The situation of water tables in France is “very favorable” except in Aude, Pyrénées-Orientales and Corsica

The situation of French groundwater continued to improve in May under the effect of the rains and is generally in good condition. “very satisfaying”with the exception of a few regions, leaving “to foresee a less difficult summer period than last year”, according to the BRGM monthly update.

As of June 1, 70% of France’s water tables have levels above normal, compared to 65% a month earlier. Only 19% (compared to 22%) remain at levels below normal, notes the Geological and Mining Research Bureau (BRGM) in a bulletin published Friday.

“It’s a situation which is very satisfactory and which is quite exceptional”greeted Violaine Bault, hydrogeologist at BRGM, during a presentation to the press. “The situation is more favorable than that observed last year, in May 2023, when 66% of levels were below monthly normals”notes the BRGM.

Only the aquifers of the Pyrénées-Orientales and Corsica maintain lower levels than in May 2023specifies the BRGM.

This state “very satisfactory over a large part of the territory” is due to recharging “very surplus” of the winter of 2023-2024 which lasted until May while the rain continued to fall, feeding the aquifers traditionally in the draining phase at this time when vegetation absorbs a large part of the precipitation.

According to Meteo Francemeteorological spring (March-April-May) was “the rainiest since 2008”, “with an anomaly of +45%” precipitation, and May was the rainiest month since 2013. The BRGM estimates that last month was the fourth wettest May for aquifers in 30 years (that is to say in terms of water level compared to normal).

The latest rains have made it possible to improve the situation of certain inertial layers, whose infiltration time is longer, particularly in the Rhône corridor and in the west and south of the Paris basin. On more reactive layers, the situation is “very satisfactory”most of them presenting levels “moderately high to very high”. Recharging continued in May in the wetted areas, from eastern Languedoc to the Armorican massif.

Roussillon, black spot

On the other hand, the situation has deteriorated a little on the aquifers of the Alps and Provence. In Corsica, levels remain heterogeneous, close to or above normal in the west but “low to very low” on Cape Corsica and the eastern part.

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The big black spot still concerns Aude and especially the Pyrénées-Orientalesin the regions of the Corbières massif and the Roussillon plain where the few precipitations fell in April then May “did not make it possible to compensate for the deficits”. “In the Roussillon plain, we have had a lack of recharge for two years. Even if it rained at the beginning of May, it had a very, very limited impact on this sector”notes Violaine Bault. “It first made it possible to moisten the soil, it allowed the vegetation to have a little water but we had a very limited impact on these water tables”according to the specialist.

Throughout France, “the end of the recharge period should become widespread in June unless new rainfall totals are recorded”notes the BRGM, which nevertheless considers that the current situation “suggests levels above normal over the coming weeks.”

For the summer, despite expectations of higher than normal temperatures across the entire territory, the country could experience “a less difficult summer period than last year” where two thirds of the departments were still on red drought alert in October, predicts the public body. However, he invites “vigilance” on the levels of withdrawals from groundwater and concerning the regions of Roussillon, Aude and northern Corsica which could remain strained on water supplies.