It looks like a forest path, stony, with a thin puddle in the middle.
It is in fact the ru d'Ancœuil in Blandy (Seine-et-Marne), completely dry.
Unheard of since 1983. The shooting dates from August 2022, a record summer for drought in Île-de-France, hit hard by global warming.
"And the risks of drought will become more and more important in the years to come", warns Félix Boilève, head of the risk prevention service at the regional directorate for the environment (Drieat), during a press conference this Tuesday on the prevention of natural risks.
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The finding is unequivocal: the monthly flow recorded in 80% of the stations was in July and August 2022 lower than the monthly flow for an average month of July or August.
These data come from 85 stations measuring the height of rivers and their flow in the region.
About fifteen agents carry out readings three times a week.
For two-thirds of the stations, the minimum flows for 2022 were among the ten lowest flows measured.
Note that the flow of the Marne, at Gournay, was the third lowest flow since 1974.
The Blandy ru in August 2022 was dry.
Unheard of since 1983.
And this despite the “low water level support” which makes it possible to restore the water stored in winter in the four large lakes of the Seine to supply the Marne, the Seine, the Yonne and the Aube.
In summer, this restitution of the great lakes, located 200 km from Paris, represents up to 60% of the flow of the Seine in Paris.
Consequently, restrictions are enacted by order, according to four levels of severity.
Watering restrictions, street cleaning, filling of swimming pools and bodies of water, irrigation… “The restrictions affect everyone, individuals, communities, professionals”, insists Joanna Brunelle, from the water policy and police department.
On August 25, the whole region was still affected.
The restrictions are graduated by level depending on the severity of the drought.
They are updated nationwide, on the “Propluvia” website.
More than 1.8 million Ile-de-France residents affected in the event of flooding
After the summer drought, it is now the risks of flooding that are of concern to specialists.
A useful application helps to inform the general public.
This "Cartoviz" application details potential flood zones.
Set up with the Paris Region Institute, it allows you to know, by address, if you will have your feet in the water in the event of a flood.
And, it is a novelty of the year, if the heating and sanitation networks will be impacted.
“We are all the better prepared when we are informed,” summarizes Simon Carrage, geographer at the Paris Region Institute, to explain the usefulness of this application.
Clearly, it is not because we do not have our feet in the water that we are not impacted.
And if we know that, we can organize ourselves better.
"You can very well keep your feet dry, but you can no longer work,
In the event of major floods, 900,000 Ile-de-France residents would be in flooded areas, and double that, or more than 1.8 million inhabitants, affected by equipment malfunctions.