200 km from Vaucluse, the Serre-Ponçon lake stores water from melting snow. But the level ofsnow cover is the lowest recorded in the last thirty years. A minimum of water while the needs of farmers are maximum. This water is used to irrigate 80,000 hectares of agricultural land in Vaucluse and Bouches-du-Rhône. Most of the irrigated land in these two departments is irrigated using this water. The Durance joint syndicate therefore urgently brought together the communities and all the players who depend on the Durance basin.
Shared efforts
This water is also the working tool of tourism professionals in the Hautes Alpes, who will not offer all their usual activities to visitors. Farmers are also making efforts: they have already reduced their consumption by 40 million cubic meters of water. Savings that are likely to happen again for Philippe Picon, the director of water resources for the Syndicat mixte d’amenagement de la Durance: “The projections on climate change show that the increase in temperatures will mean that there will be less and less water available. This year illustrates a trend that will be confirmed in the years to come”.
“We were spoiled children, Christian Doddoli, the director of SMAVD”
Christian Doddoli is the director of SMAVD. “We were spoiled children for many years, he explains. We had plenty of water available for everyone, we didn’t have to deprive ourselves or ration ourselves. Admittedly, we are in a particular year, not all years will be like this but these exceptional situations will become more and more common. It is therefore necessary to manage water differently, that all actors make efforts so that everyone always has access to it.