French environment minister urges quick restrictions to avoid water crisis

France's 100 departmental prefects should not hesitate to enact quick decrees restricting local water use given alarmingly low groundwater levels, French Environment Minister Christophe Béchu said Monday.

"We are sounding the alarm given the situation we now find ourselves in, as we near the end of what is usually the recharge period for (underground) water tables," Bechu said.

The announcement came after Béchu met virtually with prefects to get a view of the country's overall water situation as the country experiences its driest winter since 1959.