Drinking water supply limited - In about 70% of France due to drought
The French government said nearly 70% of the country is facing restrictions on drinking water use, as drought conditions worsen due to successive heat waves.
“While France is experiencing a particularly severe drought, the effects of climate change continue to increase pressure on water resources,” the ministry for the ecological transition said, adding that “almost 70% of French territory is subject to restrictions on water use.” As of August 9, most of mainland France, including Paris, was at least below the first level of water warning, with 67 of the country’s 101 departments under the highest crisis alert.
In areas subject to the highest alert, water is reserved for priority uses, such as healthcare, civil protection, drinking water and sanitation. Under lower alert levels, restrictions apply to activities such as watering gardens and green spaces, filling swimming pools, washing cars and watering crops.
In a further sign of the worsening drought across much of heatwave-hit Europe, two-thirds of the aquifers that provide most of France's drinking water have fallen below their normal levels, the country's Bureau of Geological and Mining Research (BRGM) said on Monday.
The depletion of groundwater reserves, common during the summer, is particularly pronounced this year "due to the lack of effective rainfall in July and the increase in water demand for various purposes," particularly in agriculture and tourism, the BRGM said.
July 2026 was the hottest month ever recorded in France and the third driest July in terms of rainfall, with a rainfall deficit across the country of almost 70%, according to the national weather agency Météo-France.
The southeast of the country will experience temperatures of up to 35 degrees Celsius, spreading further across the country as the week progresses.
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