Car-washing, garden-watering, and pool-filling will be banned. It’s part of a first set of water restrictions in an effort to conserve water resources and prioritizes drinking water above other use.
There are currently more than 40 departments in France, amounting to nearly half the country, which is officially at “alert” or “vigilance” levels of drought. The Pyrenees-Orientales will become the fourth district to declare a “crisis” drought level.
One of the main rivers of the Pyrénées Orientales, the Agly, has been almost completely dried up since the middle of March. The cracked soil testifies to the lack of water in this tourist-dependent area, which also has a fatal effect on farmers of the region.
Orchards in this area will therefore have to adapt to the water restrictions, a hard blow when the drought in Europe has already done so much damage.
“The terminal bud in this season has grown a little bit but normally it’s very bright red. Here it’s dull red, so it’s clearly missing water,” said Pascal Maillols, a local farmer of the region.
With these new restrictions, there will be more upgrading swimming pools, watering vegetable gardens, or taking care of green spaces. The only exception is if the water comes from a reused system. Beach showers will also be prohibited.
The department has had a rainfall deficit of 60-65% over the last year.
“We are really in a completely unprecedented situation as we are currently observing levels that we are supposed to observe in July or August,” said hydrogeologist Hichem Tachrift.
This kind of crisis level has already been activated in four French departments this year. And the drought raises fears of another serious phenomenon, the outbreak of fires, due to dry vegetation.
