The water table levels in May reflect the significant recharge volumes in 2019-2020, with above-average levels over a large part of the country.
11 June 2020
 Map of water table levels in France on 1 June 2020

Map of water table levels in France on 1 June 2020.

© BRGM

The high-water period for 2020 was recorded between mid-March and the end of April, after a particularly abundant recharge across the whole country. In May, the trends were uneven. In the northern half of the country, the depletion of the water tables is continuing, with levels falling. In the south, heavy rainfall stopped the depletion: significant rises in groundwater levels were recorded at the start of May, before they started to fall again.

The levels in May reflect the significant recharge volumes in 2019-2020. The situation is satisfactory, with levels higher than average across a large part of the country. In the Aquitaine basin and on the Mediterranean coast, the water tables benefited from additional in-flows in May and some of tables are at high to very high levels. The situation is less positive for a large part of north-eastern France: the water tables in the Alsace plain, in the Saône and Rhône valleys and in the eastern part of the Massif Central, still have moderately low to low levels, due to successive periods of low rainfall.

In June, passive water tables should remain on a downward trend and the situation is not expected to change. As regards reactive water tables, the trends and developments will depend primarily on effective local rainfall and the demand on water supplies. The successive periods of rainfall expected in June could have a beneficial effect on the most reactive water tables at a local level.