In France, we thought the water resource was inexhaustible. But as of August 2023, 72% of the country’s water tables remained below normal. On September 14, “Envoyéspecial” offers an exceptional evening dedicated to water. Contents: “Vittel: drink, eliminate… the tablecloth!”, “Swimming pools, the ideal culprit?”, “Andalusia, the fruits of drought”, “Guadeloupe by the dropper”, “The tears of the Atlas “.
In France, we thought the water resource was inexhaustible. Our rivers, our rivers, our mountain ranges were so many water towers which, it was believed, protected us from shortages hitherto reserved for hot countries. And then, the heatwave summers were followed by dry winters and springs without rain… The municipalities supplied with drinking water now number in the dozens. As of August 2023, 72% of the country’s water tables remained below normal.
By mixing real-life sets and field reports, the “Envoy Special” takes you from the thirsty Vosges to Andalusia, which exports its water until it is thirstiest in the form of fruits and vegetables. Elise Lucet and her team also track leaks in Guadeloupe, and set out to meet those who waste water lavishly on the Côte d’Azur.
Vittel, a small Vosges town of 4,000 inhabitants, is known throughout the world thanks to its mineral waters. One billion five hundred million bottles flow each year from the factories of Vittel and its neighbor Contrexeville and are exported all over the world by the Nestlé group.
But over the past four years, the turnover of Vosges mineral waters has fallen by 17% and with global warming, this wealth is threatened. A social plan was announced to employees of the Vosges factory: 171 positions, a quarter of the workforce, will be eliminated, threatening the economic and social fabric of the region. Unheard of in one hundred and fifty years of history. What if this was the first social plan caused by global warming? Investigation in a spa town which has long thought that its blue gold was inexhaustible…
A report by Julien Fouchet, Violaine Vermot-Gaud, Mélanie Dumas and Anne-Marie Toulac.
Guest : Julien Fourchet, journalist, live from Vittel.
Swimming pools, the ideal culprits?
Every time there is a drought, they are blamed. The owners of private swimming pools would be the embodiment of a form of environmental selfishness, continuing to fill their pools when the rivers are dry. “Special Envoy” went to meet them in Roquefort-les-Pins, the commune in France which has the most swimming pools per inhabitant: 2,049 pools for 7,277 inhabitants!
But are swimming pools really responsible for the lack of water in these thirsty territories? Or are they just an easy scapegoat that avoids looking at other responsibilities?
A report by Arnaud Muller, Lena Charlot and Steven Kali.
Guest : Jean-Pierre Deprade, director of the Montescot golf course.
Andalusia, the fruits of drought
In Andalusia, the immense wetland of the Doñana National Park is dying, causing this “paradise for naturalists” with its fauna and flora to disappear. The capture of water by irrigation canals, 80% of which is used for agriculture, especially red fruits, is particularly singled out.
Despite the Andalusian Parliament banning a number of farms in 2014, clandestine wells were dug, supplying farms that are now illegal. Tensions are rising between farmers and environmentalists, while Unesco has threatened to place the park on the List of World Heritage in Danger. How to reconcile economic activity and respect for biodiversity? In this region of southern Spain, the water war has already begun.
A report by Loïc de La Mornais, Rémy Bonnefoy, Fabrice Fuzillier, Katia Pinzon, Emmanuel Lejeune.
Guest : Loïc de La Mornais, journalist.
Guadeloupe by the dropper
Guadeloupe is one of the Antilles islands best endowed with fresh water, and yet, for years, some of its 390,000 inhabitants have been living with water cuts. Entire neighborhoods are regularly deprived of running water, local residents are forced to stock up on rainwater or shower with bottled water.
The cause is an underground network in poor condition, with countless leaks that take a long time to plug. Forced to use system D to wash or cook, Guadeloupeans can’t take it anymore.
A report by Laura Aguirre de Carcer, Swanny Thiébaut and Adrien Bellay (rebroadcast from February 18, 2021).
Tears of the Atlas
On the night of Friday September 8 to Saturday September 9, a powerful earthquake devastated part of Morocco. The epicenter of the earthquake was located in the province of al-Haouz, at the level of the High Atlas massif, a mountainous rural area. This earthquake sowed panic and caused significant damage, transforming certain villages into fields of ruins. For “Special Envoy”, Anaïs Bard and Violaine Germot-Gaud went there.
Throughout the region, we can see the after-effects of the earthquake: houses on the ground or cracked, likely to collapse at any moment, survivors who have lost everything, sometimes taking refuge in makeshift tents… In the middle of the remains From their destroyed villages, residents try to find the bodies of their loved ones. The excavations continue, the graves are dug…
A report by Anaïs Bard, Violaine Vermot-Gaud and Emma Noël.
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