Drought puts pressure on France: Water use restrictions affect nearly 70% of regions

France is facing increasing pressure on its water resources following months of repeated heatwaves, prompting authorities to expand restrictions on water use as they prepare for an emergency meeting to discuss the impacts of drought.

According to AFP, the French government announced that approximately 70% of French regions are subject to water use restrictions. The Ministry of Ecological Transition confirmed that the effects of climate change are intensifying pressure on available resources.

As of August 9, 99 departments were placed on water resource alert, including 67 classified at the crisis level—the highest alert stage—along with 21 departments under heightened alert.

The crisis level restricts water use to essential needs, including drinking water, health, civil security, and sanitation. Restrictions at lower levels affect certain irrigation activities, swimming pool filling, and car washing.

In July, Minister of Ecological Transition Monika Poubelle noted that drinking water supplies were under pressure in dozens of departments, with more than 30,000 people affected by outages that required water delivery via tankers or bottled supplies.