"The municipalities in the Cannes basin are not short of water": Cannes and its surrounding area are contesting the drought order issued by the prefect

There is sufficient water in the Cannes Pays de Lérins metropolitan area, according to David Lisnard, president of the local authority and mayor of Cannes.

His municipality, the urban area he presides over and Sicasil (manager of the drinking water resources of the Cannes urban area) published a press release this Friday morning.

They " contest the state of heightened alert issued by the prefecture on August 14, 2025 , oppose the related restrictions and are bringing an appeal for abuse of power against the prefectural decree ."

This Thursday, the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes tightened water restriction measures in the department, with 30 municipalities reaching the "reinforced" stage due to the situation of certain waterways, with concern over the upper Siagne watershed.

An " inept decision in more than one way " which " has no environmental benefit ," the press release charges: " The Cannes basin does not lack water thanks to the proactive actions carried out by Sicasil since 2001 to perpetuate the resource and its member municipalities; a localized situation cannot be used as a reason for a global restriction. This method – called multi-zoning – is profoundly unfair, unbalanced and makes no sense; solidarity does not come about by prohibiting municipalities from using their water resources, but by helping each other, as Sicasil is currently doing by supplying municipalities in crisis outside its perimeter ," it states.

The local authorities put forward their figures recorded " on August 14 ": " 830 liters per second (satisfactory, well above the reinforced alert threshold of 550 l/s) " for the lower Siagne, " 703 liters per second (very satisfactory, more than twice the reinforced alert threshold of 320 l/s) " for the Loup and " 23.7 million m3 of water (surplus compared to the average of the last three years which stands at 17.5 million m3) " for the Saint-Cassien lake, the three sources of water supply for the Cannes basin.

He added that " as of August 12, 2025, Sicasil has reduced as a precaution, in agreement with the Departmental Directorate of Territories and the Sea (DDTM), its withdrawal of more than 200 liters per second with a view to increasing the flow of the Siagne downstream of its catchment at Saint-Cézaire ."