It was in the office of the Minister of Ecological Transition or by videoconference that local stakeholders, elected officials and water managers discussed the definition of the anti-drought plan for the department on Thursday May 16, 2024. A first “warm-up lap” before Christophe Béchu’s trip to Perpignan next week.
As promised, Minister Christophe Béchu will therefore return to Perpignan in the coming days, probably on Wednesday according to the Ministry of Ecological Transition. A trip awaited since last March when the minister arranged a meeting with the entire local political and economic class, during the Pyrénées-Orientales mayors’ fair. But in order not to come back empty-handed, the minister had clearly set his conditions by asking local decision-makers to give him as soon as possible a list of short or medium-term projects, the most advanced possible, to secure water resources on the territory.
It was therefore a meeting of the highest importance which was held on Thursday at the ministry. The mayor of Argelès-sur-Mer, Antoine Parra, was seated next to the minister while many other guests attended by video. Because, during this exchange, the last before the next ministerial visit, Christophe Béchu made his choice. The minister took the decisions that will influence the anti-drought strategy for the coming years. “A 5-axis strategy”, according to the elements which “leaked” from this mini-summit on the water. Short-term projects on the reuse of wastewater would thus be selected; observation and collection of data on groundwater samples to secure drinking water; work on the management of irrigation canals; a section on more collective management of the resource as well as the mission of the new Mr. Water, would complete the challenges of the roadmap that the minister will unveil. With perhaps also additional or complementary details to the plan agreed on Thursday and which will be presented next week.
Green light to study the extension of the Aqua Domitia pipe?
And if the mayor of Argelès-sur-Mer was in Paris, it is because his project for the reuse of treated wastewater is among the developments that could be selected by the minister. Like that of the Saint-Cyprien wastewater treatment plant implemented by Mayor Thierry del Poso. Or like the idea of reinjecting treated wastewater from Perpignan into the Têt, towards Ille-sur-Têt, supported by the president of the urban community of Perpignan, Robert Vila. Three projects with study files completed or almost, and which the minister could half finance, again according to an anonymous Source who attended the meeting. Because Christophe Béchu wants something concrete, in the short or long term. And as he announced on Thursday, the minister would also be in favor of examining the solution of an extension of the Aqua Domitia network to bring water from the Rhône to the Pyrénées-Orientales. The State should thus provide part of the aid for the study with the Occitanie region and BRL, the network operator.
