The rain came again this Friday March 8 in the morning in the Pyrénées-Orientales.
Not much compared to the deficit recorded for two years, it fell between 5 and 10 mm in a short rainy spell.
Millimeters in addition to those that fell last week, the first real significant rains in two years.
It then fell between 20 and 40 mm on average in the department, up to 50 mm on the Côte Vermeille, 60 mm in the upper Agly valley, 100 mm very occasionally.
In addition to the good they do to vegetation which is suffering greatly, these rains have had no influence on the level of surface water tables, the situation of which remains critical for the supply of drinking water.
However, they made it possible to release water from the dams.
“The rains of last week made it possible to “fit” 3 million cubic meters into the reservoir on the Agly…” explains Jean Bertrand, in charge of the water file at the Chamber of Agriculture.
Storms ahead!
But we are still far from the mesh for this reservoir which can store 27 million cubic meters.
“It would have to reach 15 or 20 million cubic meters to hope for a normal season.
» The department's other major reservoir, the Vinça dam, is currently following a “normal filling curve”.
It has currently stored a little more than 7.5 million cubic meters, mainly provided by the electricity production turbines of Lake Bouillouses, in which only 3 million usable cubic meters remain.
And the department is holding its breath, Météo France is still forecasting a rough spell with storms next week and more rain and snow this weekend.
What hope can we make up for the snow cover deficit?
Response Monday.