Faced with an unprecedented drought in the middle of winter, the executive is reluctant to put in place limits on water consumption. The subject is inflammable both for farmers, who are the first consumers of it, and for the French, accustomed to the abundance of this precious resource.
Too many restrictions? Christophe Béchu, the Minister of Energy Transition, announced on Wednesday that he was considering “soft” water restriction measures “from March” before bringing together a hydrological anticipation and monitoring committee on Thursday. In a context of unprecedented drought, however, there is no question of requiring excessive efforts, at the risk of turning the French upside down.
“France is on high alert. It’s the driest winter since 1959. The water tables are two months behind in terms of filling”, announced, cash, the ex-mayor of Angers this wednesday on France news.
A call for “responsibility”
Before announcing, in the same sentence, wanting above all to “empower the French” by “indicating the actions to adopt”. Suffice to say that the prefects, with whom the minister will make a point on Monday, should mainly send a message of pedagogy.
For the moment, 4 departments are concerned by a restriction which leads in particular to limitations in “matter of watering, filling and emptying of swimming pools or washing of vehicles”.
Farmers should not be under heavy pressure either. Of the nearly 6 billion cubic meters of water consumed annually in France, 43% is nevertheless consumed by farms.
“There is no agriculture without water. It would be hypocritical to prevent farmers from producing if it is to import,” said the Minister for Ecological Transition.
“The restriction to all sauces does not solve the problems”
Two days before the agricultural show, there is no question for the executive to open a new front of protest. Operators have already expressed their anger by coming to demonstrate in Paris by tractor against the ban on several pesticides such as neonicotinoids.
“The restriction to all sauces does not solve the problems. It creates anxiety and it often prevents us from projecting ourselves into long-term solutions”, judges Jean-Marc Zulesi, Renaissance deputy and chairman of the development commission. sustainability at the National Assembly with BFMTV.com.
Among the avenues considered by Christophe Béchu, all take time, while hydrologists are calling for urgent action. The Minister has already announced that he wants to put the package on the reprocessing of wastewater by better equipping the treatment plants and thus allow, thanks to a change in legislation, to allow the use of non-potable water to supply the toilets .
“A very hard speech to say for a minister”
Another source of savings: hunting for leaks in the pipes, which alone represents the loss of 20% of drinking water. But the state of the pipes is in the hands of communities who are dragging their feet to do major work against a background of inflation.
Suffice to say that the main lever for reducing water consumption is to demand effort from individuals. Every day, a French person consumes an average of 150 liters of water, of which barely ten for drinking and eating.
“It’s a very hard speech to say for a minister and to hear for consumers who are used to turning on their tap and being able to have unlimited water”, deciphers François de Rugy, former Minister for the Ecological Transition. during Emmanuel Macron’s first five-year term.
“And then, we feel that any anxiety-provoking speech is quickly blamed on politicians”, adds the former president of the National Assembly.
“Give the impression of scaring the French for nothing”
The context does not play in favor of coercive measures either, after months of wearing a compulsory mask and a very strong incentive to vaccinate against Covid-19, coupled with the more recent episode of calls for energy sobriety.
After pushing the French to reduce their electricity consumption with the fear of a blackout, the risk of power cuts is now considered unlikely. At the risk of having given the feeling of having perhaps done too much.
“We’re very lucky with electricity. We didn’t have a big cold snap at the worst time and the nuclear power plant reactors that were out of order started up again. We avoided the worst but it could have given the impression of scaring the French for nothing”, confides a ministerial adviser.
“Don’t rob”
The challenge is all the greater as the drought affects regions that are not used to running out of water – like Finistère, which generally has one of the highest rainfalls in mainland France.
“These are places where you can’t say overnight ‘we’re going to restrict your water, manage it’. We have to help find solutions to consume less. That’s how we don’t Don’t point people out,” says Philippe Mouiller, senator LR and author of a report on the drought.
“No choice”
Sufficient to meet the challenge of the drying up of water reserves which should become more and more pressing in the coming years in the face of the acceleration of global warming? No, answers Bettina Laville, who had launched Ecological Transition in Progress, the ecological committee of Renaissance, now defunct.
“Yes, it is the horror of having to face so many crises at the moment, coupled with restrictions”, gets angry the one who was the former environmental adviser to François Mitterrand at the Élysée.
“But we have no choice. We prevent people from understanding the extent of the efforts to be made by refusing to force them to see the dryness coming in their eyes,” she adds.
The groundwater deficit is considered to be recoverable “by this summer, for Christophe Béchu who concedes that France “needs a rainy month of March”; The first forecasts do not take it for granted. direction.
