the essential
By restoring existing reservoirs and negotiating with EDF, the Haute-Garonne departmental council, in charge of water resources, will increase the m3 of water available for this summer of 2025. Reflection on the creation of reserves continues .
Summer 2025 is now. And to deal with a drought like those of 2022 and 2023, the organization which manages summer water releases in the Garonne, SMEAG, with its partners (Department of Haute-Garonne, Water Agency , State…), is preparing. The departmental council continues to roll out the roadmap for its Territorial Project to increase the reserves available upstream of the Garonne. And this year begins with good news. Without even having dug new reservoirs, thanks to the restoration of reserves and negotiations with EDF for existing dams, SMEAG will benefit from more m3 of water.
Along the Touch, the five reserves owned by agricultural associations and a river union have been restored so that it will be possible to count on 4 million m3. From Lake Oô, 10 million m3, or 2 more than last year, can be released. And the Filhet reserve, near Mas d'Azil in Ariège, is 100% full with 1.5 million m3. “We have more than doubled the available reserves” of Haute-Garonne, rejoices Jean-Michel Fabre, president of SMEAG and vice-president of the Department. And this by pursuing a logic which aims to do first with what already exists.
Storage in the tablecloth
The water that passes into the Garonne in summer in Toulouse mainly comes from high-altitude dams in Ariège managed by EDF. Since 2020, the available stock has been increased (53 million for 2025 and up to 71 by adding the reserves transiting via Tarn and Aveyron). This Wednesday, at the National Assembly, Jean-Michel Fabre will also be heard as part of a mission on the management method of large dams.
-On the sensitive subject of the creation of new reserves, the Department is continuing its studies and is not revealing its maps for the moment. The goal is to move forward “step by step by involving all the players in the region”, underlines Jean-Michel Fabre.
Many other avenues continue to be explored. Water storage in groundwater, an innovation tested since 2020, continues. An observatory to measure the flow of springs was launched. Likewise, the Department will study the fluvio-glacial reserves, the deep layers located in the foothills, “not to use them but to know them better.”
