Drought in the Pyrénées-Orientales: new water restrictions from 10 May

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credits: RAYMOND ROIG / AFP 14:57 pm, April 28, 2023

"Crisis" measures, including new water restrictions, will come into force on May 10 in the Pyrénées-Orientales, a department affected by an exceptional drought, and the content will be specified the day before by an order, announced Friday the prefect. This "crisis alert level", the highest, will concern "the territories of Tet and Agly", two rivers crossing part of this department bordering Spain, he added, the day after a meeting of the Local Water Resources Committee.

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"Additional restrictions" for certain sectors

"I do not want to be in a position that affects the production tool, which harms the trees," said the prefect Rodrigue Furcy about agriculture, without indicating whether derogations from the ban on irrigating were planned, especially for fruit trees. There will be "additional restrictions" for certain sectors or activities: golf courses, washing stations, sales of above ground pools or boreholes, he said.

Recalling that the current drought is "the most acute since 1959", the prefect expressed his desire to "avoid conflicts of use, conflicts of the water war" and to "manage the crisis in the most peaceful way possible". "We have arrived at a period when there is no more snow and vegetation absorbs a lot of water. The amount of water we have is the one we have to manage until the end of the summer," he warned.

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€200 million in damages for farmers

On Thursday, the president of the Departmental Federation of Farmers' Unions (FDSEA), Bruno Vila, had estimated at 200 million euros the damage for farmers because of the current restrictions, adding that "in the worst situation, it will be 400 million". "This department lives in anticipation what is likely to experience some of the departments around the Mediterranean," noted the Minister of Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu, before the Committee of anticipation and hydrological monitoring (CASH), which brought together Thursday in Perpignan the actors of water management at the national level.

On Monday, Hermeline Malherbe, socialist president of the Pyrénées-Orientales - where the first major fire of the year in France covered about 1,000 hectares on April 17 - had challenged the head of state Emmanuel Macron on a risk of "human catastrophe", asking for "the establishment of a solidarity fund" for the agricultural and tourism sectors. Carole Delga, socialist president of Occitania, supported Tuesday this request, announcing "an exceptional device of one million euros" of the region.