According to the Bureau of Geological and Mining Research (BRGM), the national geological service, the level of groundwater is lower than normal almost everywhere except on the Ile-de-France, Normandy, Savoy, and part of the Pyrenees, as well as Aude and Hérault. These areas benefited from a little more precipitation at the start of the year or are somewhat protected by deeper water tables, but everywhere else the water reserves are already very low for the month of April. In fact, it did not rain enough between October and March, which is the most effective period for recharging groundwater.
The situation is particularly worrying, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, in Vendée, in Charente-Maritime and in the Grand Est.
… Similarly, between February & March 2022, the @BRGM_fr tells us that the state of the water tables has rapidly deteriorated.https://t.co/247iRB7pwe
— Meteo-France (@meteofrance) April 19, 2022
It is hard to see how the trend could be reversed because Météo France is forecasting hotter and drier scenarios than normal until June. Anyway, even if it started to rain now, barring exceptional rainfall, the water would be collected by the vegetation and would not seep into the basement, explains hydrologist Emma Haziza, who does not exclude a multiplication of water restrictions from the month of May (instead of July usually). Beyond the difficulty of irrigating agricultural land, she also fears major fires in the south of France this summer.
>> Drought: “I don’t think we have understood what is happening in front of us”, warns a hydrologist
These drought problems are likely to become recurrent in the years to come. Climate change has led to longer periods without rain and it has already been five years since hydrologists have noticed a deficit in groundwater reserves in the spring.
In addition, the increase in temperatures also risks modifying the water cycle, by promoting the evaporation of rain and sending more water vapor into the atmosphere. However, water vapor is a greenhouse gas, and this can create a vicious circle. Hence the urgency of learning how to better sequester water in the ground in the years to come, and this involves grasslands, forests and the revegetation of cities. Limiting the artificialization of soils will allow them to play this crucial role of sponge.