The State limits the water consumption of industrialists in the event of drought

The State has decided to set national restrictions on the withdrawal of water from certain classified industrial sites, in times of drought, according to a decree published on Wednesday in the Official Journal. This text targets “facilities classified for the protection of the environment” (ICPE), industrial or even agricultural sites at risk of nuisance or pollution.

The measure concerns sites whose annual water withdrawal exceeds 10,000 m3 and which are subject to authorization or registration. But the decree also defines the terms of exemption for certain installations. Until now, restrictions on water could be decided by prefectural decrees, in the event of tensions over the resource. This “national decree will not prevent more restrictive measures being taken locally”, underlines the Ministry of Ecological Transition.

According to this text, a drought “vigilance” situation will lead to “increased staff awareness of the rules for proper use and water saving according to a written procedure displayed on site”. In the event of an alert, the water withdrawal will be reduced by 5%. It will be -10% in the event of an "enhanced alert", and -25% in the event of a crisis. Are exempted the installations of collection of water intended for human consumption (drinking water or packaged water), for the establishments of health and the social services, for the watering of the animals, the agri-food transformation "in pushed flow" (transformation of perishable agricultural raw materials).

Also excluded are production sites for drugs “of major therapeutic interest or drugs contributing to a public health policy defined by the Minister of Health”, and waste treatment sites. This decree also does not concern electricity production sites, in particular nuclear power plants, nor renewable energy production facilities (biomass, biogas, etc.).