Drought: Lac du Broc, near Nice, has given way to a lunar landscape

It is the life-size illustration of the extreme drought that has been raging since last winter in the Alpes-Maritimes.

The artificial lake of Broc, one of the largest in the department, about twenty kilometers from Nice (Alpes-Maritimes), is practically dry at the beginning of October.

Its turquoise water has shrunk from an area of ​​25 hectares to one, leaving behind a desolate stony desert where, under the gaze of rare intrepid herons, mud cracked by the sun and the last puddles mingle.

Something to shock the regulars, many of whom usually enjoy the aquatic landscape of this departmental park located in the Var plain.

“A year ago, the lake reached the trees.

I can not believe it !

“, laments a cyclist, forced to dismount in front of this lunar panorama.

Gathered "in the central body of water", the fish remain on borrowed time

Faced with the seriousness of the situation in this site renowned for its pike, carp and other black bass, which has lost five to ten meters in depth in places, the Departmental Fisheries Federation carried out three rescue operations this summer.

“We grouped the fish in the central pond, explains François Masset, hydrologist of the Federation, and we installed aerators to oxygenate the water at night.

“Unfortunately if within three weeks the rains are not consistent (which is not currently expected) this fauna may not survive.

Read alsoClimate change: how the Côte d'Azur "barricades" itself against floods

Specialists can only see the extent of the damage.

Anne-Laure Thaon, technical adviser to the Syndicat mixte for floods, development and water management, believes that “it would take a lot of precipitation” for the lake to regain a normal pace.

“It is fed by the alluvial aquifer,” she adds.

One of our control probes which controls it is dry at 14 meters deep.

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In the meantime, a possible rescue from the skies, the suggestion box is open.

The mayor of Broc, Philippe Heura, is looking for a solution: “With the prefecture and the department, we are looking at torrents, perhaps to be captured or diverted or bring water from the neighboring Var river.

All this is regulated, complicated.

But we can't count on rain alone.

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