• The creation of five basins for irrigating crops was prohibited by the administrative justice on appeal in Bordeaux, this Tuesday, due to insufficient impact studies.

  • Many demonstrations took place to denounce these projects aimed at making water reserves for intensive agriculture.

  • The decision targets five water reserves that were planned in Charente-Maritime and Deux-Sèvres.

Justice does not want it.

Five “basins”, controversial water reservoirs which are the subject of numerous demonstrations in Charente-Maritime and Deux-Sèvres, were prohibited by the administrative justice on appeal in Bordeaux, this Tuesday, due to studies insufficient impact, we learned on Wednesday.

The administrative court of appeal of Bordeaux has indeed rejected the request of the association of Roches, representing the irrigators, which aimed to authorize the creation of five water reserves to be filled by taking samples from the basin of the river Le Mignon, in the municipalities of La Laigne, Cramchaban and La Grève-sur-le-Mignon (Charente-Maritime).

A lack of data

Started in 2006, this request for the creation of "basins", authorized by two prefectural decrees, gave rise to a number of appeals from Nature Environnement 17, which opposes these water reservoirs, and to requests for studies of impact.

In its judgment communicated on Wednesday, the Administrative Court of Appeal noted the "insufficiency" or "absence of data" of certain aspects of the impact studies put forward by the irrigators, in particular on the effects of withdrawals, the absence sources of certain advanced figures or measures that do not allow a "relevant adjustment" of the filling of the reserves.

The court also ordered the Roches association to pay 1,500 euros in legal costs to Nature Environnement 17.

Sixteen of these water reservoirs which must be filled with watercourses and groundwater in winter when the water is more abundant, to serve the summer, are planned to serve 220 farms, mostly in Deux-Sèvres , in the basin of the Sèvre Niortaise.

The projects have given rise for years to demonstrations, sometimes with clashes, organized by opponents united in the Bassines Non Merci collective, supported by the Confédération paysanne, the LPO, EELV, Attac, La France Insoumise, etc., who denounce a "grabbing of water" for the benefit of intensive chemical cultivation.

The Cramchaban reservoir, already built, had notably been degraded during a demonstration.

Planet

Deux-Sèvres: Thousands of demonstrators against giant water reservoirs

Planet

Deux-Sèvres: Thousands of opponents of "mega-basins" expected from Friday

  • Justice

  • Agriculture

  • Intensive farming

  • Water