Water restrictions: ICPE and drought

In a context where drought episodes are intensifying and extending beyond summer periods, a decree establishes a national framework for the implementation of more sober management of water resources at ICPE sites during periods of drought.

A note dated July 5, 2023 from the DGPR (Direction générale de la prévention des risques) provides further details on the application of this decree.

Who's concerned?

ICPEs subject to authorization or registration whose total annual water withdrawal (*) exceeds 10,000^m3.

Water withdrawals correspond to withdrawals from the water supply network (drinking water), possibly from other networks and from the natural environment (surface water or groundwater), excluding withdrawals from the marine environment, rainwater harvesting for reuse and water from raw materials.

Water reused internally is not taken into account.

Exemptions?

Some installations are not subject to drought action obligations.

These include :

facilities required for high-volume food processing, production and distribution of electricity and energy from renewable sources, production of drugs of major therapeutic interest and their active ingredients or drugs contributing to public health policy, collection, sorting, transit, grouping and treatment of hazardous and non-hazardous waste;
operators of establishments that have reduced their water withdrawal by more than 20% since January 1, 2018;
operators of establishments using at least 20% reused water in relation to their water withdrawal, subject to compliance with current health and environmental requirements;

operators of newly licensed or registered facilities since January 1, 2023.

What action should be taken in the event of drought?

‍

Actions to be taken according to drought alert levels

Reduction targets must be met no later than three days after the corresponding severity level is triggered.

Reminder: The Propluvia website website lists on a map all water restriction orders, department by department, and their associated severity levels.

What is the reference volume?

This is the volume on which the reduction is applied.

The reference volume is the average daily water withdrawal. It corresponds to the maximum between :

average daily withdrawal volumes calculated over the previous calendar year
and the average daily volumes withdrawn calculated over the corresponding calendar quarter of the previous year.

This average can be calculated by taking into account only the days of activity outside the drought restriction period.
‍

Items that may not be taken into account

When calculating this reference volume, the operator may disregard certain volumes, in particular those required for water use:

safety and integrity of installations (e.g. cooling of certain equipment such as furnaces, glassmakers, cooling towers);
fire protection and defense (e.g.: water reserves required by law, sprinkler and fire-fighting connections),
drinking water supply for certain domestic uses such as staff consumption, sanitary facilities, showers, etc.

Total annual withdrawal ≠ reference volume

The reference volume should not be confused with the total annual withdrawal. The latter corresponds to the submission threshold. In addition, the calculation of the reference volume does not take into account certain types of consumption. For example, the volume of water used for safety purposes must be included in the calculation of the annual withdrawal.

The importance of documentation

The following information must be kept up to date and made available to the plant inspectorate:

Non-exempt	All (non-exempt & exempt)	Exempted
- Reference volume and details of how to calculate and justify it - Where applicable, the average daily volume of water, broken down by type of use, required for the safety and integrity of installations, fire protection and defense, and uses to meet environmental protection, public and animal health, public hygiene, protection of property and people, and the supply of drinking water to the population; - Where applicable, a procedure for raising staff awareness of the rules governing proper use and water conservation. - Where applicable, evidence of reductions in water withdrawal of at least 20% since January 1, 2018, or use of at least 20% reused water.	- List of withdrawal and discharge media, volumes of water withdrawn, discharged and consumed associated with each direct or indirect withdrawal and discharge medium, and associated water body codes. These volumes are reported : - weekly, if the total flow rate withdrawn exceeds 100 cubic meters per day, - monthly if the flow is less than ⇒ Quarterly and annual summaries of this information are required. - List of improvements or investments that have reduced the volumes withdrawn or consumed, and the corresponding volumes saved, each year since January 1, 2018.	- Supporting documents

Conclusion

More restrictive regulatory provisions (basin orientation decrees, framework decrees, temporary water use restriction decrees, prefectoral decrees, etc.) may apply. As a reminder, if a local provision is more restrictive, the local regulation prevails; conversely, if a local provision is less restrictive than the ministerial decree, then the latter prevails.

If your site is subject to ICPE authorization/registration and you withdraw more than 1000^m3/year of water, we recommend that you :

Monitor the severity of the drought in your area on a regular basis (daily in summer, for example);
If a drought-related severity level is triggered, implement the corresponding actions;
Prepare documentation ;
If exempt, make sure you have the necessary supporting documents;
Anticipate future droughts by studying ways of reducing your water consumption (change of process, adaptation of your machines, new technologies that consume less water, etc.).

Photo credit: 86403436 @tanawatpontchour