Canal de Provence

Written by Peter Tunbridge, Var Reporter

Following on from last time wherein we discussed the water shortage problems which the Var has experienced in recent years, the public debate concerning the SCP’s (Société du Canal de Provence) plans to create a hydraulic liaison between the river Verdon and Saint-Cassien ended in February. The official commission of enquiry now has 2 months to review the project and draw its conclusions.

The project, the cost of which is estimated to be around 60 million Euros, will involve laying approximately 75kms of buried canalisation, stretching all the way across the Var from Tourves to Roquebrune-sur-Argens, creating a liaison between Lac Ste.-Croix, into which the river Verdon flows, and Lac St.-Cassien.

While water levels in Lac St.-Cassien have been worrying low over the past few years, Lac Ste.-Croix has remained relatively unaffected. Nevertheless, certain associations have voiced concerns at putting this increased demand on the Verdon. The SCP remains adamant that the scheme will have a minimum impact on Lac Ste.-Croix, representing a reduction of a mere 20cms on the overall volume of the lake.

Among those in favour of the scheme are the agriculturists who have become increasingly alarmed at the lack of rainfall in recent years. A substantial amount of the buried canalisation will pass through agricultural land but this is not anticipated to present a problem since the very agriculturists who will be inconvenienced by the heavy machinery work will be those who will eventually profit from it...provided they can tap directly into the canalisation, of course. The same goes for communes and private residents who will have their land dug up: the water from the canal is relatively cheap so, provided they are allowed access to it, there should be few complaints.

The question of who is going to pay for these agriculturists, communes and private land owners to access this water supply remains to be seen since the cost of laying extra pipework for them to tap into the water from the canal passing through their land has not been included in the current financial estimate.