Drought: the department of Hérault on alert, new restrictions on the use of water

Thibaud Hue / Photo credit: Frederic Scheiber / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP 09:18 am, May 13, 2023

It is now impossible to fill your swimming pool, wash your car or water your garden outside the authorized hours. The department of Hérault is on drought alert, which has forced the prefect to take measures to save water. The additional restrictions are not surprising, according to the mayor of Saint-Geniès-des-Mourgues, Yvon Pellet. The "catastrophic weather" of recent months is responsible for these new measures.

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Failure to comply with restrictions would be a 'monumental mistake'

As in 2022, the pattern repeats itself: "It rained until about mid-December and since then it has hardly rained anymore. The decision that is being made is a decision that I fully understand." Water is becoming particularly scarce, so it is essential to better "share" it. The mayor of Saint-Geniès-des-Mourgues insisted on the "luxury" of using water at will on a daily basis. "I wash my car, I run large baths in my bathtub or fill his pool for his own little comfort ...", listed Yvon Pellet.

Not restricting the use of its water on a daily basis would be a "monumental mistake" according to the mayor of the city. "The lack of precipitation does not allow groundwater recharge and maintains a soil dryness equivalent to a normal situation at the end of June. The flows of the rivers of the department are lower than the average of the season, or even very low on some watersheds such as the Orb and the Hérault, "explained the prefecture in a statement to justify its decision.

Restrictions are also in place for agricultural and industrial uses of water. This Thursday, the prefect of Hérault had already issued an unfavorable opinion to a golf project in the name of preserving water resources.