Red drought alerts raised in south-west France: restrictions on water usage in place

Drought restrictions continue to increase in France as new alerts came into place over the weekend in the south-west.

Despite a bout of rain being expected this week, historically high temperatures so far this summer have dried out water tables and natural water sources across France. 

Restrictions came into force in the Tarn-et-Garonne department on Saturday (July 19) after intervention from local authorities.

The vast majority of the department is now facing a ‘crise’ alert – the highest possible – for water levels in natural sources (rivers, streams, lakes, wells, etc). 

In turn, residents in almost all areas of the department are now banned from taking water from these sources (prélèvement d’eau en milieu naturel). 

This includes for both personal and agricultural use. 

However, there are not any restrictions in place for tap water in the department, which for the moment can still be used as normal.

This means there are no limits on using tap water for activities such as cleaning cars or topping up swimming pools – however, you cannot use water taken directly from local sources for this purpose.

The full list of restricted activities are available on the VigiEau website, the prefectural decrees are here. 

The VigiEau website also shows how restrictions differ between businesses, individuals, farmers, and local authorities depending on the alert level in place.

Much of the water supply for the south-west comes from natural sources at ground level or from water basins supplied by natural sources (including run-off from the nearby Pyrénées mountains). 

This is in comparison to the rest of the country where underground water reservoirs form the majority of the network.

The ban on taking water from natural sources in the Tarn-et-Garonne will hopefully delay the need to implement restrictions on tap water.