The President of the Republic has detailed “emergency” measures to deal with the drought that is looming in the coming months but also longer-term axes to reduce our water consumption. Here’s what to remember.
Against the backdrop of the largest freshwater reservoir in Western Europe, the Serre-Ponçon lake in the Hautes-Alpes, Emmanuel Macron presented this Thursday the executive’s “water plan”, to face the risk of drought this summer and to improve the management of this resource over the long term.
“The exceptional drought that we experienced last summer will not be exceptional compared to what we will experience in the future”, conceded the Head of State, citing in particular recent reports from the IPCC.
“No one tells us that the situation will improve,” he added.
• A “sobriety plan on the water” starting this summer
First axis of the water plan presented: “preparing for the coming summer”, following the model of what was done this winter to save energy, explains Emmanuel Macron.
First, “a tool like EcoWatt will make it possible to empower everyone”, he explains. Thus, “in each territory, depending on the resources available, the prefects will set rules for sharing water so that everyone can know the actions to adopt and see the evolution of the situation”.
Then, the Head of State also announces this Thursday that a “water sobriety plan” will be put in place for each sector, as previously on energy, such as tourism, industry, leisure or agriculture.
Despite this “water emergency plan” planned for this summer, Emmanuel Macron concedes that “not all crises will be avoided”.
Indeed, the president fears “situations of great stress next summer” in certain municipalities.
• 10% water savings in all sectors by 2030
“Beyond the urgency of this summer, it is above all a plan of sobriety and efficiency over time”, that Emmanuel Macron wants to put in place.
“The objective for 2030 is 10% water savings in all sectors,” he says.
For this, he cites several lines of work. First, the modernization of water networks and the fight against leaks. “One liter out of 5 is lost because of leaks in France, it’s unacceptable,” lamented the head of state, announcing an investment of 180 million euros per year to “absorb” these leaks.
Emmanuel Macron wants to move to 10% reuse of wastewater in France by 2030. “For that, we have decided to launch 1000 projects in five years to recycle and reuse water” and “ultimately, we want to reuse 300 million cubic meters, or 3 Olympic swimming pools per municipality (…) or 3,500 bottles of water per French person and per year”, declared the president.
• Reduce the water consumption of nuclear power plants
In particular, the president wants to target a particularly water-consuming sector. He announced an investment plan – not yet quantified – to adapt nuclear power plants, the country’s third-largest water consumer, to climate change.
Electricity production is responsible for 51% of water withdrawals in France, and 12% of consumption, recalls the Head of State.
“We must adapt our nuclear power plants to climate change by undertaking a vast investment program to save water and allow us to operate much more in a closed circuit”, explains Emmanuel Macron.
• “Share” the basins
The water plan presented by Emmanuel plans to “change the logic of water storage” in the country. “This starts with healthier soils that promote the recharge of groundwater,” argues the head of state.
On the thorny subject of artificial water storage for farmers, the president defended the usefulness of these works, of the type of that of Sainte-Soline (Deux-Sèvres) where very violent clashes took place on Saturday. These reservoirs pump water from groundwater during the winter so that farmers can water their crops in the summer.
Emmanuel Macron assures that it “is not a question of privatizing water or allowing some to monopolize it”. “The rule is sharing,” he insists.
Thus, he intends to better share future basins and condition them to “significant changes in practices”, starting with water savings and a reduction in the use of pesticides by farmers.
• Progressive water pricing
“Water is a common good”, says Emmanuel Macron. “That’s why we need a progressive pricing of water in France”.
“That does not mean that the price of water will increase, it is also today in the average when we look at the price of water in France”, he specifies.
Therefore, he explains that the first cubic meters will be “invoiced at a modest rate, close to the cost price”. “This is the water we all need,” he says.
“But beyond a certain level, the price per cubic meter will be higher for these consumptions of comfort and to encourage more sobriety”, details the President of the Republic.
