Lack of water in the South of France creates life or death situation for vineyards

s the current heatwave expedites harvesting across France, the rate of picking is even faster in the southern part of the country where drought has shrivelled grapes on the vines. We ask the chairman of France’s independent winegrowers’ association, Jean-Marie Fabre, to provide an update on the emergency measures needed.

What is the current climate during harvest season?

The emergency today is the climate. In Pyrenees-Orientales and the coastline of Aude and Hérault, there has been a shortage of water for 17 months. The vineyards are beginning to die, some vines won’t survive the autumn. The defining feature of the 2023 vintage is this disaster. The time has come to act to prevent weather hazards such as frost and hail, and control water. The wine regions of Occitanie need a signal, otherwise, in three years’ time a significant share of vineyards will have disappeared. And if there are no vineyards, olive groves or almond trees, not much else will grow here. We need a major emergency climate plan immediately. Vineyards are starting to fail. What we need now is not thinking and experiments but rapid action.

Within this very short timeframe, which solutions would be best to irrigate vineyards – re-use of waste water, catchment reservoirs…?

It doesn’t matter where the water comes from, it has to be used! Progress has been made with use of waste water and now that has to be put into practice and not just trialled in experiments. Catchment reservoirs and flood retention basins harness excess water to ensure that we don’t lose more lives as we did in 1999, 2007 and 2018 in the region. We stand and watch as millions of cubic metres of water flow by without being able to protect ourselves from it and use part of it when we have a water shortage. A direct signal for the industry members who experience hazardous weather is needed.

Vines don’t provide diet staples so how can we justify access to water?

Vines do not provide food for people but they do play a part in protecting biodiversity and combatting wild fires, whilst at the same time making the atmosphere more breathable and damp through evapotranspiration. Coping with climate change implies leaving vines where they are. And I have deliberately not mentioned issues such as employment and the economy of the industry.