300,000 residents left without reliable water sources as drought ravages southern France

Following the country’s hottest year ever in 2022, France is once again struggling to handle the heat. High temperatures and low rainfall have resulted in issues with fresh water supply across the country.

This week, over 300,000 commune inhabitants have had their water supplies disrupted. Some 67 communes are now receiving water by tanker and 18 by bottles.

Like much of Europe, France has been suffering with unusually hot weather all summer.

In June, the European Drought Agency classified a third of the continent as being in drought conditions, with 10 per cent of Europe in a state of crisis.

Other countries experiencing unusually high temperatures include Greece, Sicily, Italy and Spain, while July clocked in as the hottest month ever recorded on Earth.

The extreme weather events are being driven by the El Niño weather pattern, as well as the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on our environment.

France’s low water levels aren’t just a result of this year’s heatwave. They are the consequence of over a year’s worth of higher-than-average temperatures.

2022 was the country’s hottest year on record and was followed by an unusually dry 2023. Between 21 January and 21 February, no rain fell at all.

Though there has been some rainfall in recent months, the ground is too dry to hold onto it, meaning most of the water runs off or is absorbed by plants. As a result, it’s of little help to water tables.

Water tables are the point underground at which groundwater saturates spaces between rock and sediment below the soil’s surface. At the water table, water pressure and atmospheric pressure are equal. They’re important as they help measure aquifers (underground rock with holds water) from which we draw water to use in daily life.

Christop