• The lack of rain is felt in most French regions and the low level of rivers and groundwater is already worrying, particularly in the south-east of France.

  • An early drought that France has already experienced in the past, but which could become usual in the future.

    “All the projections converge towards this point, climate change implies more droughts”, recalls Florence Habets.

  • However, we are more vulnerable to it than in the past, insists the hydrogeologist who points to an urgent project: that of better managing our soils… And not only agricultural ones.

Fifteen departments are already affected by drought, ten of which have already exceeded the alert threshold.

And the situation should deteriorate further this week as Météo-France predicts an episode of high heat throughout the territory.

Not reassuring at a month and a half of summer.

Is this a taste of what awaits us in the future?

The hydrogeologist Florence Habets, director of research at the CNRS, at the Geology Laboratory of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, responds to

20 Minutes

and discusses possible solutions.

Since the beginning of the year, there is a lack of 35% of precipitation across the country, alerted Météo-France, Sunday evening.

Is the situation unprecedented in France?

If we look back, we will always find years when the situation was even worse at this time of year.

France, for example, experienced very severe droughts in 1946, then again in 1976 or in 1989-1990.

This year, we are already seeing a very widespread drought, at the end of a dry winter during which many groundwater tables have not been replenished at all.

This is the case, for example, in the alluvial plains of the Var (towards Nice) or in the Poitou-Charentes region where the groundwater levels are very low today.

Above all, not only was the winter dry, but the seasonal forecasts still announce hot and dry weather as the most likely scenario for the weeks to come.


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Should we expect these early drought episodes to become normal with climate change?

Clearly, climate change is leading to more droughts.

All projections converge to this point.

Some regions will be more affected than others.

In Europe, for example, we expect a rainier north and a drier south.

In particular around the Mediterranean, where the current drying is comparable to that observed in the Gulf of Mexico or California.

But on the one hand, we do not yet know very well where this border between these two Europes will be (will France be entirely in the southern one?), nor if this border will be clear elsewhere.

Above all, just because some regions may have more rain in the future does not mean that they will be immune to droughts.

Climate change is also reflected in less and less humid air and higher temperatures,

which increases evaporation.

In other words, even where it rains a lot, it is to be expected that the water will remain less in the soil, less in the lakes... There are therefore still uncertainties about the levels of drought to which we will be exposed in France in the future.

One certainty, on the other hand: we are today much more vulnerable to it than in the past.

How can this greater vulnerability be explained?

In France, we have certainly managed to reduce domestic water consumption compared to the beginning of the 2000s [around 148 liters of water per day per French person against 165 in 2004].

But this consumption remains higher than that of 1976 [105 litres].

Above all, the French population has increased.

Since 1976, the area of ​​irrigated crops has also increased*, perhaps little since the 2000s, but on the other hand a lot since 1976. Agriculture is the main consumer of water in France**.

Opposite, we also have water quality that is not always optimal in France, which deprives us of part of the water resource.

Nearly 15% of drinking water catchments are closed today because of pollution by nitrates [attributed to intensive agriculture].

Are we sufficiently aware of this issue of the scarcity of water resources?

No, as for the climate, despite the accumulation of warning signals, the message does not print.

The conclusions of the Varenne agricole de l'eau [large consultation launched by the government to move towards better water management in this sector], made on February 1, are rather disappointing.

Admittedly, the report includes solutions that would make it possible to better manage the resource in the future, but the government, especially the Ministry of Agriculture, has above all retained the idea that in the future it will be necessary to store more water for agriculture.

Through projects to create water reservoirs for agricultural use, such as the sixteen basins which are currently affecting the Sèvre Niortaise?

Yes, these reservoirs [reservoirs of several hectares which aim to better store rainwater, especially in winter], are the main solution put forward.

Without saying that we must completely stop irrigated agriculture, it is urgent on the other hand to decide collectively what we consider to be priorities to irrigate and how we cultivate these crops.

With or without phytosanitary products, for example?

Today, reservoir projects are multiplying in France, partly financed by public money, without this reflection taking place beforehand.

It is undoubtedly in the Sèvre Niortaise, around these sixteen basins, that the consultation has been the most extensive to date.

But it's far from perfect.

The project was based in particular on a memorandum of understanding,

in which the farmers who will benefit from the water from these basins pledged to review their practices with the aim of consuming less water and preserving its quality.

However, in the first contracts signed, the account is not there on this “quality” aspect with few commitments from farmers to reduce their phytosanitary products for example.

What solutions can be developed in France to reduce the impact of droughts?

We have to look at our agricultural practices.

Ask yourself what you grow, what you irrigate, some species being less water-intensive than others.

It is also urgent to work on better soil management to enable them to better store water and facilitate its transfer to groundwater.

A whole range of solutions exists, particularly in agroecology, agroforestry, organic.

It means planting hedges, trees, adding organic matter to the soil, leaving crop residues there to cover them, reducing ploughing, etc.

But it's not all about agriculture.

Working towards better soil management also involves looking at urban planning.

We need to make cities more permeable, favoring materials other than concrete, leaving more room for nature within them.

Another major challenge is to drastically reduce the artificialization of soils [this nibbling of agricultural land and natural environments for the benefit of roads, houses, businesses].

In France, we have set ourselves a goal of zero net artificialisation by 2050, which we are still very far from achieving.

Finally, as individuals, we still have a lot to do to reduce our water consumption.

It's not just about spending less time in the shower,

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Agriculture: Finding land, the obstacle course of candidates for installation

* They have almost quadrupled over this period.

** This is particularly the case with our clothes, Ademe warns in several reports, including "The reverse of my look".

4% of the drinking water available in the world is used to produce our clothes, specifies the agency.

  • Planet

  • Water

  • Drought

  • Climate

  • Global warming

  • Agriculture