, under certain conditions and requesting an exemption. The boats must not cross the locks nor exceed 1 meter 10 in depth. “On the large reach of Briare which is 20 kilometers long, it is possible to ask us for derogations which will be studied on a case-by-case basis to adapt to hydrological conditions” explains Déborah Perrot, who manages the Briare canal for Voies Navigables de France.
Withdrawal from the Loire being limited, the Briare Canal can rely on 14 reservoir dams to ensure a minimum water level until the end of the season. These tanks are still filled to 30% capacity for channel supply. To compare, during the last episode of drought that affected the canal, in 2019, the reservoir dams were empty from the middle of August.