A high risk summer. While spring will end in just over a month, the specter of a summer drought is already hovering over France. Indeed, the forecasts for the coming season are worrying.

The state of groundwater is still worrying and the lack of water for the summer of 2023 could even be greater than in 2022, when it had already reached exceptional levels. “From May, the levels (of the water tables, editor’s note) should remain lower until the fall. The recharge episodes should remain punctual and not very intense, except for exceptional rainfall events” assured the government based on data from the Bureau of Geological and Mining Research (BRGM) on May 1, 2023, as franceinfo points out.

To effectively anticipate future drought, the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion presented the new version of the national drought guide on May 17.

“In March and April 2023, the cumulative rainfall was excessive over a large part of the territory. These rains made it possible to generate episodes of recharge and to postpone the start of the emptying period in the most watered sectors. However, the impact on the trends is heterogeneous, depending on the cumulative rainfall and the reactivity of the water table: 37% of the observation points are up, 25% are stable but 38% remain down in April.”, perhaps we read in this document.

On Twitter, Minister Christophe Béchu also shared a map designating the departments where the risk of drought is greatest for the 2023 summer season. Discover the 28 territories concerned in our slideshow.