Protest convoy against government irrigation scheme reaches Paris after 8 day march

The protest convoy, which arrived in Paris on Saturday, brought together nearly a thousand people on the Champ de Mars in a good-natured atmosphere to the sound of songs denouncing "bassines" – the controversial government project to create massive open-air reservoirs for agricultural irrigation.

Anti-irrigation demonstrators – who traveled from western France over the past eight days in a convoy of bicycles and tractors – finally arrived in Paris, Saturday 26 August 2022 © BassinesNonMerci

Hundreds of demonstrators chanted "Fence by fence, cover by cover, we'll destroy all the reservoirs" when they arrived in the French capital on Saturday, after setting off on bicycles and tractors over a week ago from Nouvelle-Aquitaine in western France. 

Before reaching Paris, the slow convoy of protesters pitched camp in Orléans on Thursday, where they spent three days in front of the headquarters of the Loire-Bretagne Water Agency – one of the main contractors tasked with rolling out the government's irrigation scheme. 

Le Convoi sillone Paris après avoir été temporairement bloqué par la BRAV-M !

Alors que les cyclistes se sont élancés du champ de Mars, le Convoi a été bloqué dès le premier pont.

Le Convoi s'est alors disloqué pour esquiver les points de blocage 🧶⤵️ pic.twitter.com/1i0ZhuWqy7

— Les Soulèvements de la Terre (@lessoulevements) August 26, 2023

The aim of the so-called "mega-basins" is to store water drawn up from the water table in winter into the open air reservoirs, so it can be used to irrigate crops in when rainfall is scarce or during periods of drought. 

Supporters of the government-sponsored plan see this as a prerequisite for the survival of farms in the face of the threat of recurring droughts.

Opponents, on the other hand, denounce the project as the "appropriation and monopolisation" of water by "agribusiness" in the face of climate change.

• Protest convoy slams 'water grab' by French agriculture sector

✊️✊️✊️ Le convoi est bien arrivé au champ de mars, rejoignez nous !!!! pic.twitter.com/jQMsYqXiIN

— BassinesNonMerci ⏚ (@BassinesNon) August 26, 2023

The fight will continue

On their way to Paris, a delegation representing the anti-irrigation protesters had been received for more than five hours on Wednesday by Sophie Brocas – the prefect of the Centre-Val de Loire region and water project coordinator – to call for an moratorium on current water storage proposals, but to no avail. 

Addressing the protesters on Saturday, Benoît Feuillu – spokesman for the Soulèvements de la Terre movement – declared to applause: "We're very upset because we didn't get the moratorium we were looking for. [So] we're going to have to continue our actions to dismantle the construction sites".

• French judges slap down government ban on climate activist group

Feuillu did not give any specific dates for the proposed demonstrations, but said that the next meeting would take place in the town of Niort on 8 September, for the opening of a trial against nine environmental and trade union activists accused of "organising banned demonstrations". 

For his part; Julien Le Guet, the leader of Bassines Non Merci collective added, "These new [protests] will be very destabilising. We're going to foil their plans."

"Soon, we'll be going to the Water Agency ... we'll take down the barriers and we'll make their lives miserable," sang members of the anti-irrigation procession as the protestors enjoyed their day in the sun after their eight-day march.