Drought-hit France turns to tanker trucks for drinking water

Since early August, tanker trucks have been visiting the Alsatian town of Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines twice a week, bringing drinking water from nearby Liepvre. The town of roughly 5,000 residents normally depends on about 20 mountain springs, but weeks of heat and drought have sharply reduced their flow. Liepvre, just a few kilometers away, is linked to a larger network with sufficient supply, but since no permanent pipe connects the two systems, tankers are serving as a makeshift water line.

According to the French government, more than 40,000 people have faced water cutoffs or disruptions this month, while 550,000 face a higher risk of losing stable access. Tanker deliveries are also underway in more than a dozen municipalities in the Jura Mountains, in the Doubs department.

Not the first time

A similar situation unfolded during the dry summer of 2022, when tankers supplied hundreds of municipalities. The village of Coucouron in the Massif Central was hit especially hard after an important spring dried up despite the region's usual abundance of water. Investigators later found major leaks in the local network; once fixed, daily consumption dropped by about 40 cubic meters.

On average, only about 79% of water fed into rural French supply networks reaches consumers, compared with roughly 84% nationwide. Pipe replacement remains slow, at around 0.6% of the network per year.

Economic toll and EU-wide concern

France's environmental transition minister has estimated this year's heat waves could cost the country between €10 and 15 billion in direct and indirect losses. Since 2022, France has pursued a national Water Plan aiming to cut consumption by 10% by 2030, with about €1.4 billion spent so far.

The European Environment Agency says seasonal water scarcity affects roughly 30% of EU territory and nearly a third of its population. In 2025, the European Commission unveiled a Water Resilience Strategy targeting at least a 10% improvement in water efficiency by 2030. In Germany's Black Forest region, several municipalities have also asked their water utility to prepare for possible tanker deliveries.