Between ‘too much water’ and ‘not enough’, rural communities in France are on the frontline of climate change, but they fear that when the transfer of powers is completed in 2026, they will no longer have a say in the management of this resource because they feel they are being treated less favourably than the cities, the French TV5 Monde reports.
By the summer of 2022, around 1,000 small communities were in difficulty, with nearly 750 having to rely on tanker trucks or bottled water. To improve water management and combat leaks, responsibility for water and sanitation will be transferred from the single municipalities to the communities of municipalities (communautés de communes) on 1 January 2026.
Some fear a loss of direct control. Others believe that this decision is just playing for time, because the problem is much wider and should be addressed on a much higher (national) level. Others again fear that the price of water will rise. More generally, it is the relationship between rural and urban areas that is being questioned. Rural councillors, whose municipalities account for 88% of the country, are calling for greater involvement in the management of the natural resources they protect and help to maintain.
Due to a lack of water, some municipalities have decided to stop granting new building permits. Philippe Algrain, whose municipality has welcomed 250 new inhabitants between two censuses (“far too many” in his view), says:
‘We’re completing the revision of the local urban development plan to stop urbanisation because we’ve reached the limit, particularly in terms of sanitation.’.
Benjamin Raquin, mayor of Grand-Corent (Ain), admits:
‘Water is the first issue that has brought us to the limits of our housing development model.’
