Drought: despite the rains, “we remain in a critical situation for the coming summer”, according to a hydrogeologist

En dépit des pluies, l’Agly dans les Pyrénées-Orientales reste à un niveau très bas. MAXPPP – MICHEL CLEMENTZ

Despite a situation which is improving thanks to the latest rains, the level of water tables remains at a very low level in the Pyrénées-Orientales and low in Aude and in Biterrois, on the ;rsquo;Orb. And the weather forecast predicts no more rain for the next two to three weeks.

"Don't talk to me about drought anymore, I haven't seen the sun for months". On social networks, the rains of recent weeks have reportedly permanently resolved a serious and recurring problem in Languedoc. Unfortunately, this is not the case. If it rained again in the region yesterday, there is no need to get carried away. Far from it.

Fin avril, en 48h, il est tombé une soixantaine de millimètres de pluie dans la région de Perpignan.

Ces pluies sont bénéfiques pour les couches superficielles des sols, mais n’inversent pas la situation de très forte #sécheresse qui sévit dans cette zone depuis plusieurs mois. pic.twitter.com/FNs18EA4pv

— Météo-France (@meteofrance) May 3, 2024

The rains in March and the end of April significantly improved the drought situation. But not to resolve it. Particularly in the Pyrénées-Orientales where the water table level remains at a level "very low", according to the BRGM. The Geological and Mining Research Office is preparing to publish a map which shows that the situation is improving a little but remains tense also in Aude and in Biterrois on the Orb river where the level remains "bottom". "The accumulated deficit is such that it cannot be filled with a hundred millimeters in a few days", tempers BRGM hydrogeologist Perrine Fleury.

We need more consistent rain

"It’is an improvement, on the other hand, we cannot claim to restore the level of the water tables, adds doctor in Catalan hydrogeology Henri Got. We must remember that in France, on April 1, 2023, we were at low or even very low stages. It took six to eight months to return to normal levels, including in places where it rained a lot. As in Roussillon, the quantities fallen are not large enough to sustainably improve the situation". If this works out for Lozère, Gard and part of Hérault, the situation therefore remains critical in Aude and the P.-O.

“We wait until we are up against the wall to act”

Henri Got is not naturally pessimistic but he regrets the delay in all the projects which would have allowed the Pyrenees-Orientales not to suffer so much from lack of water. Reuse wastewater?"Yes, but it’s a complex balance. A job was done. engaged in the Tech valley with the Chamber of Agriculture to determine sites suitable for the creation of water reservoirs, but this will not be done by summer. What we are doing today in an emergency should have been done. to be done in serenity 10 years ago". As for the Rhône pipe, via BRL, "it’is a construction site & 20 years, but we would need it today. The paradox is that it was proposed and refusal 20 years ago, by farmers. Man is so made that he waits until he has his back against the wall before he acts. Scientific words are only effective if they do something better. If we ask to make an effort, then we will find excuses not to do anything". According to the hydrogeologist, we are facing "à two problems: denial, we don't want to see, we say it won't happen; and then procrastination: we say to ourselves, we'll see next year…hellip; And then the years go by and nothing is done. Man only reacts to immediate danger. Yet everything that happens was planned a long time ago.

Among the good news, specialists note that the rains fell were continuous. So the recharge towards the water tables was good. "But further consistent rain is needed, particularly in Aude and the P.-O.", specifies Perrine Fleury. Consistent but not torrential as in February in the Gard: "A large quantity of rain fell with very high intensity so that the runoff was preponderant, quickly evacuating the water to the sea via the rivers in flood, a A significant portion of the water has not returned to the water tables", explains the scientist.

A year of rain is missing in the PO

In any case, Météo France's forecasts are rather gloomy in terms of rainfall for the next two to three weeks in Languedoc-Roussillon. "So we remain in a critical situation for the coming summer, explains Henri Got. Because it is now that the water tables are recharged but also that the plants need water the most.

In Libération, researcher Wolfgang Ludwig, professor of geosciences at the University of Perpignan, says it differently: "​​​​​​This is good news in the short term but it does not erase the bad news: our climate is moving towards more frequent droughts. The crisis is not over. It did not rain enough to make up for the accumulated deficit. We were missing a whole year of rain, we have just made up for a tenth of it.

We must continue to save water

Perrine Fleury emphasizes that this is getting better in Gard, Hérault and Lozère: "There will perhaps be restrictions on certain sectors, but we should be far from the critical situation of 2023 in these 3 departments which was generalized across all the aquifers in the Languedoc-Roussillon region" .

In Aude and the P.-O. Henri Got believes that it will be necessary to continue water savings and surely increase them. Last year we managed to save 30% of drinking water in the Pyrénées-Orientales, we must continue this effort". Without being able to say if this will be enough for everyone to have water. But savings also have a limit: "There will come a time when this will no longer be enough. There we grit our teeth hoping for it to rain but with the climate everything is possible. We can very well enter periods of flooding. Who would have imagined seeing floods in Dubai in the middle of the desert ?"

For climate skeptics, not sure that we will stop talking about drought this year in the region.

Barcelona wants to desalinate sea water

The local government of Catalonia has announced on April 18, the installation of thirteen temporary seawater desalination stations   across the region to face the crisis one of the worst droughts in its history. One of the planned installations is a floating station in the port of Barcelona. One way to stop the supply of drinking water by boat which can only transport 25,000 m3 per day with a cost per m3 be a cube of drinking water for 10 euros. This desalination project annoys Spanish environmentalists who see it as "a bandage", on a "disastrous water management policy" and which recommends limiting uses to make important& ;nbsp;ésavings on drinking water.

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