Good news at the heart of a critical situation. Recent rains have given Mayotte a slight reprieve, which is experiencing its worst drought since 1997, and the levels of the two main artificial lakes are stable compared to the previous week.
While the exhaustion of the reserves of the two hill reservoirs of Mayotte was planned “around November 20”, according to a source close to the matter, the Dzoumogné reserve is 6.7% full and that of Combani 6.1%, indicates a consumption report established Monday by the Mamoudzou prefecture.
The levels were 5.8% and 6.8% respectively the previous week. “The week of November 13 was good in terms of rainfall, which explains why the level of reservoirs remained stable,” underlines Floriane Ben Hassen, head of the Météo-France branch in Mayotte, Indian Ocean department.
The exhaustion of hill reserves worries
The forecasts are less encouraging this week. “The months of October and November often make the transition between dry season and rainy season,” specifies the specialist. The wet season has therefore not yet started and the level of rainfall in November reaches 60%, whereas it should be “around 70%” at this time.
The situation is explained on the one hand by El Niño in the Pacific, which causes abnormally high temperatures in the ocean, and on the other hand by the Indian Ocean dipole, a phenomenon of irregular oscillation of ocean temperatures. surface of the sea. In Mayotte, these two phenomena should result in more precipitation than normal in December, January and February.
In this context, the exhaustion of hill reservoir reserves, which along with rivers are one of the main sources of water supply in the territory, is worrying. When they are empty, only 20,000 m³ of water will be available each day and supply difficulties in the south of the island will be significant. Today, daily consumption struggles to drop below 26,000 m³.