While France is hit by a new episode of heat wave, drought is rife. The Île-de-France prefecture has placed Paris, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne on “drought vigilance”. These departments were, before Tuesday August 2, not concerned by the vigilance which extended over the rest of the territory.
The reason for such a reversal? “The flow of the Seine fell on July 25 below 81 m3 / s at the Paris-Austerlitz station”, indicates the prefecture of Île-de-France.
The vigilance level is the first of the 4 levels of the drought management system. Its purpose is “to ensure the priority uses of health, safety and drinking water supply, while respecting natural balances, when the hydrological situation no longer guarantees all water-consuming uses. ” indicates the site.
Then come the alert, heightened alert and crisis levels, putting in place measures to raise awareness, limit and suspend the use of non-priority water. With drought, the probability of seeing forest fires also increases . The environment is more sensitive to heat. According to the Herbignac town hall website, 9 out of 10 fires are of human origin.
The slideshow below presents the good reflexes in times of drought, according to the ARS (regional health agency) and the site of this town hall. Because if the level of “vigilance” does not provide for limitation or prohibition measures, there are relatively easy actions to adopt to save water and prevent fires.
