7th August, 2022
Amid heatwave and a historic drought that is being called the worst on record in the country, France is running out of drinking water.
More than 100 communities are reportedly in need of drinking water and authorities are trucking in water in an attempt to ease the burden.
“There is nothing left in the pipes,” Minister for Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu said, according to a report by Sputnik International.
The drought is affecting the vast majority of mainland France, which only saw 0.38 inches of rain during the month of July, the driest on record since March 1961.
Some nuclear power plants have had to reduce their output because the surrounding river water is too warm to cool the reactors down.
Bushes and trees are also shedding their leaves early making the landscape appear more like autumn than summer. Irrigation has also been banned in much of the country.
The effects are expected to reverberate into an already dire food situation in Europe. Many fear that the drought will reduce crop yields this year and with imports from Ukraine and Russia already much lower than normal, prices, already high, are expected to rise even higher.
Livestock farmers in the Alps have also been forced to drive into the valley every day to collect water for their animals, adding significantly to their costs, which could increase prices for meat as well as grain and vegetables.
France is not alone in expecting lower crop yields this year. Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria are also expected to have lower-than-expected yields due to the heatwave.