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Authorities in several French departments have urged residents to reduce water consumption as drought conditions intensify following weeks of high temperatures and limited rainfall, the regional newspaper Ouest France reported Thursday.
In Orne, a department in northwestern France, the prefecture extended water restriction measures on Tuesday, placing five water management zones under the highest "crisis" alert level due to a growing risk of shortages.
The affected areas include Egrenne-Varenne, Mayenne Amont, Iton, Avre and Sarthe Amont, the last of which covers Alençon, a city roughly 190 kilometers (118 miles) west of Paris, and surrounding communities.
Residents in those zones face restrictions including a ban on watering gardens and plants between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., along with limits on non-essential water use such as washing cars with hoses and cleaning building facades, roofs and sidewalks.
The Touques zone, located in Normandy, has been raised to a higher alert level, while the Orne Mayenne, Orne Amont and Risle-Charentonne-Guiel zones remain under drought alert status.
Cotes-d'Armor, a department on France's northern Brittany coast, has also entered a drought alert, prompting the municipality of Lamballe-Armor to remind residents to comply with water-saving measures and limit consumption.
In the Concarneau area of Finistere, also in Brittany, scientists and environmental observers have reported growing effects of drought and recent heat waves on biodiversity.
Streams and ponds are drying up earlier than usual, seabirds are showing signs of dehydration, and marine ecosystems are showing signs of stress, including algae bleaching, according to researchers and naturalists cited by Ouest France.
The combination of extreme heat and water scarcity is producing conditions for wildlife and ecosystems that are appearing earlier and more severely than in previous years, researchers said.
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