Will there be enough water to finish summer?

“My garden, my meadow, everything is dry. I just try to save what can be in the vegetable patch, “sighs Jacques Lucbert, in Saint-Août in Indre, one of the departments most affected by water restrictions in early July. The retiree is still in shock from the flash war waged by heat: “Here, winter was much more rainy than normal, the tablecloths were well recharged … And yet in a few weeks, we tilted towards an intense drought. »The reason? The increase in temperatures which accelerates the evapotranspiration of the plants and the drying of the soil. “The climate of Indre has already warmed 2.5 ° C compared to the end of the 19th century,” he said.

Barely in summer started, water resources are already in tension on part of the territory. At the beginning of July 2025, around sixty departments were in drought vigilance or subject to drinking water restrictions (see card below), against 13 at the same period in 2024. The abnormally hot spring and a particularly marked rainfall deficit in the north of the Loire (40 % below normal) are the cause.

In mid-June 2025, the level of 80 % of water tables, these precious groundwater castles, was down. With contrasting situations according to the territories, very unequal at the time of retaining the drops fallen from the sky. “In Brittany, in the Massif Central and the Grand Est, the tablecloths are very reactive, that is to say that they flow quickly into the rivers and do not hold water on site,” explains Violaine Bault, hydrogeologist at the geological and mining research office. Conversely, in the East Lyon and the Paris basin, their flow is very slow and it takes several dry winters before they deteriorate: they should therefore easily spend summer. »»

Anticipate and adapt

How far will drought this year go? And with what consequences for humans and natural environments? On the sky side, the forecasts are not good. Météo-France announces a warmer and drier summer than normal, even if short episodes of freshness remain possible. If this scenario is realized, a large number of French people will be affected by constraints, such as limitation, even ban, watering of vegetable gardens or gardens.

Fortunately, the lessons of the too late and chaotic management of the drought of 2022 were drawn: all the prefects had to anticipate the measures to be taken by drawing up a framework order in consultation with the inhabitants, environmental associations, fishermen, farmers, etc. And their obligation to trigger them within five working days after having made the observation of insufficient water resources. “This new approach aims to avoid reaching the level of the crisis where only priority uses such as health or civil security are authorized. This gradually reducing samples from the natural environment, ”explains Sébastien Abric, to the direction of water and biodiversity.

In fact, in addition to heat and lack of rain, it is also the growing imbalance between our uses and the availability of blue gold that causes droughts. Practicing water savings on a large scale is still the best way to hold on to the fall.