Where is the project in Deux-Sèvres?

In March 2023, the anti-basin mobilization in Sainte-Soline, in Deux-Sèvres, made headlines for its violent clashes between police and demonstrators. More than a year later, the opposition is still as strong as three water reserves are currently under construction. From July 16 to 21, 2024, the collective Basins, no thanks! is organizing, with several environmental associations, a “Water Village”. The event should welcome at least 10,000 opponents of the “mega-basins”, in the small municipality of Melle, a few kilometers from Sainte-Soline.

Environmental activists denounce the poor adaptation to climate issues of these artificial water reservoirs, which will pump from groundwater to irrigate farms. “The Water Village will welcome activists from several countries around the world,” explains a member of the collective. Basins, no thanks!. We want to show that these basins, in Argentina or even in Spain, already have disastrous consequences on the environment because they dry up the watercourses.”

Sainte-Soline works on technical pause

For their part, several agricultural federations claim that these water reserves are now necessary for the survival of farms, to cope with the drought. In France, the Government estimates that there are around a hundred projects for basins intended to respond to this water crisis. The Coop de l’eau 79, which represents more than 300 farms in Deux-Sèvres, is leading the project of sixteen “substitution reservoirs” in the Poitevin region.

Of these sixteen projects, only one reservoir is currently in service, in Mauzé-sur-le-Mignon, since 2022. With a capacity of 240,000 m3, the infrastructure is less ambitious than its neighbor in Sainte-Soline, currently under construction to fill 628,000 m3 of water. “The work at Sainte-Soline has been delayed but is almost finished,” says François Pétorin, administrator of the Coop de l’eau 79 and farmer. “It will resume in the fall and a first filling is planned for this winter.”

Nature took over the construction site for several months, as heavy winter rains prevented the giant basin from being covered. Then, in the spring, the birds’ nesting season led to a pause in the work, as the site is classified as Natura 2000 and several species are protected.

Appeals everywhere in France

In the department, two other reservoirs are under construction, in Priaires and Epannes. The work is well advanced and should be completed at the end of the summer for commissioning in 2025. Finally, in the commune of Saint-Sauvant, on the border between Deux-Sèvres and Vienne, another series of works should begin in September. “The other reservoirs are in the planning stages but the program is running behind schedule,” continues François Pétorin. “It is estimated that it will take another three years to launch the rest of the work.”

Begun fifteen years ago, the project of the sixteen basins continues to slow down due to legal disputes. A first prefectural decree, dated 2017, initially validated 19 basin projects in the Sèvre Niortaise basin, before being rejected to 16 projects. And the collective Basins, no thanks! Today, along with several environmental associations, he is bringing around ten appeals against the basins in France, in addition to asking the State for a moratorium.

“Our associations are still contesting the environmental legality of the sixteen mega basins in Deux-Sèvres before the administrative court of Bordeaux and the hearing is scheduled for the fall, indicates the collective Bassines, non merci!. In our opinion, many protected species are threatened by the works and the volume of water in the basins is oversized compared to the volume of water consumed.”

A setback for the defenders of the basins

The Priaires basin is also at the heart of a local controversy. Since October 2023, an association and a collective of residents have filed a complaint against Marie-Christelle Bouchery, the mayor of the town concerned, in Val-du-Mignon, for conflict of interest. They accuse the mayor of having authorized a development permit for the future reserve while her family farm, consisting of three farms, will be directly connected.

Finally, a final twist has given a positive signal to opponents of mega-basins, a few days before the Water Village. On Tuesday, July 9, the Poitiers administrative court reviewed the annual withdrawal authorization for agricultural irrigation in the Poitevin marsh, issued until 2026. It deemed these withdrawals “excessive” and requested that they be reduced by a quarter, on a provisional basis.

“It is an inconsistent decision because this same administrative court had validated the impact study of the project, sighs François Pétorin. After 15 years of effort and consultation with the agricultural profession on this issue, we do not understand and we are worried.”