In the Hérault, subject to drought, a golf project creates controversy

• In Montagnac (Hérault), a golf project is far from unanimous, while drought alerts have multiplied in recent years in the department.

• “What are we going to tell them, these farmers?

  That they can't water their fields, but that the resources are reserved for a handful of people who will come and play a very green 18-hole course?

  says Eric Poujade (Génération Ecologie), elected official and member of the local water commission.

• For his part, the project leader highlights the economic benefits of the project, in particular the job creation that it will generate.

Is the Montagnac golf project (Hérault) taking on water?

In this town of 4,300 inhabitants, the construction of an 18-hole course, in a top-of-the-range area, is far from unanimous.

It is the water needs of the site, in a department regularly affected by worrying episodes of drought, which make its opponents jump.

If the construction of the golf course and the adjoining hotel complex was validated by the State services ten years ago, it is no longer necessary, according to them, today, while the alerts on water resources are increasing.

Among the most upset local elected officials, Eric Poujade (Génération Ecologie).

This municipal councilor from Vigan (Hérault), who sits on the Local Water Commission (CLE) of the Hérault River, denounces a project completely disconnected from reality.

“It is a project, ecologically, which is unsustainable, especially after what happened with us, in the Cévennes”, he confides to

.

Last summer, in the midst of a drought, the producers of sweet onions had, in particular, cried out in despair.

At the time, they no longer had the right to irrigate their crops, due to the shortage of water.

“What are we going to tell them, these farmers?

»

“The challenge was to save these people, who were about to lose their livelihood, continues Eric Poujade.

What are we going to tell them, these farmers, next summer?

That they can't water their fields, but that the resources are reserved for a handful of people who will come and play a very green 18-hole course a few kilometers away?

It's incomprehensible.

We demand the pure and simple cancellation of the project.

It is an aberration.

Not to mention that, notes Eric Poujade, this golf course is "concreted arable land for a public that will never invest locally".

"We can no longer do anything with water", asserts, for his part, Philippe Doutremepuich (without label), the mayor of Causse de la Selle and president of the CLE, who, too, opposed to this construction.

“It is an anachronistic project from the point of view of the constraints that weigh on us in terms of water supply.

Twice, the organization chaired by Philippe Doutremepuich, which brings together communities, agricultural representatives and associations, gave an unfavorable opinion on the construction of this golf course.

"What we say is that we cannot dedicate 320,000 m3 of water per year, especially in summer, for the greens of a golf course", continues the elected official.

"We are not able to meet the water needs of the golf course", says one, at BRL

On the side of BRL, the public body responsible for transporting the water, it is specified that there is no question of expressing any opinion on the golf project.

On the other hand, this dealer can assess whether or not he is able to meet their needs.

And as far as the Montagnac project is concerned, the answer is, very clearly, no.

"This is a question that arose in 2011-2012, when the project was submitted for authorization by the state services, explains to

Jean-François Blanchet, CEO of the BRL group.

At the time, there was a technical capacity to connect the golf course and meet its water needs.

However, since then, climate change has intensified.

And water needs have been expressed more significantly, especially for farmers.

And, at the same time, water resources are now more constrained, due to rising temperatures and a more uncertain water cycle.

»

This "new hydraulic equation", "fewer resources, and more need", requires "more precise water management", notes Jean-François Blanchet.

“Today, we can only note that we are not able, ten years later, to meet the golf course's water needs from our facilities.

Especially since in recent years, with the proliferation of drought warnings, priority has been given to access to drinking water and irrigation of agricultural land, notes the Director General.

“About 200 [direct] jobs in the long term”

The Lavagnac estate, and Luigi Pisano, who carry the golf project in Montagnac, did not respond to requests from

Tuesday.

On BFM TV, Luigi Pisano highlighted the job creations that this will generate.

"The town is particularly poor," he said.

What is fallout?

It is, also, to perpetuate employment, about 200 jobs in the long term, direct jobs.

Not to mention the indirect jobs.

»

OUR FILE ON DROUGHT

“Can the basin where the future golf course will be operated do without a global investment of around 250 million euros?

“, he added, on France Bleu Hérault.

As for the argument of the project's water needs, Luigi Pisano retorted on the airwaves of the Hérault station that today “the water resource is shared.

I don't see why golf courses should automatically be excluded from this division.

Knowing, too, that attitudes are changing.

Golf players are, too, attentive to these things.

There was a time when [they] needed a golf course that was neon green.

This period is over.

»

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