All this rain ... and yet new water consumption restrictions announced in the Loiret

The information is surprising, in the light of the many episodes of rain that have assiduously swept the Center-Val de Loire since the spring.

In the Loiret, the groundwater has been unevenly recharged.

Some territories show, at the beginning of summer, a deficit level.

Several rivers have even crossed the reinforced alert thresholds, confirmed by the flow readings taken at the end of June.

Read alsoWeather: a drought predicted for this summer, particularly in the east

The Loiret Prefecture therefore decided at the end of last week to limit individual consumption in the Bec d'Able, Aveyron, Bonnée, Milleron, Solin and Cosson basins.

The municipalities around Montargis, Ferté-Saint-Aubin, Sully-sur-Loire and Ouzouer-sur-Loire are concerned.

Limit discharges into waterways

Consequently, watering - with the exception of vegetable gardens - and the filling of swimming pools and water bodies are limited or even prohibited around the Milleron, Solin and Cosson basins.

Night watering is however tolerated.

The services of the Prefecture indicate that "water retention in water bodies is indeed one of the major causes of the deterioration of the state of rivers, particularly in Sologne or in the east of the department"

Communities and businesses are also asked to limit discharges as much as possible "to avoid any immediate impact on the watercourse and fish life".

These new preventive measures should allow the rivers concerned to recharge.

In May,

a similar decree had already been signed to restrict the use of water, concerning twelve municipalities located east of Loiret.

The latter restrictions were lifted a month later.