The images are distressing: the superficial lake of Broc, on the heights of Nice (Alpes-Maritimes), at the level of Saint-Martin du Var, is nothing more than a gigantic crater of 25 hectares.
Hit hard by the drought that has hit the department since the beginning of the year, this vast expanse of water appreciated by walkers and fishermen as much as by the fauna that inhabits it, has almost disappeared.
Photos published on social networks bear witness to this.
“For lack of precipitation and after a particularly hot summer, the artificial lake is almost dry.
Place now in a vast stony expanse and a few rare plots of water”
, alert on Twitter Météo Côte d'Azur.
An unprecedented situation that worries both fishermen and biologists.
“The water level drops by 15 to 20 cm every day.
In three weeks there will be no more life in this lake
,” lamented Wednesday morning on
BFM Côte d'Azur
the president of the Alpes-Maritimes Fishing Federation, Jean-Luc Cerutti.
In fact, Lac du Broc has lost nearly 8 meters of water in one year.
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“Today it is dry. It is therefore not possible to measure the alluvial water table. What we do know is that it is much lower than the 14 meters from the bottom of the borehole"
, remarked Anne-Laure Thaon, hydrologist engineer, head of the water resource center at the Syndicat Mixte for her part. Floods, Development and Water Management (SMIAGE), on BFM.
In other words, this means that the last episodes of strong heat have led to abnormal drying of groundwater.
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To overcome the lack of water, exceptional measures have been taken, particularly with regard to the preservation of aquatic fauna.
Oxygenators - small electrical boxes sending oxygen into the water and vital to the survival of fish - were for example installed in early September in the few remaining pockets of water.
On September 9, the president of the Alpes-Maritimes departmental council, Charles-Ange Ginésy, announced the creation of a departmental water observatory intended to better manage water resources and finance projects to save it. .
This for the sake of ecology and the fight against the environmental crisis.
This plan of 25 million euros must be presented to the plenary assembly of the Departmental Council this Friday.
It is based on four pillars: the fight against water loss by increasing the average efficiency of networks from 70 to 90%, support for innovative water-saving devices and wastewater reuse projects, the creation assistance to professionals and individuals for the purchase of water collectors and the improvement of knowledge to act.