A charter of commitment, presented this Tuesday, April 11, 2023 to the press, will be proposed to all the municipalities of the department as part of the emergency action and responsibility plan in the face of drought. A national first aimed at accentuating the collective effort but also at launching an appeal for individual cost-saving measures.
Faced with a historic drought, the Pyrénées-Orientales are the only department in France not to have lifted the measures restricting the use of water since the spring of 2022 but rather to have reinforced them for a few weeks in view of a situation “extremely worrying”. However, constraining appears ultimately less effective than encouraging everyone to take responsibility for saving water. This is the lever on which the authorities are betting today.
In line with the mobilization of all the economic actors of the territory on March 22, the prefect Rodrigue Furcy and the president of the association of mayors of France (AMF) 66 Edmond Jorda have drawn up a charter of municipal commitment which will be proposed to all the communes of the department in order to be adopted by deliberation of the municipal council. For an indefinite period. A national first intended to launch a call for collective effort to accentuate the limitations of uses, following a “contract” broken down into nine points. Each municipality undertakes to report to the State services any possible difficulty concerning the continuity of the drinking water supply (currently 15 to 20 municipalities are at risk on this point). It ensures that a maximum savings plan is launched as soon as possible on all communal equipment and buildings (management of municipal swimming pools, premises, leisure centres, etc.) and to launch a consultation with the population, economic players , associations and athletes to seek additional and voluntary sobriety leads.
The local authority must also carry out information operations for residents and tourists on the measures in force and good practices, encourage individuals to implement prefectural orders and extend, if necessary, the provisions prefectural by municipal decisions. In addition, each adhering town hall will have to set up or help to install water collectors and any individual system for saving drinking water. Finally, it will have to participate in exchanges with the administrations in charge of regulating the use of water, display in town hall and in public spaces the logo “My municipality is committed. Let’s save water!” and designate an elected referent for all these questions.
A “communication kit” will be distributed and a small vade-mecum on solution ideas such as the recovery of gray water and overflow water from swimming pools by filtering it in buffer tanks, the installation of blocks in the flushes of water to reduce consumption, or the reuse of water from campsite showers for toilets…
“In the proximity of the field, we are best able to convey the messages“
“The objective is 226 municipalities out of 226”, launches the prefect. “I’m not worried”, continues, just as confident, the president of the mayors of the P.-O. “The issue of water yield is fundamental”explains Edmond Jorda. “We are mobilized to face the challenges for agriculture, the economic world, the environment, tourist resorts. And if we have launched investments in the food networks, we are ready to make our commitments urgently Because, close to the ground, we are best able to get the message across. And then, the municipalities must be exemplary. We know that it is a long-term job, with a reflection on urban planning, public facilities…There is no miracle solution”.
The deadline for the anti-drought plan is April 30. The next step is set for April 25 with the examination of all the voluntary savings proposals made by the professional sectors impacted or having an impact in terms of water resources. “If the actors are not sufficiently committed, restrictions are to be expected”, warns Rodrigue Furcy. At the same time, a report will be drawn up on the number of municipalities that have endorsed the charter. The drought committee will meet on April 27 to decide on the renewal, or even the strengthening, of the measures which will take effect on May 1.
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