The administrative court upholds water restrictions in the Cannes basin

The water restrictions imposed by the prefectural decree of August 14 were upheld on Wednesday, August 26 following an order issued by the Administrative Court of Nice. The request for suspension of this decision, made by several local authorities in the western Alpes-Maritimes, was rejected for lack of urgency. 

For several weeks, the Alpes-Maritimes department has been affected by intense heat with a worrying level of drought. To address the degradation of water resources, a direct consequence of climate change, the new prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes, Jean-Marie Girier issued a prefectural decree providing for restrictions.

Forty-six municipalities were placed on “enhanced alert.” Watering of green spaces and flower beds is prohibited. The restrictions also concern the closure of beach showers and the washing of vehicles, watercraft as well as the external cleaning of homes.

Yet, some municipalities affected by this alert at the higher level did not accept being subject to these restrictions, in particular Cannes, Mandelieu-la-Napoule, Théoule-sur-Mer and the urban agglomeration community Cannes Pays de Lérins.

No demonstrated urgency 

These municipalities in the western part of the department filed an urgent motion before the administrative court to suspend the prefectural decree. However, a suspension motion is subject to two conditions in order to be granted. The applicants must demonstrate the urgent nature of this suspension. The implementation of the decree must cause sufficiently serious and immediate harm to the interests of the persons concerned. Furthermore, serious doubt as to the legality of the decision must be raised. 

In its order issued on Wednesday, August 26, the judge for urgent matters considered that “the elements cited by the requesting local authorities do not allow for characterizing a situation of urgency“. The elements were not sufficient to demonstrate a situation warranting immediate suspension of the prefectural decree of August 14. The restrictions were upheld provisionally.

Furthermore, the local authorities in the lower Siagne area also filed an appeal requesting the annulment of the prefectural decree. This request will be examined later by the collegiate panel of the administrative court. The local authorities may ultimately succeed in their appeal.