The government caught up in the drought. On Thursday, 93 departments were subject to water restrictions, of which 62 are considered “in crisis”, the highest level of alert. While Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne activated the interministerial crisis unit on Friday August 5, the Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, and that of Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu, are on the move in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence . Summer 2022 “will be the driest we have ever known”, recognized Christophe Béchu. He also revealed that a hundred municipalities, to date, no longer have drinking water.
“We have a number of municipalities where we have concerns in terms of drinking water. We are already at more than a hundred municipalities in France which today no longer have drinking water and for which there is has truck supplies”, announces the minister pic.twitter.com/31L5iNRItm
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) August 5, 2022
What is needed above all is rain, but the government has no control over the weather. Elisabeth Borne asked the prefects to bring together, “starting next week, in each area of tension“, local water commissions and, where they exist, other local consultation structures for water management. It is the prefects who can restrict the use of water at the local level. The executive’s room for maneuver is therefore extremely limited.
The main mission of this crisis unit is to relay information, have an overall view of the situation and organize aid on the ground if necessary. She will also follow up.the impacts of this drought for our energy production and transport infrastructure and for our agricultural sector, in particular the livestock sector“, let Matignon know.
The government does not want to be caught out for inaction should the drought worsen in the coming weeks. Especially since the drought concerns up to the highest peak of the state. Emmanuel Macron is scrutinizing the situation, especially in the southeast, hence this double trip this Friday.
Any ignition delay in a crisis would be disastrous for the executive. The heat wave of 2003, managed too lightly by the government of the time, is still on everyone’s mind. Thus, the members of the government must be reachable, near a prefecture or a sub-prefecture in the event of a meeting by videoconference. Some ministers, first and foremost the head of government, do not rule out the possibility of summer trips, not too far from their vacation. Elisabeth Borne announces that she is leaving with a “suitcase full of files” : ecological transition (the major subject of the fall), employment, preparation for the government seminar scheduled for August 31, according to information from franceinfo.
The Prime Minister is in the Var, not far from the resort of Emmanuel Macron, who is him, at Fort Brégançon. At this stage, however, no meeting is planned between the two heads of the executive.