Shortage of drinking water: 5 questions to understand the threat facing France

The winter will be harsh. In France, there are fears of a shortage of electricity during the coming cold season, and the establishment, to deal with it, of rotating load shedding.

But this resource, which has become essential on a daily basis, is not the only one to be threatened. For several months, the authorities have also been developing “black” scenarios concerning…drinking water.

After an extremely dry summer and early autumn, some regions are already suffering from a lack of water, and have had to adopt restrictive measures or new supply methods. For example, in some municipalities, water flowed from taps at a very low rate and communities were forced to have thousands of bottles of water delivered…

“These phenomena are more common than it seems and are no longer limited to regions with low rainfall,” notes the Water Information Center.

In the south of the Tarn, the threat of a real shortage of drinking water has been hovering over the inhabitants for a few weeks now. Around Mazamet, 16 municipalities are currently on alert. They are fed by the Pas des Bêtes and Saints-Peyres dams, whose levels are historically at their lowest.

And that’s not all: the fear of a lack of gas, due to the stoppage of Russian deliveries via the NordStream gas pipeline, could also impact the water sector, which consumes a lot of it.

“Thus, at the highest level of the state, faced with the risk of blackout, we are considering ‘power cuts on public water and sanitation services'”, deciphers the newspaper La Tribune. The risk of water shortage is also one of the four main risks identified by the IPCC in Europe.

What can we really expect in the coming months? Could your water be cut off soon? The point in 5 questions and answers in our slideshow.