Gorges du Verdon dried up due to lack of precipitation, a lake reduced to a trickle: at the start of summer, the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, very popular with European tourists, are facing particularly difficult climatic conditions.
Due to the lack of water, swimming and rafting will be impossible there this summer.
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At the edge of the Castillon Lake beach, enclosed between the Alpine mountains at an altitude of 900 meters, there is not even 40 cm of depth left.
The water has receded as if under the effect of a high tide.
“
When you see this show, it does not make you want to
,” sadly admits Serge Prato, the mayor of Saint-André-les-Alpes, a village of some 980 inhabitants which lives in part from tourism.
The mayor is about to ban swimming, reluctantly, because the water level of the lake is five meters below the usual level.
The water park will not open.
And the pontoon where electric boats and other pedal boats are rented has its feet dry.
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“
We are not even going to make a quarter of our turnover.
Tourists are already pissed off and when there are a lot of people, what will we be able to offer them?
“, Despairs Inès Flores, manager of the Bike Beach nautical base.
“
In a few decades, we have gone from one drought every five years, to three droughts every five years
”, explains Claude Roustan, president of the fishing federation of this department in south-eastern France.
Already like the end of summer
In this corner of the French Alps, a winter with little rain and snow in the Val d'Allos created a "
historic
" hydrological situation, explains Olivier Savoye, territorial delegate for the electricity company EDF for the Verdon.
Dams and artificial lakes were built on this river in the 20th century to ensure the production of electricity but also the water supply from Provence to Marseille and its irrigation.
With their emerald waters, the five lakes and gorges forming the largest canyon in Europe have also become high places for water sports with a million tourists a year, many of whom are Dutch, Belgians or Germans.
But this year, activities will be reduced.
EDF, which has maintained a minimum flow in the Verdon to preserve wildlife, will not release water in the gorges, compromising an entire rafting season for the first time.
In 2017, a very hot year, releases stopped mid-season, but not so soon.
The famous Sainte-Croix lake, one of the largest in France, is at a level at the end of summer.
Nautical activities are maintained for the moment but what will happen in August?
"
Inhabitants and tourists alike must be aware of this exceptional situation
", insists the prefect of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Violaine Démaret, advocating to be very careful with water.
The authorities, for their part, want to enhance the beaches that are still accessible to prevent tourists from crowding in prohibited and dangerous swimming areas.
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Make concessions
It will also be necessary to encourage additional activities (mountain biking, hiking) in this land of lavender, even if the fire a few days ago of 1,800 hectares in a nearby military camp reminded us that the drought also weakens the vegetation.
“
Are we going to be able to do electricity, agriculture, rafting and kayaking at the same time?
wonders Jacques Esptailler, vice-president of the Verdon Regional Natural Park.
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Each actor will have to make concessions: EDF has interrupted its hydroelectric production for six months to preserve other uses, explains Violaine Démaret.
"
We are in the country of Pagnol
Manon's novel of sources
, but it is not everyone's source and their own water
", insists Ms. Démaret when some hamlets have seen their sources dry up and must be supplied with drinking water.