Nearly 70 Percent of France Under Water Restrictions Amid Record Heat
The highest alert level reserves water for drinking, sanitation and healthcare as aquifers and river flows fall below normal, officials said.
- On Monday, the French government announced that nearly 70 percent of the country is subject to water-use restrictions as drought conditions worsen amid successive heatwaves.
- The severe drought stems from a rainfall deficit of nearly 70 percent in July, compounded by increased water demand for agriculture and tourism, the Bureau of Geological and Mining Research said.
- As of August 9, 67 of France's 101 departments are under the highest crisis alert, with two-thirds of aquifers providing drinking water dropped below normal levels.
- Ecology Minister Monique Barbut noted that drinking water supplies are "under strain in several areas," with tap water cuts affecting more than 30,000 people requiring tanker truck supply.
- The government will convene a crisis meeting on Wednesday as Meteo-France warns temperatures could average 40 degrees this week, threatening to intensify the drought.
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33 Articles
Liberation
The Minister of Environmental Transition was scheduled to host a meeting on drought and its consequences this Wednesday, and estimates that more than 40,000 people are affected by tap water cuts.
The lack of water affects the entire French territory and already generates cuts in the supply of drinking water for more than 40,000 people.
More than 40,000 people suffer from drought cuts in water supply
Green Transition Minister Monique Barbut highlights the growing economic impact of heat episodes and the tension on drinking water supply that now affects 50 departments
Monique Barbut announced at a crisis meeting on drought. She said she was based on INSEE's estimates but called for them to be "taken with great care".
The dryness in Switzerland reaches historical mass: in many places it is as dry as it has not been since the start of the standardized measurements in 1961.
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