Drought: 64,000 people in France remain without tap water

France’s ongoing drought crisis continues to disrupt daily life, as 64,000 people remain without access to tap water. 

This is the number of people “who still need to be supplied by tanker trucks or bottled water for drinking, cooking, and washing,” said Minister for Ecological Transition Monique Barbut yesterday. 

However, this number has “decreased since last week,” she said. 

The minister made the comments at the opening of the Comité d'anticipation et de suivi hydrologique (hydrological anticipation and monitoring committee) in Orléans (Loiret) on Wednesday, 9 September.

Communes across France are impacted by a lack of tap water, coming after fierce summer droughts left local aquifers and reservoirs completely dry. 

Despite some rainfall at the end of August, around 6.4 million people across France remain under the risk of losing tap water access. 

For these people, “distribution remains normal, but the water resource is showing signs of strain,” said the minister.

“This is 223,000 more than on August 24,” she added, pointing towards an early autumn that brings no relief to France’s water network. 

Again, communes affected cover areas across mainland France, but are concentrated in a belt across central France, where water table levels are lowest. 

Communes being serviced by water tankers bringing resources directly to a water tower can continue to use taps, etc, although may be limited in how often they can. 

For residents of communes where bottled water is being distributed, taps are completely switched off. 

More information on what to do if your commune turns off tap water is available in our article here. 

Drought crisis deepens

Indeed, France’s drought crisis shows no sign of slowing down as autumn approaches. 

In its most recent report, the Bureau de recherches géologiques et minières (BRGM, national geological survey) recorded 61% of France’s water tables being below average for the start of September. 

Areas hit particularly hard are the north (all areas except from the basin south of Paris are at below average levels), the west coast, the east, and the south-west around Bordeaux. 

You can read the report, as well as see how conditions compare to 2025, here. Below is the BRGM graphic showing groundwater shortages: areas coloured red denote the regions where groundwater is lowest; orange denotes the next lowest followed by pale orange and yellow; blue is the least affected. 

Areas served by rivers and streams instead of aquifers are also struggling, with nearly half of France’s small waterways thought to have dried up over the summer. 

Current forecasts point to a fortnight without any significant rain across France, meaning many reservoirs will continue to see already low levels fall further until the end of the month. 

It means that drought restrictions for residents, companies, and local authorities are set to last well into autumn. 

While some restrictions such as filling up pools are mostly focused on the summer months, others limiting watering plants and gardens or cleaning cars can impact millions well into winter. 

You can use the government’s VigiEau website to find ongoing restrictions in your commune – more information on how to do so is available here – and check prefecture or mairie websites to see how long restrictions are currently set to remain in place.

In many communes, they will not be lifted until at least October, but are likely to be extended into the winter. 

The Connexion answers most-asked questions about restrictions in our article here. 

Water shortages included in new climate change plan 

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has charged Ms Barbut with implementing drought and water shortage responses to France’s national climate adaptation plan. 

“Water is obviously part of this [climate adaptation] and the issue will be addressed by a dedicated working group,” said Ms Barbut. 

“The urgency of the situation requires swift action, so I will submit my findings… by the end of September.”

“We won't be able to adapt the whole of France by 2027, but we can limit the crisis zones and the crisis-related issues we experienced this year,” she added.

While full plans are yet to be revealed, the minister highlighted a desire to “accelerate the reuse of treated wastewater and the management of rainwater.”