PARIS – France will enforce water restrictions as the driest winter on record puts the country in a “state of alert” for droughts this summer, said Ecological Transition Minister Christophe Bechu in an interview in Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper.

Mr Bechu will on Monday gather representatives in the regions to ask them to “anticipate” and “take the measures that allow to save water now”, he told the newspaper.

Measures could include issuing local restriction orders for individuals and farmers where necessary.

His comments come after President Emmanuel Macron said there was an “end of abundance” in water use.

“The nation needs to do on water what we have done on energy, a form of sobriety plan,” Mr Macron said on Saturday while visiting the Paris agriculture fair.

“All of us, citizens, industrials, services, local communities, farmers, we must pay attention to this resource that is becoming scarce.”

Over the longer term, France should improve the tracking of leakages and the recycling of used water that is lagging other countries such as Italy and Spain, Mr Bechu said.

After a severe drought last summer, water levels were already low, a situation worsened by less rain than usual this winter, especially in February which is set to be the driest on records going back to 1959, he added.

“The situation is more serious than last year at the same time, and we are two months behind on groundwater recharge,” he said. BLOOMBERG