Benjamin Peter 06:24, April 19, 2023

How to store water in winter to have it available in summer and feed rivers and streams, all without affecting the landscape and without annoying its opponents? The Haute-Garonne department may have found a solution. It has just invested two million euros for this experiment whose objective is to store water that would have ended its race in the ocean towards the water table.

The department of Haute-Garonne has just invested two million euros for an experiment whose objective is to store water that would have ended its course in the ocean. Julien, met by Europe 1, takes care of the manipulation. "There, we're going to remove the boards," he says. The surplus water from the Saint-Martory canal feeds channels to spaces more favorable to infiltration.

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Filling the water table

According to Marine Picart of Réseau 31, this will fill the water table. "You see the pebbles. It is these pebbles that are interesting for infiltration. It is really this natural functioning of the aquifer where the flows are very slow that will allow to put water in winter and it is returned in summer. This extra water will naturally go to the Garonne," she reports.

This summer, the Garonne will be able to draw on the aquifer to maintain its flow. The goal is to store between five and ten million liters of water in this way. Ten to twenty times more than a basin like the one under construction in Sainte-Soline. For Sébastien Vincini, the president of the departmental council, this action makes it possible to promote a natural process.

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"We break the water cycle"

"When you create a plastic basin, you break the water cycle. The principle here is to store water by infiltration and it is multi-use. It is not privatized for a single use, "says the president of the departmental council. The water in the Garonne can thus be used for agriculture, industry as well as drinking water. The experiment must last 4 years to see if the process can be generalized.