“The water tables are doing well” in Savoie and Haute-Savoie, assures a hydrogeologist from the BRGM of Lyon

“The water tables are doing well” in Savoie and Haute-Savoie, assures François Craftes de Paulet, hydrogeologist at the BRGM in Lyon, the geological and mining research office which monitors the resources and risks of soils and subsoils. He was the guest of France Bleu Pays de Savoie on Wednesday May 29.

“We had quite significant rainfall over the winter period of 2023-2024 so the water tables are doing welldescribes the hydrogeologist. For the two departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie, we are seeing cumulative rainfall that is significantly higher than normal, so we have quite significant groundwater recharge and rather high levels, even very high levels, in certain sectors.

In these two departments, one and a half times more rain fell than normal for the month of May, recalls France Bleu Pays de Savoie. This is the fourth best recharge period since the 1960s.

The situation is therefore better than last year: “At the same time last year we were already starting to have prefectural orders for the drought, recalls François Craftes de Paulet. We had already reached the first threshold of vigilance for certain departments.”

This summer, there is therefore a low risk of empty groundwater tables, predicts the BRGM: “We are rather at a low risk of hydrological drought, not a critical situation as we may experience in other departments on a national scale.”