“It’s unbelievable to see water disappearing when we don’t have any”: the controversy surrounding the sale of a spring.
In Montagnac, Hérault, the privatisation of a spring for bottled water continues to cause controversy. The town council sold a plot of land and its water table to CGES, a subsidiary of the Alma group, for just 37,000 euros.
The story begins in 1986. At the time, the Ribes brothers, based in Montagnac, halfway between Montpellier and Béziers, were setting up a catfish farm. The ponds scattered around the estate were home to the legendary large fish, whose tender flesh was highly prized in Eastern Europe. The water was drawn from an immense aquifer 1,400 metres below the surface.
When the Ribes brothers died ten years ago, they had no heirs and the estate passed into the hands of Safer (Sociétés d’aménagement foncier et d’établissement rural) and then the town council. This exceptional natural resource is the subject of much covetousness. Recently, and very discreetly, the town council sold the land and the well to a bottled water giant, the Sources Alma group, much to the despair of the local population.
“This is where the plant will be built,” says Christophe Savary de Beauregard, president of the “Veille au grain” association, pointing to a plot of land. “We’ll be living 500 metres from this future factory. If it goes ahead – and we hope it doesn’t – it would really be a disaster for our oenology and for the wine tourism we are developing. Just imagine, right next to a factory!” A significant loss of income for the winegrowers who own cottages in the area.
Christophe Savary de Beauregard denounces the madness of privatising water in a region where it is scarce. “We don’t have drinking water, and we’re not the only ones, which seems inconceivable, because normally it’s a right. To see water disappear when we don’t have it seems unbelievable,” he continues.
“They speculated”
In Montagnac, members of the “Veille au grain” association point to irregularities in the sale to the Sources Alma group. “They speculated on agricultural land without disclosing the existence of the borehole,” says one of the participants. According to them, the price of the land – and its blue gold – was greatly underestimated.
“The land at the spring was sold for 37,000 euros, but its real value is between 1 and 100 million euros,” says Vincent Lapasset, a member of the Veille au Grain association. “The aim is to stop the sale. It’s a scandal that this water should go elsewhere and be monetised in this way. What’s more, the sale is impossible because there is a summary judgement. Everyone has been working behind the scenes on this for years,” the association’s president stresses.
The public prosecutor in Béziers has taken up the case and opened an investigation. “We are very hopeful that the public prosecutor will open an investigation. It’s a 20th century project that has no place in a century where we’re talking about ecological transition. It’s unacceptable,” concludes Vincent Lapasset.
Why did the town council hand over its spring to the giant ore company? When contacted, we were told that she could not comment because of the ongoing legal proceedings.
