While a shortage of water due to a great drought threatens Gérardmer, the municipality has decided to draw water from the lake from Wednesday August 3. And before the Phény stream ran dry, more than 900 lake trout were saved on Monday August 1st.
In Gérardmer, in the Vosges, the drought intensifies day by day. The flow of the springs continues to drop, the level of the catchment wells decreases more and more, as does the level of the lake. The surrounding waterways are also affected. And the situation could get worse if, as feared by the first weather forecasts, the drought continues in August with low rainfall and an influx of tourists.
The Ramberchamp groundwater provides 80% of the city’s water and currently supplies four surrounding municipalities. But its level is getting lower and lower. 19.4 meters on July 18 against 11.7 meters on August 1. “In the very short term, in a few days, we will no longer be able to draw on this tablecloth”explains Stessy Speissmann, the mayor of Gérardmer.
“The solution […], is to draw water from the lake. We already did that a few years ago. We are going to repeat this procedure today., announces the elected official on August 1 at the microphone of France 3 Lorraine. This new procedure will be put in place on Wednesday August 3 from 8 a.m.
“We are going to put this water immediately on the network but as it is a new water resource, it will be necessary to carry out additional analyzes for the safety of all. During these analyses, which are likely to last at least 48 hours, the water will be declared undrinkable”, he says. However, it may be used for washing or any other use that does not involve its ingestion.
We are convinced that these episodes will continue. So if we don’t find solutions in time, it will cause real problems.
Stessy Speissmann, Mayor of GerardmerFrance 3 Lorraine
The mayor of Gérardmer is well aware that such a situation is likely to recur regularly in the years to come due to climate change. “We are working with the water agency to find additional solutions and to make an obvious territorial diagnosis to build the following”assures Stessy Speissmann. “All this work is underway because we are convinced that these episodes will continue. So if we don’t find solutions in time, it will cause real problems”worries the city councilor.
Pumping water from a lake is not without consequences for biodiversity. Monday, August 1 in the morning, a lake trout rescue operation, an endemic species, was carried out in the Phény stream. A regulatory obligation for the municipality. In all, 931 trout were caught before being released in Vologne, upstream from Lake Longemer.
The Phény stream is the main reproduction area for the lake trout that evolve in Longemer and Gérardmer. However, in order for the lake trout population to survive, young trout must spend at least two summers in the waters of this stream.
“The release of water from the lake which is done by the municipality of Gérardmer will be stopped since this water will be reinjected into the drinking water supply network. So the stream will end up dry”explains Christophe Hazemann, director of the Vosges fishing federation, graciously intervened Monday morning with 13 colleagues for this rescue.
If such an action is part of the general interest missions of the association, “it’s the first time” that she must “intervene in this type of situation on the downstream part of a stream, which is supposed to be full of water all the time”exposes Christophe Hazemann.
The fisherman does not hide his annoyance. “This is the first and last time we’ve done this, we’re going to ask the municipality to set up a device. There would have been anticipation and a sufficiently large pump, we could have kept the downstream part of the stream while allowing pumping”believes the director of the fishing federation.
Currently, the drinking water reserves of 16 communes in the Vosges are worrying. In July, the “reinforced” drought alert level was declared for the upstream Moselle and Meurthe-et-Moselle basins, before being extended to all basins in the department by the prefect at the end of July. This alert level involves reducing all water withdrawals, and reducing those intended for agricultural use.