Since early August, huge silver tanker trucks have been paying a visit to the town of Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines in Alsace, eastern France, twice a week.
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trucks → pay → Alsace
They aren't delivering heating oil or milk, but drinking water from the nearby town of Liepvre.
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They → deliver → Liepvre
Sainte-Marie, with its population of 5,000, is located in a green valley in the Vosges Mountains and usually relies on about 20 mountain springs for its water.
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Marie → locate → water
But the flow rate has fallen after weeks of intense heat and drought.
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rate → fall → heat
Liepvre, just a few kilometers away, is connected to a larger water supply network that extends toward the Alsatian plain.
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that → connect → plain
Here, there is still enough water despite the drought but because there is no permanent connection between the two systems, tanker trucks are effectively functioning as a water pipeline on wheels.
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trucks → be → wheels
According to the French government, more than 40,000 people have been affected by water cutoffs or supply disruptions this month, and 550,000 are at higher risk of losing stable access.
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550,000 → accord → access
The drought has affected large parts of France and water restrictions have been put in place in many regions, but tanker trucks are only being used in certain areas.
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trucks → affect → areas
This depends on what sources or groundwater reserves a municipality relies on for water and whether it can easily switch to other resources.
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it → depend → resources
More than a dozen municipalities in the Jura Mountains, further to the south in the department of Doubs, are also currently being supplied by tanker trucks.
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municipalities → supply → trucks
In the summer of 2022, which was also exceptionally dry, tanker trucks were used to supply hundreds of municipalities with water.
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trucks → use → water
Others depended on bottled water.
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Others → depend → water
Though it's located at a height of more than 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) in a region rich in water and where three major French rivers — the Loire, the Allier and the Ardeche, have their sources — an important spring ran dry after months of drought.
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spring → locate → drought
Tanker trucks had to bring water to the villagers for months.
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trucks → have → months
Experts discovered that there were several major leaks in the water supply network.
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Experts → discover → network
Once they had been repaired, the village's water consumption dropped by about 40 cubic meters per day.
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consumption → repair → day
A 6-kilometer-long (3.7-mile) pipeline linking to an additional water source is expected to bring more stability.
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pipeline → link → stability
On average, only about 79% of the water fed into supply networks in rural France reaches consumers.
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% → feed → consumers
But repairs are slow, and currently only about 0.6% of pipes are replaced every year.
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% → replace → pipes
Extreme heat batters economy
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heat → batter → economy
Extreme heat and drought are also taking their toll on the economy.
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heat → take → economy
Monique Barbut, France's minister for the environmental transition, has estimated that the direct and indirect costs of this year's heat waves now could reach between €10 and 15 billion (up to $17.4 billion).
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costs → estimate → 10
After the dry summer of 2022, President Emmanuel Macron declared water a national priority.
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water → declare → 2022
A "Water Plan" unveiled in spring 2023 included more than 50 measures, including the target of a 10% reduction in water consumption by 2030 and plans to modernize the water supply network and fix leaks.
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Plan → unveil → leaks
Since then, some €1.4 billion has been spent on the national plan.
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billion → spend → plan
In 2023, authorities identified some 170 municipalities whose water systems lost more than half of the water supplied to them.
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systems → identify → them
Within three years, over 100 had managed to reduce their losses.
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100 → manage → losses
Saving water is not only a matter of tapping into additional water sources or repairing dilapidated pipes.
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Saving → save → pipes
The scarcer water becomes, the more competition there is for this precious resource.
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competition → become → resource
Households need drinking water, farmers need water for irrigation and factories also need it for production.
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factories → need → production
Increasingly, the question is how to determine which uses should be restricted and prioritized in an emergency.
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uses → determine → emergency
One-third of EU population lives with water scarcity
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third → live → scarcity
France isn't alone in being unable to cope with long periods of drought.
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France → cope → drought
According to the European Environment Agency, seasonal water scarcity and water stress affect roughly 30% of the European Union's land area and almost one-third of its population.
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scarcity → accord → population
In 2025, the European Commission presented the first European Water Resilience Strategy, which outlines plans to increase water efficiency by at least 10% by 2030 and modernize infrastructure.
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which → present → infrastructure
On the other side of the Rhine River in Germany, there is currently evidence in the Black Forest region that spring and groundwater levels are declining.
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levels → be → region
So far, the Badenova service company seems to have enough groundwater supplies.
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company → seem → supplies
But several municipalities in the Dreisam Valley have asked the company to make preparations for transporting water by tanker truck, if need be.
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need → ask → truck
Technology can't solve all problems
How Europe deals with increasing water scarcity depends heavily on its geography.
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deals → solve → geography
Thanks to a network connecting lakes, canals, locks and pumps, the Netherlands can usually supply households with water from the Rhine and Meuse rivers.
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Netherlands → connect → rivers
…and 4 more, not listed.
