Emmanuel Macron unveils his "Water Plan" in the face of climate change

French President Emmanuel Macron in Savines-le-Lac (southeast) to present his "Water Plan", March 30, 2023. © Sebastien Nogier/Pool via REUTERS

Text by: RFI Follow

4 mn

The French President presented this Thursday, March 30, the main lines of a plan to improve water management in France by 2030 in the face of climate change and the risk of drought.

Advertising

Read more

The "Water Plan", presented by Emmanuel Macron in Savines-Le-Lac, near the dam of Lake Serre-Ponçon (Hautes-Alpes), aims to anticipate a possible drought this summer and to set up a "planning" of water by 2030. "There is a dispute, but that does not mean that everything must stop," the President of the Republic told the press shortly after his arrival by helicopter, anxious to move on to something other than the electric pension file while responding to the concerns of the French.

"10% water savings in all sectors"

To prevent new water shortages during the summer, Emmanuel Macron announced the establishment by May of an "ecowatt" of water to measure consumption in relation to available resources, as well as a sobriety plan by economic sector (agriculture, industry, etc.).

«

It is not impossible that we will again have situations of great stress this summer ", he warned, however, recalling that a dozen departments were already on heightened alert. This is due in particular to a scorching summer 2022 marked by multiple forest fires and the driest winter since 1959. 80% of the country's groundwater is currently at a low or very low level, compared to 50% before the drought of 2022, said the head of state.

By 2030, Emmanuel Macron has set the objective of "making 10% water savings in all sectors" and listed the five axes of this water policy: accelerate sobriety, fight against leaks and modernize networks, invest massively in the reuse of wastewater, support agricultural transformation and generalize "progressive and empowering" pricing. "The first cubic meters are charged at a modest price, close to cost, it corresponds to the water we all need. Beyond a certain level, the price will be higher, it is normal for comfort consumption, "he explained.

A water issue marked by clashes over water reservoirs

In the setting of the largest freshwater reservoir in Western Europe, Emmanuel Macron defended the establishment of basins, which pump water from groundwater during the winter, so that farmers can water their crops in the summer. "The rule is clear: it is not a question of privatizing water," said Emmanuel Macron, four days after an environmental rally in Sainte-Soline against these water retention basins, where violent clashes with the police left two protesters in a coma.

«

New reservoirs will have to be included in concerted territory projects " and "conditioned to significant and individualized changes in practice, including water savings, pesticide reduction, agricultural transition schemes," said the head of state, adding about Sainte-Soline: "It is exactly in this logic that farmers throughout the basin are committed. " "It is obvious that we will have territories where we will have to move towards other cultivation schemes," said Emmanuel Macron, promising that "all new agricultural facilities will be adapted to the climate of tomorrow".

In another high-consuming sector, the president announced an investment program to adapt nuclear power plants, the third largest consumers of water in France (12%), for their cooling systems.

On the reuse of wastewater, the President of the Republic wanted to go from 1% of treated water to 10% by 2030, while the France is lagging behind its neighbors in this area.

A 10 to 40% decrease in water resources in France

This water management strategy was originally to be presented by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. But the president, who has made ecology, school and health his next priorities to try to get out of the pension crisis, finally stole the show with a trip announced at the last moment.

Climate experts anticipate a decrease of 10% to 40% of water resources, hitherto abundant in the temperate climate of the France, in the coming decades.

(With agencies)

Newsletter Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

Read on on the same topics:

• Environment
• France
• Water
• Climate change
• Natural disasters
• Emmanuel Macron