Heatwaves, fires, drought: how serious is France’s water crisis?

France’s water crisis is deepening after months of exceptional heatwaves have left soils at their driest level since records began in 1958.

“The situation is very concerning,” Florence Habets, president of the Scientific Council of the Seine-Normandy River Basin Committee, told The Connexion. 

“Around two-thirds of France is affected by drought alerts, with 18% already at the highest level: drought crisis,” she said.

Rivers and streams have reached critically low levels, forests are under growing stress, and authorities are increasingly concerned about maintaining water supplies. 

Restrictions on tap water usage are increasing, with 47 departments home to at least one commune facing crise level restrictions as of Thursday (August 6). 

At the same time, nuclear reactors have closed to prevent waterways from over-heating, and one of the country’s best-known canals has been shut to boat traffic as water levels drop drastically. 

"This is something our society has never experienced before. Unfortunately, this type of episode is expected to recur because of climate change caused by our greenhouse gas emissions,” said Ms Habets, who is also a member of the Scientific Council of the French Office for Biodiversity (Office français de la biodiversité -  OFB), and a member of France's National Water Committee.

Heatwaves intensify drought conditions 

"The heatwaves have dried out the soils," said Ms Habets. 

With climate change making extreme heat more likely, these episodes are expected to become more frequent. Recent thunderstorms have brought little relief because they are too localised to restore soil moisture. 

"To end a drought, the soils need to become wet again," Ms Habets explained. "Vegetation is thirsty and quickly absorbs the available water. We need rainfall over several days to properly rehydrate the ground." 

Small streams reach low levels

France's rivers and streams (petits cours d’eau) reached exceptionally low levels by the beginning of August, with emergency measures being introduced in some areas to protect water supplies and ecosystems.

According to OFB, around 25% of monitored streams were already dry by the end of June. By August, another 554 streams had dried up, leading to 43% of the agency’s monitoring stations being completely dried out.

The OFB said this was the most serious situation it had seen at this time of year since its monitoring programme began in 2012.

"It surpasses the historic drought of 2022, with 112 more dry stream beds," the organisation said.

The worst affected areas include parts of western and central France, with departments such as Creuse, Vendée, Loire-Atlantique, Aveyron, Côte-d'Or, Nièvre, Deux-Sèvres and Charente-Maritime among the hardest hit.

Ms Habets warned that these changes are already affecting ecosystems. "Vegetation is suffering enormously," she said. "Trees and forests risk being severely affected by these episodes through increased mortality and fires. We are likely to see major changes in landscapes, with serious consequences for wildlife."

After a summer marked by repeated heatwaves and dry soils, multiple fires have broken out, affecting forests and threatening biodiversity. According to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), the area burned this year has already exceeded previous seasonal records.

Climate conditions are making fires spread more easily. High temperatures, low soil moisture and dry vegetation create extremely favourable conditions for flames to grow rapidly.

On top of that, rivers drying up put an additional strain on wildlife. "Many rivers are dry, which is very damaging for aquatic biodiversity and for animals that depend on these rivers for drinking water," Ms Habets said.

Major rivers also affected

The drought is not limited to small streams. Several major rivers across France have recorded unusually low levels this summer.

The Loire, often dubbed ‘France’s last wild river,’ because it does not have any dams on it, was so low it was possible to cross it using sand banks and wading, in July, something unusual so early in the year. 

The Garonne, one of France's major rivers, has also come under pressure. The river supplies drinking water to cities including Toulouse and Agen and provides cooling water for the Golfech nuclear power plant.

The public body Établissement Public Garonne began releasing water from EDF hydroelectric reservoirs at the beginning of July - the earliest release since the organisation was created in 1993.

"There was a lot of rain and snow in winter, but the three heatwaves one after another, with no significant rain in June, led to the need for an early release," Nicolas Cardot, the organisation's water-level manager, told The Connexion.

“We had one meeting of a special committee to monitor the situation, after which it was decided to put water restrictions on Toulouse and on some use of water for irrigation, and are due to have another meeting at the end of the month.”

Golfech carried out a controlled closure of its second reactor during the heatwaves because the water temperature in the Garonne was already so high that adding extra warm water into the river would have harmed the local environment. The first reactor was already closed for maintenance. 

Mr Cardot said he was confident that reserves of water in the hydro-electric dams were sufficient to manage the situation when coupled with restrictions on use, but added: “If we still have not had any rain at all by the end of August, we might be in a more serious situation.”

Meanwhile, sections of the Canal de Bourgogne have already been closed, and Voies Navigables de France (VNF), the state waterways body, warned that the entire canal could potentially shut if significant rainfall does not arrive.

"We are reaching a peak and an exceptional situation in 2026, both in terms of intensity and duration," Lionel Vuittenez, director of VNF Centre Bourgogne told Franceinfo.

Tap water restrictions across France

It comes as restrictions on tap water usage continue to mount this summer. 

As of Thursday (August 6), there are 47 departments where at least one commune is facing crise level restrictions — the highest level, where all but essential tap water use is banned. 

A further 31 are on alerte renforcée - the second highest level, where many uses of tap water are restricted - and 10 on alerte, the first rung of restrictions.

There are just seven departments on vigilance, a level where no restrictions are in place but authorities urge residents to be prudent over tap water usage. 

The Maine-et-Loire department is the only one in France to not implement any restriction or warning over tap water usage across France. 

Note that the map above applies only to tap water restrictions.

There are different restrictions for river water and well water usage, and restrictions differ based on who is using the water (residents, farmers, businesses, local authorities).

You can find up to date information on restrictions in your commune through the official VigiEau website.

The website provides live maps of all restriction types, and has an interactive search function for finding restrictions in your commune - all you need to do is type in your address.

More information on how to use the site is available in our article here. The Connexion also recently answered a number of reader queries about drought restrictions. 

You can check restrictions on using river water – as well as tap water and well-water – through the government’s VigiEau website. Read our article here for more information.