Global warming, drought, water management, etc. Faced with major environmental challenges and after a scorching summer of 2022, Emmanuel Macron, traveling Thursday to Savines-le-Lac, in the Hautes-Alpes, unveiled the main lines of the highly anticipated “water plan”. A plan that includes 53 measures and a keyword: sobriety. 20 minutes looks back on the main announcements of the president.
Future basins conditioned to save water
This is the hot news of the moment. Five days after the clashes in Sainte-Soline against the mega-basins, the Head of State spoke on this subject. He reaffirmed the usefulness of artificial water storage for farmers, but proposed that future ones take better account of water scarcity.
“It’s not about privatizing water. Or to allow some to appropriate it”, he declared, repeating that water was “essential to our food sovereignty”. But he asked that future works be conditional on “significant changes in practices”, starting with water savings and a reduction in the use of pesticides by farmers.
According to official statistics, “agriculture is the leading water-consuming activity with 58% of the total, ahead of drinking water (26%), cooling power plants (12%), and industrial uses (4% )” out of the 4.1 billion cubic meters withdrawn each year without being returned to aquatic environments.
10% less water withdrawn by 2030
The first objective is to achieve -10% of water withdrawn by 2030 in the country, with for this a “sobriety plan” which will concern all sectors, on the model of what has been done in energy . The president announced an upcoming meeting of “50 industrial sites” “which have the greatest potential for reducing water consumption”. He also wanted investments to encourage EDF’s nuclear power plants to “save water”.
By the summer, a public communication campaign will be launched to encourage sobriety. Emmanuel Macron announced the implementation of an “EcoWatt for water” based on the model of the instrument set up to reduce electricity consumption in the event of a risk of power cuts.
Reuse 10% of wastewater by 2030
France currently reuses less than 1% of its wastewater. President Macron set Thursday the objective of passing the 10% mark by 2030. “We have decided to launch 1,000 projects in five years to recycle and reuse water” and “ultimately, we want to reuse 300 million cubic meters, i.e. 3 Olympic swimming pools per municipality (…) or 3,500 bottles of water per French person and per year”, declared the president.
By way of comparison, in Israel, more than 90% of wastewater is reused in this way. On a European scale, Spain reuses 14%, and Italy, 8%. The government wants to mobilize 180 million euros per year to “urgently” reduce water leaks in France in the most sensitive points, announced the Head of State. “One in five liters of water is lost due to leaks, it’s unacceptable,” said Emmanuel Macron.
Generalize “progressive water pricing”
Emmanuel Macron has announced that he wants to generalize the “progressive pricing” of water, experienced in certain territories since 2017. Beyond a certain basic volume, the price will increase to deter excessive use.
“That does not mean that the price of water will increase, it is also today in the average when we look at the price of water in France”, he specified. As for the water agencies, which finance a large part of the projects intended to better manage, preserve or reuse water resources, he plans to “increase their annual budget by 500 million euros” per year, currently 2 .2 billion euros.
Reduce leaks
Some 180 million euros, out of the additional 475 million per year, are planned to reduce “emergency” water leaks in France in the most sensitive points.
The plan specifies that this aid to communities will be “conditioned on performance objectives for the management of their heritage”. The “black spots” where the leak rates are greater than 50%, are 170 in number in France, indicates the executive without specifying exactly where they are located.
Adapt nuclear power plants
“We must adapt our nuclear power plants to climate change by undertaking a vast investment program to save water and allow them to operate much more in a closed circuit”, detailed the president, announcing an investment plan, not yet quantified, for the country’s third-largest water consumer.
The production of electricity is at the origin of 51% of water withdrawals in France, and 12% of consumption, recalled the president while shelling the fifty measures of his plan.