Published
Video duration:
24 mins
In times of drought, owners of private swimming pools are singled out. But are swimming pools responsible for the lack of water in thirsty territories?
Every time there is a drought, they are singled out. 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: there are 2,049 of them for a population of 7,277 souls! That is one for a little more than three inhabitants…
This report on the heights of the Côte d’Azur begins at the end of March 2023, at the start of a warm and already dry spring which follows a practically rainless winter. The Alpes-Maritimes prefecture has just banned the filling of empty pools… owners are alarmed, but also pool owners. As for the prospect of a possible freeze on permits to build swimming pools, this is the great fear of all real estate professionals…
Scapegoats ?
Four months later, the journalist returned to Roquefort, in the middle of a heatwave. The drought has worsened, but some residents (including the mayor) flatly refuse to worry. At the drinking water service of CASA (Sophia Antipolis urban community), however, we are less optimistic: “The situation is tense”, and it will be necessary “communicate with residents to explain to them that we will have to change.”
However, swimming pools would not be the main culprits for the lack of water in these thirsty territories… Would they not be an easy scapegoat that avoids looking at other responsibilities?
A report by Arnaud Muller, Lena Charlot and Steven Kali broadcast in “Special Envoy” on September 14, 2023.
> Replays of France Télévisions news magazines are available on the Franceinfo website and its mobile application (iOS & Android), section “Magazines“.