While the drought unit was working this Wednesday at the prefecture on new restrictions on water use, around fifty farmers gathered outside to share their difficulties. Without incident.
The drought is definitely getting worse. A new threshold was crossed this week and the prefecture is preparing to distribute, this Friday, August 12, a new decree restricting the use of water in the Tarn-et-Garonne, for fear of running out of drinking water.
But while the drought operational committee was meeting this Wednesday morning to prepare, as every week, the new regulatory text, around fifty farmers had decided to gather in front of the prefecture to have the conclusions of the meeting. An action which aimed above all to “maintain the pressure on the public authorities to show that the decisions which are taken are not without consequences for our activity, our income. It is our survival that is in question”, blows a farmer.
Sword of Damocles over the Aveyron
Around 1:30 p.m., the meeting of the operational committee was closed. Alain Iches, president of the chamber of agriculture left the prefecture to join the group of farmers. “The situation is extremely tense today, he launched in the preamble. On the Tarn, the Garonne, as well as on the side canal and the Montech canal, the ban on taking two days a week is maintained. The major difficulty today comes from the Aveyron.We currently reach a flow of 1.8 m3/s on this river, knowing that at a flow of 1.6 m3/s, the production of drinking water is seriously threatened. Under these conditions, the ban on taking water will increase to 3.5 days from Monday on the Aveyron. In the meantime, until Monday, the ban on taking water two days a week is maintained exceptionally , unless, during the weekend, the flow of the Aveyron drops below the bar of 1.6 m3 / s. We will then immediately go to 3.5 days of prohibition without even waiting for Monday.
And the president of the chamber of agriculture to warn farmers that they have this sword of Damocles above their heads: “Don’t go pumping like crazy in Aveyron now, if we want to keep until Monday, at least, with a ban on taking samples two days a week.”
In addition, Alain Iches also indicated that he had invited the Minister of Agriculture to come to the department at the end of September. “Today, we are managing misery because we have not anticipated the means of combating drought. We must reopen the files for the creation of new water reserves, the cleaning of existing reservoirs which are silted up to from 30 to 40%, from the mapping of waterways…”
Meanwhile, in the ranks of farmers, a minority is impatient and ready to defy the irrigation bans in the coming days. A perfectly assumed disobedience. “If I don’t water my corn with seed, it dies. And so do I. If we had Sivens, we wouldn’t have these problems today”, assures this farmer from the Tescou valley.
The Tarn-et-Garonne goes completely red
The fear of running out of drinking water in the coming weeks has prompted the prefecture to reinforce the restrictive measures already put in place in recent weeks. “The drought episode is far from over,” said Catherine Fourcherot, general secretary of the Tarn-et-Garonne prefecture, on Wednesday. “Compliance with the limitations and bans on taking water from the environment and on the use of drinking water by all, individuals, administrations, communities, companies and farmers is necessary to hold out until the end of the low water level.” Water will therefore have been at the center of two important meetings, this Wednesday, at the prefecture: that of the departmental resource committee for water resources (Codre) which is held only twice a year, and that of the operational committee of the drought that meets every week in this period. Without revealing all the details of the new order restricting the use of water which will be released on Friday, the prefecture has already announced the color. The Tarn-et-Garonne map will be all red. In other words, the 195 municipalities will be in level 3 restriction (they were 140 in number this week). In addition to agricultural levies (see opposite), individuals, communities and professionals are invited to put the brake on the tap again. The restrictions are tightening, especially for golf courses which can only use 30% of their usual volume of water against 40% in the current decree, in order to water only their greens. No question of filling your pool, or redoing your level. The ban on watering all sports grounds is also renewed. The Sapiac pros’ stadium in Montauban is no exception to the rule. Ditto for the new water mirror of the National square, in Montauban, where the children splash happily since the beginning of July. It has the same status as a public fountain and should be shut down. However, the municipality can still request an exemption.
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