68 departments have been classified at the 2 August, on water restrictions, some maximum level, such as Haute-Vienne.
If the month of July, 2020, was less scorching than the previous one, it suffers from a lack of rain during the spring. Thus, according to Météo France, it is the month of July, the driest since 1959. “From 1 to 28 July 2020, the precipitation averaged over France only reached 28% of the normal values for this period,” says the website of Météo France.
“This rain deficit particularly affects the regions of the South-West to the valley of the Loire and in the North-East. July 2020 should also be record on the Countries of the Loire and it will probably be in the second rank on several other regions,” he adds.
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Result : the soils are dry, a drought, “agricultural”, including the regions of Auvergne, Rhone-Alps at the Grand-East and Hauts-de-France in the Basse-Normandie region. The drought said agriculture is to differentiate from the meteorological drought or hydrological. It “is characterized by a water deficiency of surface soil (between 1 and 2 m depth), enough to interfere with the proper development of the vegetation”, says Météo France.
68 departments in water restrictions
The rainfall recorded by Météo France has never been as low in 61 years, with only 10.1 millimeters in accumulated. A situation that pushes the authorities to impose water restrictions. So, this Monday, August 3, 68 departments are concerned by restrictions more or less binding. 130 arrested are also current, accurate Propluvia.
The map of water restrictions to August 2, 2020 at midnight by Propluvia
Propluvia (screenshot)
Some counties are classified as red on the map, which leads to the cessation of levies, non-priority, including withdrawals for agricultural purposes. “Only the samples to ensure the exercise of the priority uses are allowed,” according to the government website. This is particularly the case of the Haute-Vienne, Indre and the Côte-d’or.
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drought in France and the water restrictions
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The department of Agriculture has authorized Friday the use of fallow land for use by farmers in 47 counties affected by the drought. This permission to use the surfaces as a fallow crop, to graze their cattle or cut for fodder, is “a response to immediate effect”, said the minister of Agriculture Julien Denormandie, quoted in a press release. This provision is enabled in all the departments of the regions of Hauts-de-France, Grand-est and Ile-de-France.
