They are accused of illegally digging a water reservoir for irrigation. Two leaders of the Chamber of Agriculture of Lot-et-Garonne are judged Thursday on appeal to Agen in the case of the “Lake of Caussade”, at the heart of a conflict between defenders of rurality, protectors of the environment and State.
To defend the lake and its “builders” Serge Bousquet-Cassagne and Patrick Franken, sentenced in July 2020 to 9 and 8 months in prison, several hundred farmers met in front of the courthouse, with tractors and trailers, at the request of the Rural Coordination (CR 47, majority).
Judicial saga
Located north of Villeneuve-sur-Lot, in the town of Pinel-Hauterive, this water reservoir was dug in 2019 by the chamber of agriculture, managed by the CR 47, for about twenty farmers wishing to irrigate their farms in the dry season.
Irrigation reservoir for Lake Caussade (47): just common sense in the peasantry! LMR will be in court today in support of farmers https://t.co/23wGM9NVzG
– Eddie PUYJALON (@EddiePuyjalon) October 28, 2021
Contested by environmental associations but supported by elected officials from the right and the left, this artificial lake has given rise to a legal saga coupled with a dialogue of the deaf since the cancellation at the end of 2018 – after the intervention of the ministries of the ecological transition and the ‘Agriculture – of a prefectural decree authorizing the works.
“Fight of the city rat against the field rat”
Administratively, the court confirmed in February on appeal the illegality of the work, incompatible with the master plan for water development and management and yet operational since last year. According to the prefecture of Lot-et-Garonne in 2020, a report also concluded that it presented a “proven risk of rupture”.
“This fight of the city rat against the field rat will never stop,” warned Serge Bousquet-Cassagne, president of the Chamber of Agriculture, after his conviction by the Criminal Court of Agen. France Nature Environnement (FNE), civil party, was pleased that “environmental and ecological delinquency” is sanctioned.
The restoration of the site had not been ordered
The sentences of Serge Bousquet-Cassagne and Patrick Franken were accompanied by the revocation of a suspension of 4 and 14 months respectively, attached to a subsequent conviction. They had each been sentenced to a fine of 7,000 euros and the Chamber of Agriculture to a fine of 40,000 euros, including 20,000 suspended.
But the criminal court had not ordered the restoration of the site, contrary to the requisitions of the prosecution and the requests of associations for the defense of the environment. In February, the Administrative Court of Appeal of Bordeaux had not followed this path either.
An audience that risks being “a little hectic”
“If someone decides to touch (the lake of Caussade), the farmers of Lot-et-Garonne will not let it be”, has already warned Serge Bousquet-Cassagne, known for his outspokenness.
Conservationists do not plan a counter-demonstration Thursday against farmers. “We do not want to add fuel to the fire, unlike the Rural Coordination,” says one at FNE, which says it expects “a somewhat hectic audience”.