A tanker truck carrying 30 cubic meters of water made its seventh delivery of the summer to Pressigny, a village of 200 people in the Haute-Marne department of northeastern France, as drought conditions push the local water tower below a critical level.
Anthony Bazin, a water delivery driver in Haute-Marne, said demand from communes was set to double or even triple compared with a previous, calmer period. He said deliveries would continue for as long as the drought persisted.
Water tower below critical threshold
Hugo Coeurdassier, the mayor of Pressigny, said the village's water tower stood at 1.36 meters, having dropped below the critical threshold of 1.50 meters. A third of the remaining water is reserved for firefighters.
The water supplying the tower comes from a lake 30 kilometers away. Coeurdassier said the region had gone more than a month without significant rainfall, leaving underground water tables unable to keep up with demand. He said the aquifer was not completely empty but was not refilling fast enough.
Exorbitant cost for a small commune
Bringing in the tanker trucks comes at a heavy cost for the commune, which has just 200 residents. Coeurdassier put the current cost of the drought at around 10,000 euros and said the arrangement was not viable as a long-term solution.
Residents are cutting back where they can. Nelly, a local resident, said her garden hose now sits folded and unused behind her house. She said her bean harvest this year had come to nothing and that she had never experienced heat of such intensity. Others in the village said they were showering less often and washing fewer dishes.
Cattle cannot go without water
The 250 cattle on a farm visited by the news crew cannot be denied their usual water supply. Marc Maillarbaux, the farmer who runs the operation, said the animals drink 100 liters of water a day each, and that without it, milk production collapses and the cows produce almost nothing.
819 rivers running dry across France
Across France, 819 rivers and streams are now dry or partially dried up, according to the report. As a result, 80 communes are experiencing water cuts, with some residents forced to rely on bottled water.
One retiree said she needed at least three or four bottles of water a day, for her vegetables, for brushing her teeth and for drinking.
The situation comes as 96 French departments remain under drought alert. According to the local intercommunal water syndicate, the emergency measures now in place could continue for another three to four months.
