“If on the question of access to water we hear no limit and sprinkle without counting, this is not possible”: the prefect of the Aude recalls the urgency on a “common good”

In January 2024. Consequently, you claim that the black mountain golf project was from another time, especially due to the problem of the water resource. Nevertheless, This subject is a major subject for the Aude?

On water management, I have the feeling that we have progressed. Therefore, The credits were unlocked for the project of hill restraint led by Carcassonne Agglo in Pradelles-en-Val (€ 200. Therefore, 000 of state endowment for the 1st tranche of the project encrypted at € 250,000, “if question access water we editor’s note). Meanwhile, On the subject of the Golf of the Black Mountain. Consequently, from the point of view of the State, it is clear, it will not be done. Meanwhile, Petitioners can of course continue their project. And as for the hypothetical threat that weighed on the municipality due to the agreement signed with the project leader. the mayor simply signed a paper that is worth nothing. I do not blame him, but this agreement relates to commitments which are not the responsibility of a municipality.

Read also: “Two dense years. punctuated by events and crises”: what the prefect of Aude Christian Pouget retains from a mission completed with the megafeu of Corbières

This summer 2025, with drought and heat wave, but also megafeu, has still demonstrated the problem of water resources. How to consider the future?

I think it’s never too late. But if. “if question access water we when we talk about access to water resources, we hear “no limit”, it is obvious that it is impossible. It is first necessary that everyone understands that when we talk about access to water. it is first of all the question of drinking water, then the water necessary for agriculture, and finally for tourism. These subjects are linked. We talk about Aqua Domitia (regional hydraulic network powered by Rhône water. editor’s note) after the fire that hit the Corbières. But the extension of Aqua Domitia only makes sense if it links the questions of drinking water capacities of the major cities of the Mediterranean arc which could be affected. such as Perpignan, and the water needs of agriculture and viticulture. But if the reasoning is to provide water according to demand, it will not work. The principle must be to say that if we bring an additional resource. it must “if question access water we be managed in an economical and collective manner. It is therefore of course necessary to question agricultural and viticultural practices: you cannot say architects without counting.

Municipalities are once again supplied by tanks to have drinking water. What solution exists to settle these deficits?

The law (of April 11. 2025, note) ended the compulsory transfer of water and sanitation skills to communities of municipalities (which was to enter into force on January 1, 2026, editor’s note). It is not for me to judge. but I think that it is not necessarily a good idea to allow municipalities to keep this skill. It is enough to see the formidable work carried out by network 11 (mixed union responsible for the protection of the resource but also for the production. transport of drinking water, note): it has made it possible to bring water to municipalities which, all alone, could not get “if question access water we there. This question must be dealt with at least on an inter -municipal scale: because water is a common good.