Probable last trip to France as Prime Minister for Jean Castex. He was this Thursday in Vaucluse, one of the 15 departments classified as drought alert, to discuss the modernization of the irrigation system. Accompanied in the Comtat Venaissin by Julien Denormandie (Minister for Agriculture and Food) and Bérangère Abba (Secretary of State to the Minister for Ecological Transition), he spoke with farmers who were victims of this drought and irrigation professionals.
Reassure about the presence of the State
Jean Castex wanted to reassure professionals, saying that the State would be by their side in this delicate period. But the tenant, for a few more days, of Matignon especially wanted to remind that water was more than ever a scarce commodity that it was necessary to economize without abandoning agriculture. An essential sector for French independence and sovereignty, as a tragic reminder of the war in Ukraine and the resulting supply problems.
Projects to preserve groundwater
If Jean Castex recognizes that enormous progress in terms of water management has been made in the department, he ensures that we must accelerate and go even further. And indeed, the producers took advantage of this visit to tell the Prime Minister again that they a project to preserve the Iocene water table under the Vaucluse. They are studying the installation of 2 pumping stations in Bollene and Châteauneuf du Pape to take water from the Rhone, water their crops and share it with 200,000 inhabitants in the east and north of Vaucluse.