INTERVIEW
Except on the shores of the Mediterranean and near the Atlantic coast, rainfall has remained rare this week, and should be even more so next week. These anticyclonic conditions exacerbate the drought that is affecting a very large part of the territory. Indeed, to date, 87 departments have restrictions on the use of water.
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Emma Haziza, hydrologist, draws a disturbing state of affairs, following this long drought. "The heat waves have only aggravated a drought that was taking hold, she says. According to her, the drought is explained by a "rainfall deficit extremely important since the spring" and by "two heat waves, which plunged France in a state of drought much more serious, much more quickly".
Rivers and dried tablecloths
This drought affects soils but also the more superficial parts of the soil. "We can see everywhere very low levels in the rivers and deep" in the groundwater, says Emma Haziza, which describes soils suffering in France.
For this hydrologist, this phenomenon is a good way to question himself as a consumer. "We will have to really analyze and rethink the uses.It's been four years since we suffered droughts increasingly severe," said Emma Haziza, who foresaw "a general awareness of the need to manage the water resource"
Government solutions not sufficient
But some initiatives, such as the catchment areas proposed by Didier Guillaume, can, according to her, be a "partial solution": "We have already tested in semi-arid countries such as Tunisia and found that other problems arise, especially the management issue, if there is a mismanagement of these reserves and they are used because we have the impression of not being missing, we only push the problem a little bit further, "she explains.
The hydrologist pleads for the establishment of "means that reduce the use of drinking water", already established in some French regions: "It is imperative to implement everywhere and lead incentive policies "she says.