Winter drought dries up France’s Lake Montbel, poses menace to farming, tourism

France’s Lake Montbel has nearly became a muddy wasteland as a result of winter drought, affecting farming, tourism negatively.

A shell is seen on cracked and dry earth of the partially dry Lake Montbel on the foot of the Pyrenees Mountains as France faces information winter dry spell elevating fears of one other summer season of droughts and water restrictions. (Photo: Reuters)

By Reuters: Set at foot of the Pyrenees mountains, Lake Montbel is known in south-west France for its turquoise waters, large dimension and thriving aquatic life.

But as spring nears, the postcard panorama has largely became a muddy wasteland, with the boats of the native crusing membership left stranded on its banks, as France’s driest winter in 64 years saved the lake from filling up.

France, like most of Europe, is within the grip of a winter drought that’s prompting rising considerations over water safety throughout the continent.

For the month of February, the Ariege area, the place Lake Montbel is positioned, has suffered from a rainfall scarcity of 80%.

“We are only currently at … about 25% of the maximum filling rate. At this time of year, we are usually closer to a 60% filling rate,” mentioned Xavier Rouja, who manages the lake’s dam.

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Lake Montbel is a man-made lake, which extends over 570 hectares and was created in 1985 by flooding what was a forested space.

The lake, roughly half-way between Toulouse and Perpignan, was initially created to irrigate the area’s crops, however over time camp websites and climbing trails have sprouted round its banks, drawing hundreds of vacationers annually.

As he walks the lake’s dried-up mattress, crusing teacher Claude Carriere checks on crusing boats stranded a number of metres from the water.

His membership has needed to cancel a number of competitions since January, because the lake’s shrunken floor is now not suited to crusing.

“We have a magnificent body of water when it’s full. It’s fabulous. It is a haven of peace, a place of leisure and relaxation,” Carriere, who has been volunteering on the membership because the early 2000s, informed Reuters.

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“When you see it like that, it’s sad. It looks more like a muddy desert than anything. And that breaks our hearts in a way.”

The membership’s administration is already trying to diversify its actions to maintain working via future droughts.

‘WE WILL HAVE TO ADAPT’

Downstream, farmers are anxious forward of spring and summer season.

“Lake Montbel, in fact, is the guarantee of income … If tomorrow, we have to do without water, many, many of our farms will collapse and disappear,” mentioned head of the regional farmers’ irrigation affiliation, Christophe Mascarenc.

Mascarenc makes use of water from the close by Ariege river and never from Montbel Lake. He nonetheless plans to chop corn manufacturing by 50% to 60% this 12 months to save lots of water.

Others within the area have turned to much less water-intensive crops, corresponding to sorghum, sunflower and even mandarins.

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Authorities are additionally engaged on a plan to divert the close by Touyre river to assist refill the lake, although the venture has met opposition from environmental teams.

As the consequences of world warming are set to accentuate in coming many years, hotter and drier seasons will change into extra frequent, the pinnacle of the general public Upstream Garonne River Interdepartmental Delegation, Franck Solacroup, mentioned.

“The Montbel dam is representative of this (water) deficit situation and this level of filling, which is far from optimal at the start of the season,” he mentioned.

“In 2022, we really had conditions which will be the norm in 2050, due to climate change … This is something we will have to get used to and therefore adapt to.”

Published On:

Mar 18, 2023