France Gripped By Worst Drought In 30 Years

[hatrack]

France is going though its worst drought in nearly 30 years after an exceptionally dry winter and spring, with more than two thirds of the country’s 96 departments imposing water restrictions. Visitors this month to large swathes of western and southern France, including popular tourist areas such as Charente, Provençe and the Dordogne, will find a ban on refilling swimming pools, washing cars, watering vegetable plots and using sprinklers on golf greens. Farmers across much of the southwest are facing a ban or severe restrictions on irrigation, and a fierce row is brewing over the recent huge increase in maize production – that crop alone consumes more water than the population of France .

Rationing has been introduced in some villages which depend on a sole – and dried-up – source , but the authorities are hopeful that early planning will mean large-scale cut-offs can be avoided. Low rainfall since September of last year has left the water table at drastically reduced levels in the western half of the country, from above the Loire estuary down to the Pyrenees. Even in normally wet Brittany, the island of Belle-Ile is being re-stocked with fresh water by tanker because reservoirs are too low to cope with the summer influx of tourists.

The southeast has also been hit. Dried-up rivers are hampering tourist activities such as canoeing and fishing, and many reservoirs are at critically low levels as water is taken to cool nuclear power stations downstream. Only the northeast and the Paris region have been relatively spared. The environment ministry has said it is the most severe drought since 1976 – worse than the 2003 heatwave – and though there is no proof of a link with global warming, experts say the country should be prepared for more shortages in the future.

“It is not enough to save water for a month and then stop. We have got to learn to preserve this precious commodity throughout the year , because the type of drought we are seeing can only become more frequent as climatic changes take hold,” says environment minister Nelly Olin.

EDIT

http://www.sundayherald.com/51278

[whistle]

1. The wine will be very flavorful and strong

[expatriot]

3. is that on the same principle of when I don't drink get enough water....

my wine is very flavorful and strong.

[whistle]

5. I'm not sure about that, but supposedly a very dry growing season...

...for vineyards produces a wine of exceptional quality, or so I've heard. For example, dry conditions produce fewer bunches of grape per plant:

"Yield is very important, this is how many grapes are grown per hectare of land; it is quoted in hectolitres per hectare e.g. 50 hl/ha. The fewer grape bunches per vine the more intense their flavour will be. At the very best vineyards yields can be as low as 30hl/ha, e.g. top quality Burgundy, as opposed to around 100hl/ha for non-quality wines, e.g. Liebfraumilch."

.....Also:

<snip>
Dry Grapes
This summer's drought caused problems for many farmers in Pennsylvania, but couldn't have been better news for the state's wine grape growers.
December 24, 2001


This summer's drought conditions reached far and wide across Pennsylvania. Earlier this month the U.S. Department of Agriculture named 58 Pennsylvania counties where farms were eligible for emergency farm loans to cover losses due to low precipitation. And while recent rainfall has begun to replenish groundwater reserves, this year's rainfall is still well below average.
Grape growers in the state, however, are not too likely to be applying for farm loans this year. In fact, some have said that 2001 could be one of the best vintages for Pennsylvania wines in recent memory.

Deborah Deis is director of the Pennsylvania Wine Association, an industry trade group. She says the excitement over this year's crop is because of the way grapes grow. "Grapes have unusually deep roots, and are very light feeders when it comes to water and fertilizer," she says. "In addition to that," she adds, "the quality of the wine is much much better when they're not over-watered."

Deis says it's usually less likely for east coast grapes to grow up in dry conditions than to be over-watered, but this year's drought means the vines had just the right amount of water, and they put all their effort into growing grapes. On top of that, the grapes are a little smaller than usual, and that means a higher portion of the fruit is skin, where the flavor is most concentrated.

<more>
<link> http://www.greenworks.tv/radio/todaystory/20011224.htm

One slight hitch to this, wine drinkers are not likely to get the full benefit of these imparted qualities from the gods upon the wine for many years until the wine has fully aged in the bottle.

On the other hand it may just be more marketing bullshit!

[expatriot]

2. God's punishing the frogs for not supporting President Bush...

oh, wrong discussion board. my bad.

[sintax]

4. consider posting in LBN

War-Social Malaise-Red Tide-Global Warming-Drought-Asthma

It's all connected