It is now forbidden to fill your swimming pool, wash your car outside the station, or water your lawn. A week after Haute-Corse, the department of Corse-du-Sud is also placed in “increased drought alert”the 3rd level out of 4. restrictive measures in the use of water come into force as of now.
A situation comparable to the end of August
It must be said that the island crosses an episode of intense drought. _”When we look at the flow of the rivers at the end of June, we have five times less water. This is the flow that we normally have at the end of August, explains the hydrobiologist, Antoine Orsini. We are two months ahead. And when we know that the forecast does not predict rain in the next 15 days, there is cause for concern.”
For him, the passage on heightened alert is insufficient in the face of the situation. “We can talk about the drought of the century. There are many _streams which in a month will be dry_. For groundwater, it’s the same. The last rains have not recharged them. Their level is dropping at high speed.” He does not rule out that at the end of the summer some large Corsican cities find themselves running out of water.
Possible solutions to avoid the shortage
“I think this is the year we’re going to have awareness because there is a real water problem.” Antoine Orsini recalls that with global warming, these intense droughts are bound to repeat themselves. However, there are solutions to avoid the shortage. “We must save water, reduce network losses. Today, 60% of the water in Corsica is dedicated to _farming. We need a revolution_, select Mediterranean species, grow dry crops, also in winter, etc. And then in fourth or fifth position, you need storage. As for this year, it’s too late!”
On the side of the prefecture, we also evoke a “worrying” situation and we call everyone compliance with restrictive measures in the use of water. “Really, we have to become aware of the need to save water and we have no choice. We may do all the checks in the world, if ever people do not respect the measures we risk passing in a crisis situation. That’s what we want to avoid. A crisis situation means a shortage of drinking water in certain villages, bottles that are mounted, elderly people who find themselves in danger. So we need to have solidarity on these uses of water.